MIDDLE EAST RAIDS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 62, Issue 9, 22 October 1941, Page 5

MIDDLE EAST RAIDS.

TARGETS OVER A WIDE AREA. BENGHAZI AGAIN ATTACKED (United Press Association—Copyright.) LONDON, October 20. During 24 hours’ activity in the central Mediterranean on Friiday, aircraft of the Royal Air Force sought the enemy at many points of the compass. Sardinia, Syracuse, Trapani, Tripolitania, and shipping in the Mediterranean were the targets on a widespread battlefield. Heavy Royal Air Force bombers churned up with bombs the runways of aerodromes at Trapani in Sicily. Strings of coloured light flak spouted into the air as they dropped their flares, which showed up the broad runways and hangars in the clear, starlit night. Here, also, bombs were planted on runways and among aerodrome buildings, and an aircraft was left blazing on the ground. Medium bombers of the Royal Air Force also had their day out. One of their attacks was made on a seaplane base a Syracuse. Three aircraft fired upon and hit an enemy fighter which attacked them. It broke off the engagement with smoke pouring from its engine, and it was evidently too badly damaged to reach its base. Another formation attacked transport and other objectives in Tripolitania. The. pilots described how they sneaked along the winding roads between Suara and Stira, skimming the treetops, and blew lorries and trailers off the road with bombs. One pilot from the Rhondda Valley said: “We flew to an enemy aerodrome about 30 miles south of Tripoli and found a dozen CR2s hidden among palms on the east side. We went in and dropped a stick of bombs and machine-gunned them. I do not know how many caught fire, but we could still see the column of smoke when we were 30 miles from the aerodrome.” —British Official Wireless.