BRITISH AIR RAID

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 62, Issue 122, 5 March 1942, Page 3

BRITISH AIR RAID

WORKS NEAR PARIS BOMBED.

PRODUCTION FOR GERMANS.

(United Press Association-Copyright.. LONDON, March 4.

The Royal Air-Force last night was over Germany but no details of the raids have yet been released. Th'e last raid on Germany was four nights ago, when Kiel and Wilhelmshaveh were attacked.

The Royal Air Force last night also attacked the large Renault motor works, near Paris, which have been making guns, aeroplanes, and tanks for the Germans, and repairing equipment damaged in Libya and Russia.

Before the war this factory employed 20,000 people, and thousands are now forced to work there to feed the German military machine. Raids on factories working for Germany have been made before, but this was the first attack oft a factory in the suburbs of Paris.

The weather was perfect for the raid, and the targets were bombed accurately. Bombing was almost entirely confined to factories, and, as the Vichy radio admitted, no bombs fell on Paris.

The raid lasted less than two hours. The force which made it was not exceptionally large, but the results are described as good.

The Vichy radio said ’the Royal Air Force last night bombed aerodromes and factories in the industrial suburbs of Paris, notably Boulogne-sur : Seine and Billancouvt, to th’e - south-west and also Neuilly-sur-Seine, to the northwest. Tactics of Fighters. The tactics of Royal Air Force can-non-firing fighters attacking French factories working for the Germans have been described by the leader of a Spitfire squadron. “There is nothing haphazard about these attacks,” he said. “They are not a sudden dash over the coast, blazing away with cannon and machine-guns at nothing in particular. With Spitfires a low-flying attack is essential. The target is carefully chosen. Then we make an extremely careful study of roads, railways, and rivers. This is most important, as once the French coast is crossed it is preferable to navigate without a map. “When all the pilots are certain of their course and target, we take off. and once away from land we go right down to sea level. This makes the aircraft almost invisible. When we reach the French coast every advantage is taken of cloud cover. We don’t really object to fighter opposition, so long as the odds are pretty fair, but flak is the most serious thing we have to look out for on the other side. The flak can be very accurate and intense, so if the target is important a surprise attack is very necessary.

“Usually each aircraft makes one attack and then it sneaks away at a low level and tries to hide behind buildings and trees, while the others carry on. Our intelligence officer tells us the best part of the factory to hit to cause the maximum damage. We concentrate on that. “The best fun of all is when there is something explosive in the factory and then one of our chaps hits the right spot. Only the other day when four of us went for a factory from different directions, firing as we came, we saw huge sections thrown into the air. Theft flames began to spread, . and smoke shot up 500 feet in the air. Value of Attacks. “When our attack is over we streak for home. On the way back many a pilot offers a silent prayer for his single engine, which may have been hit in a vulnerable spot by flak. “Some people ask if these low-level attacks are worth while. From experience, I would say that though with our cannon and machine-guns we don t pretend to do what the Bomber and Coastal Commands do with bombs, we do help to upset the German economic war effort. What is more, we believe our sudden incursions do a lot to upset the Germans’ morale, to say nothing of heartening the French.’’