GREAT DAMAGE DONE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 63, Issue 230, 9 July 1943, Page 3

GREAT DAMAGE DONE.

DESTRUCTION AT DUSSELDORF LONDON, July 7. Although it is not mentioned in the British communique, the Germans say that the Royal Air Force raided western Germany on Tuesday night. Two-thirds of the centre of the German industrial city of Dusseldorf have been devastated by fire and high explosive in Royal Air Force attacks. This has been revealed by photographs taken by reconnaissance aircraft. The photographs show that the administrative centre of the German steel manufacturing industry has been destroyed. To-day is the third anniversary of Goering’s speech in which he told the people- of the Ruhr that they would never he bombed. Goering’s assurance at that time was reported fully in his newspaper, the “Essener Zeitung.” Since then the newspaper has been bombed out of its office twice. In its first year of operations over Europe' the Bth United States Air Force carried out 68 daylight missions. It dropped 11,423 tons of bombs. It destroyed 1199 enemy aeroplanes and also probably destroyed 525 and damaged 501, for the loss of 276 heavy bombers. The American losses averaged .3.91 per cent in 7076 sorties.