ENEMY AIR BASE WRECKED BY BOMBS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 91, 17 April 1940, Page 7

ENEMY AIR BASE WRECKED BY BOMBS.

STAVANGER RAIDED.

'Planes And Buildings Set

Ablaze. DIRECT HITS ON RUNWAYS. United Press Association.-—Copyright. (Received 10.30 a.m.) , LONDON, April 16. The Air Ministry states that the R.A.F. operations against the enemy base at Stavanger were continued successfully last night, when Air Force bombers attacked the aerodrome and buildings with large numbers of heavy high explosive bombs.

They also used incendiary bombs to great effect. Two extensive fires were seen to break out. Our "planes returned without loss.

'Planes arriving at Stavanger after the raid had beguu were able to identify the target miles away, by the. fires started by earlier attacks. Enemy 'planes were seen blazing fiercely and the aerodrome was enveloped in clouds of smoke.

Direct hits were obtained on the runways. One bomb burst nc-ar the control tower and another started a fierce fire nearby.

Bombers traversed the aerodrome in successive waves, destroying 'planes and buildings. They encountered opposition from ground defences.

The Royal Air Force made yet another raid on Stavanger and sank at least two German seaplanes after machine-gunning them at their moorings, said an earlier message. The airmen dropped heavy bombs on the aerodrome, adding to the previous damage.

This attack occurred in a snow storm after a journey through clouds and rain storms.

The German High Command says that two British 'planes were shot down when they attacked Stavanger. It was a quiet day round Trondheim and Bergen, while the pacification of south-east Norway was progressing steadily.

"Our Air Force continued its activities in the North Sea and as far as Narvik. A British 'plane, trying to penetrate the Heligoland Bight, was shot down and another forced down west of the Skager-Rak. One German 'plane has failed to return."

A German High Command communique claims that 'planes bombed and sank a British cruiser off the Norwegian coast yesterday. A Sunderland flying boat was claimed to have been destroyed in the same action.

Some of the many impressive photographs of Stavanger takon by the Royal Air Force and published to-day show in detail a large number of enemy aircraft on the air field, the hangar and runway of which have formed excellent targets for British bombers, says a British official wireless message.

The vulnerability of this aerodrome, said to be the most modern in Norway, has been demonstrated in the repeated attacks of the past few days.