VIOLENT STORMS DEFIED

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 245, 15 October 1940, Page 7

VIOLENT STORMS DEFIED

Ice And Snow Fail To Halt R.A.F.

WIDESPREAD RAIDS

Targets Attacked Despite Weather And Low Clouds

(British Official Wireless.—Reed, noon.)

RUGBY, October 14. Details of British attacks on military objectives in Germany and on German-occupied territories show that extremely bad weather, with widespread cloud formations, snow and sub-zero temperatures, severely hampered the Sunday night operations by aircraft of the Bomber Command. Flying "blind" through clouds which blanketed the whole route from England to Germany, many of the raiding crews won through to the target areas only to find cloud formations down almost to the ground level, thus completely obscuring their objectives. Other raiders were more fortunate in their time of arrival, and were able to take advantage of the fleeting gaps in the cloud bank, through which they were able to locate and bomb their targets. The naval dock yards at Kiel were attacked by one force which reached the canal zone at about 10 p.m. after a 400-mile flight made hazardous by violent electrical storms and an iceforming belt 8000 ft deep, which extended over the greater part of the route. For nearly 45 minutes the aircraft cruised above the target area, awaiting the opportunity to bomb through the occasional breaks in the clouds. Sticks of high explosive were unloosed on the docks, and the flash of exploding bombs could be seen as a sudden glow in the enveloping cloud and snowstorm, which at times reduced visibility to nil and also handicapped the attack on the naval dock yards at Wilhelmshaven. Two of the main shipping basins were located through momentary cloud breaks and were heavily bombed under severe anti-aircraft fire. An attack was also made on the Blohm and Voss shipbuilding yards at Hamburg shortly after midnight, but here again the low clouds hampered the raider. Weather conditions in the Ruhr district were little better, but another bomber force detailed to attack a large coal tar plant at Duisburg, where nearly half the coal tar of Germany is distilled, finally succeeded in locating their objectives. After a chance glimpse of the factory's tall chimneys through a gap in the clouds, sticks of high explosive bombs were dropped to straddle the target, and a large fire was seen to break out after bombing. Other targets in the Ruhr which were located and bombed included Krupps works at Essen. Other raiding forces were prevented by the weather from finding their primary objectives, but sought out alternative targets, and bombs were dropped by these aircraft on aerodromes at Wesel and Tezel, on gun positions on the islands of Borkum and Terschelling, and on a seaplane base at Norderney. The persistence with which the bomber crews strove to carry out their mission in spite of the appalling weather is well instanced by the record of one raider which was flying in the vicinity of Borkum, when part of its de-icing equipment failed and both engines began to "cut out" but picked up again. After threequarters of an hour they were again working normally and, having now crossed the English coast, the pilot checked his position and turned out to sea again and went back to bomb docks and enemy shipping at Flushing. A series of exceedingly heavy explosions resulted in the attack on Flushing Harbour. The main line of the railway junction at the mole was one of the chief targets, and, following a major explosion, a series of fierce fires was caused where bombs fell. Another great explosion occurred a full minute after" one aircraft unloaded the last of its bombs. Other Blenheims attacked Domburg Harbour, north-west of Flushing and across the mole at Zeebrugge. Here also explosions were extremely violent, and destruction was increased by scores of incendiary bombs. Calais came in for the heaviest attack, and was the centre of a series of raids which began at 8 p.m. and did not end until close on midnight. Dive-bombing aircraft from one of the

recently formed Polish squadrons took part in the attack and heavy damage was seen to have been inflicted on docks and harbour installations.