DOCKS POUNDED

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 107, 8 May 1941, Page 7

DOCKS POUNDED

HAMBURG AND HAVRE

Direct Hits On German

Ships

United Press Association.— Copyright. Roc. 1 p.m. LONDON, May 7. tiv" a of b R g xr S H the , Principal ob J ec " Atfart bombers last night. Attacks on enemy shipping were continued until daylight stafted HambUrg large fires wer * T ?*£ RAF - Pounded the docks at l-,e Havre and other objectives on the coasts of enemy-occupied terriKrL r£" , ene ™y SUPPIy Ship Of about 5000 tons, attacked off the t risian Islands, was directly hit and is considered a total loss. A Bomber Command aircraft sank a patrol vessel and set fire to another off the German and Dutch coasts. Three British aircraft are missing from all these operations. R.A.F. bomber pilots have described the destructive effect of Britain's new powerful bombs which were dropped on Monday night at Mannheim, the most important industrial city in south-west Germany. "There was an astonishing explosion," says one pilot. "It looked like an immense red ball, and it must have been a terrific fire: debris was being thrown up in the air as if from a huge spray. Then there was a great mushroom of smoke. When I turned away finally the reargunner said he could still see a dull red glow over the city."