BERLIN IN FLAMES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 58, 9 March 1944, Page 5

BERLIN IN FLAMES

350,000 Incendiary, And 10,0.00 Explosive Bombs Fall

(N.Z.P.A.—Copyright.— Rec. noon.)

LONDON, March 8,

Flying Fortresses and Liberators carried out the greatest fire raid of the war when they battled through German fighter and ground defences to Berlin to-day. The British United Press correspondent at a bomber base says that about 1 000 bombers dropped over 10,000 high explosives and over 350,000 incendiaries. More than 800 fighters protected the armada.

rews of the second division of bombers which swept over Berlin leported that the fires were so intense and the smoke so t^ c k that they still saw great plumes of smoke as they crossed' the Dutch frontier on the homeward journey. Bomber crews reported that the German fighters were more ferocious than on Monday, and seemed at least equal to the number that attacked on the final lap to Berlin. The attacks, however, began just inside Germany, ana the bombers were forced to -fight their way to the capital. Furious Air Battle Along The Route Hundreds of escorting Thunderbolts, Mustangs and Lightnings held off the bulk of the German fighters, but those which slipped through the American lighter screens pressed their attacks relentlessly. There was also a thick carpet of flak, but the bombers ignored this and devoted their attention to the German fighters.

The leading wave of Fortresses bore the brunt of the fighter opposition. Some of the following groups reported not a single attack, many of the crews declaring that it was the easiest mission they had undertaken over Germany.

The bombers made a several-pronged attack through the heaviest flak defences, thus slipping into many vital targets. One group reported fires springing up all along the city's industrial perimeter.