EUROPEAN RAIDS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 62, 14 March 1944, Page 5

EUROPEAN RAIDS

DAMAGE TO ENEMY

Mosquito Force Returns

Without Loss N.Z. Press Association—Copyright LONDON, Mar. 13. Mosquitoes of tho Royal Air Force Bomber Command attacked targets in Western Germany last night. Every one of our machines returned. The air offensive against Hitler's Europe was resumed today, when strong forces of Allied planes were seen heading out over the Channel toward Northern France.

A Liberator's crew returning from the raid on the Toulon naval base on Saturday reported excellent coverage of the dry dock, repair shops and jetties. They claimed that direct hits were made on a destroyer, two merchant ships and one submarine. Twenty enemy aircraft were encountered over the target. The Liberators' gunners destroyed six, and escorting Lightning pilots shot down seven. Photographs also showed that six vital military targete were badly damaged in the Liberator raid on Toulon yesterday. Eight direct hits were scored against a gas and coke factory, three against a cable factory, three against a munitions factory, seven against a military repair shop, six bombs burst inside a Üboat base, and two sticks of bombs straddled the railway bottleneck inside the marshalling yards. The great Maschinen Fabrik, at Augsburg, known as the main factory in Germany for the production of Diesel engines of all kinds, especially for submarines —it covers nearly 150 acres—is now known to have been damaged very extensively. Augsburg was attacked in daylight by American bombers on February 25, and also twice that night by a large force of Lancasters and Ha'lifaxes of Bomber Command. Reports by reconnaissance aircraft state that damage was very serious, particularly among many factories in the town. In the northern district hardly a single factory of any importance escaped. Numerous workshops in the main factory have been badly damaged.

IN AIR OFFENSIVE New Zealand Airmen Taking Their Full Share MOSQUITO NIGHT BOMBERS N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent LONDON, Mar. 13. One of many New Zealanders who are participating in the latest big raids on Germany carried out his 75th operation when he bombed Berlin on March 8. He is FlightLieutenant V. S. Moore, D.5.0., D.F.M., of Taumarunui. He is in a Mosquito night bomber squadron, which includes Squadron-Leader S. D. Watts, D.F.C., of Morrinsvllle. and Flying-Officer A. A. Matheson, D.F.M., of Carterton.

Flight-Lieutenant Moore, who won the D.F.M. in August, 1942, and the D.S.O. in June, 1943, is now on his third tour, having previously operated in Lancasters. SquadronLeader Watts is on his second tour. He did 22 operations in Whitleys from August, 1941, to March, 1942, and returned to operations last November. He has now done 26 raids in Mosquitoes and has been 12 times to Berlin. His last visit there, on March 3, coincided with his 28th birthday. Flying-Officer Matheson, who is a well-known footballer, won the D.F.M. in June for his work as a highly-skilled navigator.

Squadron-Leader Watts, commenting on operations, said the most interesting tasks were those of following up heavy bombers. "When the target is still 200 miles away you first see target indicators light up the sky," he said. "Then comes the flash of exploding bombs and bursting flak. Next you see small fires beginning, which continue to grow until by the time we are over the target everything is as light as day.

"We sometimes get punctured by flak but not very often, and we see few' fighters. As a result casualties are pretty low. The reason, of course, is the Mosquitoes' speed. We often take-off an hour after the heavy bombers have left, bomb the target after them, and still manage to return an hour before them. They are wonderful trips."

In addition to bombing Berlin in Mosquitoes, Squadron-Leader Watts has also raided Stuttgart, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Mannheim.

Flying-Officer D. H. Tudhope, of Hamilton, recently completed 40 operations in Mosquito bombers. It is known that Mosquitoes can carry a 20001b bomb load.

AIR RAID CASUALTIES

FIGURES FOR FEBRUARY Rec. noon. RUGBY, March 13. The total civilian air raid casualties, states the Ministry of Home Security, for February were: Killed: Men 350, women 475, children 136. making a total of 961. The injured were: Men 716, women 811, children 185, making a total of 1712.