ALLIED AIR BLITZ ON WESTERN GERMANY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 218, 14 September 1944, Page 5

ALLIED AIR BLITZ ON WESTERN GERMANY

RAIN OF BOMBS

600,000 Incendiaries Drop On Two Cities

N.Z.P.A. and British Wireless Rec. 1 p.m. LONDON, Sept. 13. More than 1000 Royal Air Force bombers have hit Western Germany since midday yesterday, bringing the total of heavy bombers thrown into the new battle of Germany in five days and nights to about 10,000. Thus General Eisenhower's warning to Germany of devastating bombing of their own soil is being fulfilled with inexorable resolve. Already this morning new processions of bombers and fighters have gone out to renew the great round-the-clock offensive. They included Ninth United States Air Force fighter-bombers, which, since dawn, have continued the assault against targets on both sides of the Siegfried Line and enemy strongpoints near Nancv, Metz and Brest. These operations followed a day of intense activity yesterday, in which about 40 enemy planes were shot down. Much road and rail transport has been destroyed. In two days, Monday and Tuesday, the R.A.F. set six oil plants in the Ruhr ablaze. In the Upper Rhineland, where Darmstadt has been almost entirely devastated, strong forces of Lancasters dropped over 400,000 incendiaries on Frankfurt and over 200,000 on Stuttgart. The Air Ministry says that strong forces of fighters covered Royal AitForce heavy bombers in daylight this evening when they attacked the railway junctions and vards at Osnabruck, in Western Germany. This is the R.A.F. ■ Bomber Command's deepest daylight penetration into Germany. It met no fighter opposition. The Nordstern synthetic oil plants in the Ruhr were also, attacked. Two bombers are missing. Synthetic Oil riants Again Hit United States Headquarters state that over 1000 heavy bombers today attacked a variety of synthetic oil plants and industrial targets in central, southern and western Germany. The Flying Fortresses and Liberators were escorted by medium-sized forces of Mustangs, Thunderbolts and Lightnings. All targets were attacked visually in good weather. The targets included the synthetic oil plants at Mersberg and Lytzkendorf, both near Leipzig, and at Ludwigshafen, the Daimler Benz plant at Sendelfingen, south-west of Stuttgart, which manufactures medium trucks and components for aeroplane engines, the Klockner Humbolt Deutz truck and armoured vehicle plant at Ulm, the Schwa-bisch-Hall airfield, north-east of Stuttgart, where photographic reconnaissance revealed activity with jet-propelled fighters, and -an oil storage depot at Weissenhorn, near Ulm. -

United States Eighth Air Force Mustangs, Thunderbolts and Lightnings, escorting Flying Fortresses and Liberators attacking German synthetic oil plants and other military targets to-day, shot down 38 enemy fighters in combat and destroyed 20 on the ground. Twentyseven of our bombers and nine fighters are missing. Ninth Air Force fighters had their principal combat in the . area of Strasbourg, where they shot down 30 for the loss of two. They shot down five others over Nancy. Their targets were road and rail transport south and south-east'of Nancy, gun positions at Epirial, and two forts south-west of Metz. They silenced five-gun positions :at Brest. Second Tactical Air Force Spitfires and Typhoons attacked shipping in the Flushing area, Holland, and sank at least four small ships, eight barges, a tugboat and a dredger in the. Scheldt. Rocketfiring Typhoons .at the Army's request silenced gun positions in the Calais-Boulogne area. TIME TO REVOLT ADVICE FROM EISENHOWER British Official Wireless Rec. 12.30 p.m. RUGBY, Sept. 13. A message issued by order of General Eisenhower, addressed to foreign workers in north-western, western and southern Germany, says they are in danger, but in the 'ne vt few days may have the greatest opportunities for action. He advises them to leave all German factories at once and go into ' hiding either in towns or on the land. They must act immediately. The Nazis have not men to spare to search for them or control their movements. Further instructions would be given by radio or dropped by. leaflets from Allied planes. L