BLITZ AGAINST ENEMY

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 13429, 17 April 1944, Page 3

BLITZ AGAINST ENEMY

BALKAN SUPPLY ROUTES HAMMERED PORT ON DANUBE POUNDED Bucharest and Ploesti Again Raided Fighter Attacks From Britain London, April ] t;. Allied air attacks on the Balkan supply lines took a new (urn last. night when Wellingtons, making their livst flight over Rumania, bombed Tumu-Sovcrin. This is both a railway town and a port on the Danube which handles petroleum traffic and is equipped with ship yards and repair shops.

The Wellingtons made their attack on Turnu-Severin in several

waves, scoring many hits on railway yards. They set the large grain storage buildings near the yards on fire and damaged a small ship building yard.

Some of them machine-gunned small craft on the Danube and also an airfield a mile away. One of the wireless operators signalled "V for Victory," as his bomber flew over Yusoslavia. He got a quick answer, "Tito."

Turnu-Severin is about halfway between Belgrade and Bucharest and forms a bottleneck on the supply route to the east. The other main route is by way of Sofia and Nish which was also a target for American heavy bombers yesterday. The Rumanian capital of Bucharest and the great oil centre of Ploesti were hit again yesterday by American bombers from Italy. Liberators flew to Bucharest to bomb railways and military installations, while Fortresses went 30 miles farther north of Ploesti.

Both formations sent down their bombs through clouds. The bombers, which were out in great strength, were escorted by relays of fighters and there were battles with German fighters.

More than 500 United States fighters from Britain yesterday ranged over central and northern Germany as well as occupied territory. It. was one of the biggest attacks yet by fighters out on their own. One group of Mustangs made a there-and-back flight of more than 12-00 miles. The targets were 10 airfields, one of them near Berlin, as, well as barges, factories and locomotives. Seventeen locomotives were destroyed. There Americans also destroyed or damaged many German aircraft on the ground and shot down IS more in combat. Thirty American fighters are missing.