RAID ON PARIS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 49, 6 May 1942, Page 8

RAID ON PARIS

EX-WHAKATANE PILOT

BOMBING RENAULT WORKS

"It was probably one of the most effective raids made by the Royal Air Force during the entire war," said Sergeant-Observer P. H. Stewart, an ex-Whakatane boy, who was one of the New Zealanders to take part in the heavy raid against the Renault works at Paris recently. "There was no opposition," he said, "and every plane came in low. It was impossible to miss the target.

'It was just getting dark as wc set off over the English Channel for France, and by the time we reached France the moon was up. We at 2000 feet all the time and bombed from 1500 feet. Wc arrived during the middle of the raid, and all the way to Paris we noticed lights flicking on in houses, pointing the way to the city.

"We could see Paris 40 miles away, lit up like a big Christmas tree. There were flares hanging low over the target and giant fires burning. I stood beside the pilot practically all the way, and it was a great ride. We flew round the target three times just to make sure of it—and we had a lot of trouble, incidentally to dodge other planes.

"Our first bomb hit a gasomete* and it burst into flames. The remaining bombs went right across the middle of the factories, and we saw one entire roof fly into the air. Ye could feel the bombs bursting at that height. It was like heavy shells exploding beneath us. With the flares and the fires it was as bright as day. "I had always wanted to see Paris, so after wc had dropped the bombs we flew round and had a look at the Eiffel Tower. There was a good blackout in the city. We dropped our load of leaflets, and then made off for home. Wc came down to 500 feet looking for Germans and trouble: the gunners were keen to have a crack, but we saw nothing.

''The raid "was so very successful because of the low heights at which our aircraft could fly and without opposition. It is unlikely that any aircraft flew higher than 6000 feet over the target and some of the Stirlings went down to 1 1000 feet. It will be a long time before the Gerijians get any more tanks from that factory." 1 Sergeant Stewart also took part in one of the big raids on Essen, and he went twice to Kiel to bomb the Scharnhorst, which was docked there for repairs. "I wish we coukl bomb targets in Germany from 1500 feet," he said. "It would knock a long time off the war. The flak keeps us b,usy and we stay up higher."