RAIDERS NEAR MALTA

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23085, 30 July 1940, Page 7

RAIDERS NEAR MALTA

ITALIAN AEROPLANES SHOT DOWN MERCHANT SHIP BOMBED AT ADEN (UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT.) (Received July 29, 9.30 p.m.) LONDON, July 28, British fighters destroyed three Italian aeroplanes and anti-aircraft guns shot down another near Malta to-day. A British machine attacked three enemy fighters, one of which was shot down in flames and another went down out of control. Other British aeroplanes attacked several Italian fighters, one of which broke up in mid-air. There were no British losses, The First Lord of the Admiralty (Mr A. V. Alexander) and the First Sea Lord (Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound), in a message to officers and men of British ships in the dockyard at Malta, expressed admiration for the stout-hearted way in which they wore facing continued enemy attacks. During an Italian air raid on Aden slight damage was done to a merchant ship in the ! harbour.. One Indian member of the crew was killed, but there were no other casualties. A Nairobi communique stated that Saturday was quiet. British aircraft carried out wide reconnaissances over Italian Somaliland. It was reliably reported that an enemy aircraft crashed on July 15 between Mendera ’ and Moyale. An Italiah communique states: “Italian aeroplanes in the eastern Mediterranean yesterday repeatedly and effectively bombed large units of the British Fleet and bombed the naval base at Alexandria.” T ' » ! SUCCESSES FOR R.A.F. ATTACKS IN GERMANY AND HOLLAND SUPPLY SHIPS HIT BY BOMBS (Received July 29, 9.30 p.m.) LONDON, July 29. 1 The Air . Ministry communique Is--1 sued yesterday said: “The Royal : Air Force yesterday and last night ’ bombed the Nordsee Canal in Holland, ’ barges at St. Avoren, oil depots at Ham. ! burg and Amsterdam, docks and ’ wharves at Wilhelmshaven and Bre- : men, and eight enemy aerodromes in i Holland'and Germany. All our maL chines returned. We shot down an ■ enemy fighter yesterday off Norway 1 and bombed another supply ship which 1 was left sinking off the Dutch coast.” Further details of the attacks on the • German supply ships reveal that an ! American-built Hudson aircraft of the ' Coastal Command severely damaged ‘ two supply ships on Saturday i night and bombed others. A i Messerschmitt which attempted to i interfere was shot down. The • first attack was made off the Norwegian coast by a pilot who comes from Stellarton, Nova Scotia'. The Hud- . son was patrolling near Stavanger when the pilot saw in the distance a German supply ship. He dived on it and dropped his bombs. The pilot said: “As, we turned away after our dive, three Messerschmitt 109's came for us and a few of their shots went into our tail and damaged the starboard rudder. I turned to allow my rear gunner to get one Messerchmitt into his sights. The Messerchmitt fell away out of control and crashed into the sea'. We were into the clouds before the other two enemy machines had time to 4 open their attack." An hour later, off the Dutch coast, another Hudson saw three armed supply ships. He scored a direct hit on the stern of one with a heavy bomb and the ship appeared to be sinking. A Berlin communique states: “In spite of bad weather, our aeroplanes sank a 7000-ton auxiliary cruiser, two destroyers, and a 5000-ton merchantman, and probably sank a destroyer and two merchantmen. They also bombed Swansea' and several, Cornish aerodromes. British aeroplanes dropped a few bombs over northern Germany but caused no damage. We shot down five British aeroplanes over the Channel. > Two of ours are missing. The British shot down an unarmed German seaplane marked with the Red Cross when the German was attempt--mg to save the crew of an aeroplane which was forced down in the sea.”' A Vichy message says that the Retain Goveimment h|is protested to Britain against the severe bombing of France, including Cherbourg, Nantes and St. Nazaire, where the casualties were heavy and the damage serious. Important German air and naval concentrations are understood to have been at all the ports' attacked. CABLE MESSAGES IN BRIEF British Casualties. —The War Office’s thirty-fourth casualty list contains the j names of 23 officers killed, five who , died of wounds, 50 wounded, and 294 . missing. Warrant-officers, non-com- \ missioned officers, and men total 926, of whom 56 were killed, 26 died of . wounds, and the remainder were i wounded or are missing. The Air Ministry’s fortieth casualty list gives the names of 300, of whom 25 officers and 74 other ranks-were killed or are pre- | sumed -to be killed. 23 officers and 138 | other ranks missing.—London, July 28. i Sovlet-Afghan Treaty. —The Moscow newspaper “Pravda” reveals that a | Sovlet-Afghan trade agreement was ■ signed at Kabul. This is a “further step towards strengthening Soviet- • Afghan relations.”—Moscow, July 28. j War Savings in Britain. —Last week j the total of £12,595,752 was raised i through various forms of war savings, i Since the opening of the campaign 1 £128,067,704 has been raised by the ' sale of savings certificates, and £131,528,980 by the sale of defence i bonds. During the same period the \ balance due to depositors in the Post ' Office Savings Bank and trustee s.av- i ings banks increased by £44,789.310 a grand total of £304,394,988. — Rugby, J July 29. (