CLYDESIDE AGAIN BOMBED

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23323, 8 May 1941, Page 9

CLYDESIDE AGAIN BOMBED

Another Attack On Merseyside

NINE NAZI RAIDERS

DESTROYED

(Received May 7, 11 p.m.) (U.P.A.) LONDON, May 7. British fighters shot down nine enemy aeroplanes raiding Britain las. night and' four more this morning. In the six nights of May 50 night raiders have been destroyed, and at least 45 of these have been shot down by night fighters. Last night’s enemy raids were again directed chiefly at the Clydeside and the Merseyside. The \attack on the Clydeside was fairly heavy and it is stated that considerable damage was done and there were a number of casualties. Damage was also caused in the raid on the Merseyside, but the casualties are not expected to be large. The attack on the Merseyside was the sixth on successive nights. Scattered attacks were also reported from the north-east England, East Anglia, and south-west England, but these were not heavy. Two German aeroplanes were shot down into the Channel in daylight yesterday. Fifteen raiders made a low level machine-gun and cannon attack on a country district in the south-east of England yesterday. There were casualties. One raider was hit and is unlikely to reach its base. A communique issued by the Air Ministry and the Ministry of Home Security says: “During daylight yesterday a few enemy aircraft crossed the Kent coast and were flown a short distance inland. Bombs were dropped on a town on that coast and on a town on the east coast, but little damage was done. There were no serious casualties.” The areas of the Clydeside damaged in previous raids were again attacked on Monday night. Great gallantry was displayed in rescuing the ifijured. A number of people were killed when a surface shelter was directly hit. . . Two young ministers are missing from a first-aid post which was hit by a bomb. Doctors, first-aid officials, and wardens were among the casualties suffered in the raid. Three of the enemy raiders destroyed on Monday night were shot down by one fighter squadron. Two were destroyed within a space of two hours by a squadron leader who is the holder of the D.F.C. This pilot now h&s 12 victories to his credit, 10 of which were won in daylight fighting. A squadron leader who shot down a Messerschmitt 111 into the sea off Northern Ireland was attacked by two other enemy bombers after his victory. He evaded their fire, however, and, landed safely. One of the night’s victories was gained by a New Zealand flight lieutenant. The raider attacked was a Heinkel, which was sent diving to destruction with its tail blazing. Another night fighter pilot operating over an enemy aerodrome in northern France saw eight German bombers preparing to land. He singled out one and raked it with fire and it was suddenly lit up by an orange explosion. By the glare he recognised it as a Heinkel 111. It broke up and fell. On the way home the pilot bombed another aerodrome. R.A.F. RAIDS ON GERMANY MAIN ATTACK ON HAMBURG DESTRUCTIVE EFFECT OF NEW BOMBS (Received May 7, 11 p.m.) LONDON, May 7, Bombers of the Royal Air Force were over north-west Germany last night, the chief objective being Hamburg. In daylight attacks on shipping yesterday, a supply vessel of 5000 tons was hit and was almost certainly a total loss. A patrol vessel was sunk and another vessel was also hit and set oh fire. An Air Ministry communique dealing with Monday night’s Royal Air Force raids says that a strong force of the Bomber Command heavily at* tacked industrial towns in the Middle Rhine district. Mannheim, Where a great weight of high explosives and incendiaries was dropped, was the principal objective. Frankfurt-on-Main was also attacked. At both towns firfes were observed through gaps in the clouds. On the coast of France bombs were dropped on the docks at Boulogne and Cherbourg.” Royal Air Force bomber pilots have described the destructive effect pf Britain’s new and powerful bombs, some of which were dropped on _ Monday night at Mannheim, the most important industrial city in south-west Germany. “There was an astonishing explosion,” says one pilot. "It looked like an immense red ball and it must have been a terrific fire. Stuff was being thrown up in the air as if from a huge spray. Then there was a great mushroom of smoke. When I turned away finally, the rear gunner said he could still see a dull red glow remaining for some time.” • A pilot among those attacking Frank-furt-on-Main, another south-west German industrial centre, said that when one of the most powerful bombs was dropped showers of debris from blasted buildings were clearly seen, even from the great height at Which the aircraft was flying; Coastal Command Blenheims on Monday night attacked two aerodromes near Stavanger, in Norway, says the Air Ministry News Service. High explosives and incendiaries were dropped on both aerodromes. A squadroti leader who led the raid opened proceedings by starting two big fires among' the aerodrome buildings. Other members of his squadron followed him in and caused further havoc. When the crew of one aircraft arrived they saw a hangar burning fiercely and promptly set fire to another. A few moments after they had dropped their bombs there was a further "heavy explosion. Other aircraft of the Coastal Command bombed the French port of St. Nazaire for the second night in succession. Heavy bombs burst directly on the docks and naval workshops and ‘on the railway depot. U.S. CUTTERS FOR GREENLAND WASHINGTON. May 6. ft is learned in Washington that the United States is planning to send four cutters to Greenland to prevent any further Axis activity. The expedition will possibly include the Byrd expedition vessels North Star and Bear.