BIG FIRES IN GENOA

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23798, 18 November 1942, Page 3

BIG FIRES IN GENOA

HEAVY BOMBS USED BY R.A.F. (8.0. W.) RUGBY, Nov. 16. Hundreds of bombs of 10001b or more fell on Genoa in less than 25 minutes on Sunday night, when Royal Air Force heavy bombers attacked the port for the sixth time since the opening of the Mediterranean offensive. Once again the weather was just right and the town and docks stood out so clearly that_ the . crews could see how some buildings had been left empty shells by previous attacks. One Halifax pilot said: “Flares were being dropped over the target as we flew towards it. Bomb flashes lit up the streets and good fires were started. I could see smoke blowing out over the Gulf of Genoa.” Another pilot described how he watched a fire start at one end of a line of warehouses on a strip of land jutting out in the inner harbour, and spread along the whole length of the line. Fighter Command aircraft made a number of small-scale raids on targets in the occupied territory, where trains were bombed and machinegunned. Barges on the Bruges-Ostend canal were bombed. Mosquitoes of the Bomber Command to-day attacked objectives in Western Germany. No aircraft are missing from these operations. Hampdens of the Coastal Command yesterday hit a medium-sized supply ship off the Norwegian coast. The British Ministry of Home Security has issued a bulletin on casualties caused by German air raids over Britain during October. During the month 229 persons were killed or are missing and believed killed, 55 of them being children under the age of 16. In addition, 370 persons were injured seriously enough to need treatment in hospital. Sir Alan Brooke Honoured. —General Sir Alan Brooke, K.C.8.. Chief of the Imperial General Staff, has been promoted to G.C.B. —Rugby, November 16.