R.A.F. BATTERS TURIN

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23802, 23 November 1942, Page 5

R.A.F. BATTERS TURIN

Tremendous Weight Of Bombs HEAVY DAMAGE REPORTED (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright.) (8.0. W.) RUGBY, Nov. 21. The Air Ministry states that on Friday night a strong force of bombers attacked Turin. The weather over the target was good and the attack was heavy and concentrated, but dense smoke from many fires made observation of the results difficult. Detailed reports state that German fighters were up on Friday night, not only over the French coast but a long way south into France to intercept the great force of heavy and medium bombers which attacked Turin, but they met with little success. Flares lighted Turin as the bombers began to arrive in almost an uninterrupted procession. Soon fires were raging, but the haze and smoke made it difficult to see. The weight of the attack on the city can be judged from the fact that it is officially made known that aircraft of a single bomber group dropped 54 40001b bombs and 110,0001b of incendiaries in just under an hour—at the rate of one 40001b bomb a minute and 301b of incendiaries a* second. An Italian communique states that waves of British aeroplanes on Friday night dropped many incendiaries and high-explosives on Turin causing heavy damage to the centre of the city. Twenty-nine were killed and 120 injured. The Italian Minister for Popular Culture (Signor Alessandro Pavelini), in a broadcast address over the Rome radio, gave plans for the mass evacuation of Turin, Genoa, Milan, and other towns likely to be the targets of British bombers. “Italy is only in the first stage of its career as a bomb target,’’ says the “Sunday Express” in a leading article on the Turin raid. “The destruction and terror of to-day are almost trivial compared with what she must endure to-morrow. We are about to make a test of how much bombing a nation can stand before it collapses. No more suitable target could be found for such a test. The bombing of Britain was nothing compared with the bombing about to come to Italy.” The Berlin radio announced that two British bombers each towing a glider, flew over south Norway on Thursday night. One bomber and two gliders were forced to the ground. The sabotage troops they were carrying were put to battle and wiped out to the last man. Late on Friday afternoon, Coastal Command aircraft attacked an escorted enemy convoy off. the Dutch coast near The Hague. Two supply ships and an escort vessel were hit with torpedoes. From these operations three Bomber Command and three Coastal Command aircraft are missing. To-night’s official report stating that there has been no enemy activity over Britain during the day means that no bombs have been dropped anywhere in Britain since November 6.