ATTACKS BY BIG BOMBERS

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24280, 10 June 1944, Page 5

ATTACKS BY BIG BOMBERS

Vital Railway Targets ENEMY GROUPING DELAYED (N.Z. Press Association —Copyright) (Rec. 12.50 p.m.) LONDON. June 9. In spite of bad weather —cloud, rain, and haze —the Bomber Command last night kept up the offensive against vital railway targets in the battle area, reports the Air Ministry. .Bombers attacked marshalling yards, junctions, and railway traffic centres at Rennes, Fougeres, Alencon, Mayenne, and Pontaubault, all south or of the fighting area, in the effort to block or disorganise the movement of German troops and supplies. One pilot reported a chain of fire just beyond the battle area and bright flashes Horn the sea, where ships appeared to be bombarding the coast. The bombers met fewer fighters than on the previous night. Bad weather must have kept many of them on the ground. New Zealand, British, and Australian Mosquito squadrons, of the 2nd Tactical Air Force, last night harassed German transport bringing up reinforcements and supplies. They shot up trains and bombed railway stations, roads, bridges, and encampments. Pilots who went, in low through dirty weather to get their targets reported that the battle near Caen had flared up. Artillery flashes were seen throughout the night. An Australian wing commander said Lisieux and Argentan were well alight. Tactical Air Force fighters foiled the Luftwaffe’s attempts to bomb the invasion beaches yesterday, when the enemy air reaction over the fighting zone was generally stiffer. The enemy in these four attacks employed upwards of 60 aeroplanes. Continuous fighter cover was again provided yesterday over the beaches and the fighting area. The day’s highlights were attacks against troop concentrations near Isigny and a special sortie by bomb-carrying Typhoons against a heavily defended area in the Isigny district. Typhoons wrecked blockhouses and gun sites. Reconnaissance photographs show that in the heavy bomber attack last night a 12001b bomb fell in a deep railway cutting near the entrance to a tunnel at Sutnur. Results may be “interesting.” More German Aircraft

Reuter’s correspondent at Supreme Headquarters, Allied , Expeditionary Forces, reports that the Germans are throwing in more aeroplanes over the battle area of Normandy. The Germans have enough airfields close behind the battle area to support a very large fighting force. The aerodromes are in rough arc, 50 to 100 miles from Caen.

A communique yesterday revealed that heavy aeroplanes of the Bth Air Force, at breakfast time yesterday, plastered the aerodromes of Rennes, Lemans, Laval, Tours, Nantes, and Angers. Twelve German fighters came up to intercept. Seven of them were shot down.

A London military commentator says the Germans are increasing their fighter reserves in France by reinforcement from Germany. Airfields near the battle area include two at Brest, one at Morlaix, one at Vannes, one at Lemans, 11 in the Paris area, one on the coast opposite Jersey, and one at Ficus. The airfields at Cherbourg and Caen can no longer be used by the enemy. Mitchell and Boston , bombers, following reconnaissance reports that Germans had been seen detraining at stations on the railway behind the battle area, blasted six stations west and south of Caen. Many bombers went out twice with only an hour between trips. Other Bosions, including the French Lorraine Squadron, destroyed huge supplies of trucks and troop carriages. The attacks began soon after nightfall and crews doing a second trip were still flying home at dawn.

The Press Association’s aviation correspondent says that during the last seven days almost the entire weight of Allied air power has been concentrated against the vital Normandy-Pas de Calais-Paris triangle. This, he says, foreshadows the development of Allied invasion air strategy.