ASSAULT BY AIR

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24530, 2 April 1945, Page 3

ASSAULT BY AIR

German Industrial Targets (N.£. Press Association—Copyngtrt) (Eec. D.45 p.m.» LONDON, March 31. While Royal Air Force Lancasters and Halifaxes. escorted by Mustangs, visited Germany in strength on Saturday morning, attacking the Blohm and Voss submarine building yards at Hamburg, more than 1300 United States Flying Fortresses and Liberators attacked a synthetic oil plant at Zeitz, railway yards at Hslle, and railway and industrial, targets at Brunswick and Brandenburg. Some 850 Mustangs and Thunderbolts escorted the American bombers. The enemy put up jet-propelled aircraft against the forces attacking Hamburg. Many combats took place over the city, while the master bomber calmly directed his crews on to the targets. Eleven bombers are missing. The Air Ministry says that on Friday night Mosquitoes attacked Berlin and Erfurt. Three merchantmen were left burning fiercely and a fourth was smoking when Mustangs on Friday made a, rocket and cannon attack on four enemy merchant vessels, at a harbour in south-Norway. Intruder - patrols were maintained over Holland End northern Germany. From these and other operations on Friday one bomber and one .Coastal, Command aircraft are missing. “Flying Fortresses and Liberators from Italy were out in strength on Saturday blasting'enemy targets at Linz and Treviso,” says a Rome correspondent. “German fighters failed to appear but flak was heavy.” Lightnings and Mustangs swept the Vienna area, as well as escorting the heavy bombers. The battle against, the Brenner Pass was continued,by Thunderbolts and an important bridge was knocked out. Hamburg, Wilhelmshaven, and Bremen were bombed, on Friday by 1400 United States bombers in the heaviest bomber assault ever made on German ports. The, large Deschimag shipbuilding yards’ pt Bremen, specialising in', the construW«Jb W 740-ton and 51200* , ton submarines, were bombed ih good . visibility - by. Flying Fortresses. ' The. . . Flying Fortresses also attacked a'high-*.,. way bridge at Brfmen, which was be-' - r ing coriverted fbr rail . use. Liberators; attacked "the • inner : harbour at’ Wilhelmshaven. concentrating r, on the Government naval dockyards, , ... where, recent reconnaissance,showed a ■v. ■ number of submarines in the harbour,.;, ••• as well as other naVal vessels.: Some,,; of the bombing here vh;uatAvThe> Blohm and Voss yards, producers of 250-ton U-boats, were attacked at Hamburg by Flying- Fortresses, end *,■ large petrol storage depot was. also tacked. . / ■' • ■ s.. -