BY DAY AND NIGHT

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 173, 18 April 1942, Page 7

BY DAY AND NIGHT

Steadily Growing R.A.F. Offensive 400 SPITFIRES OPERATE IN ONE DAY (British Official Wireless and Press .Assn.) . LONDON, April 16. The clay and night offensive by the R.A.F. against Hitler’s Western Front has been steadily growing in volume. Wednesday night’s operations had scarcely ceased when daylight raiders crossed the Straits of Dover and launched heavy attacks on the Calais and Dunkirk areas. Four hundred Spitfires participated in these operations. An Air Ministry communique states that the Ruhr was again heavily attacked on Wednesday night by aircraft of the Bomber Command.’ The docks at St. Nazaire, Le Havre and aerodromes in the Low Countries'Were also bombed. Four of our aircraft are missing. Today waves of planes went out over the Channel, and houses on the British side were shaken by heavy explosions from the French

coast. Last night the submarine docks at Lorient and the docks at Le Havre were also attacked. An enemy aircraft was destroyed over northern France. Two of our bombers are missing.

HEAVILY HIT

Targets In Northern France LARGE-SCALE SWEEPS LONDON, April 16. Au Air Miuistry communique summarizes Thursday’s operations as follows: Our fighters made a series of large-scale sweeps over northern France today. In one of these, a squadron of Bostons was escorted to Le Havre when a power-station, docks and shipping were bombed. In other sweeps, bomb-carrying Hurricanes attacked the docks at Dunkirk and an aerodrome on the Cherbourg peninsula. Five enemy aircraft were destroyed during the day’s operations and two of our fighters are missing. A later Air Ministry newh service bulletin added that in a further sweep by sevaral squadrons of Spitfires on Thursday evening one Focke-Wulf 190 was probably destroyed over northern France. There was superb bombing by Bostons at Le Havre, when four direct hits were observed on the power-station. Dogfights At Great Height. The Mr Ministry says that a Spitfire wing had a short fight at over 20,000 feet with about 12 Focke-Wulf 190’s. Two of these were probably destroyed, but the Spitfires were so high that the pilots could not see their victims’ end.

A member of an Australian squadron sent a Focke-Wulf into an appar-

ently uncontrolled vertical dive from 25,000 feet. A squadron leader fought another Focke-Wulf 190, which suddenly rolled over and went steeply down with smoke pouring from it. Soon afterward, a lone Spitfire pilot on shipping reconnaissance in the Channel damaged an enemy torpedoboat of about 200 tons. He dived from 5000 feet and broke off the attack when almost at sea level and then gave the boat another burst as he dived again from 2000 feet.

Three enemy fighters are known to have been destroyed in combats over northern France on Wednesday, and three R.A.F. fighters are missing. No bombers were lost in the attack on Cherbourg.

BOMBS ON BRITAIN

LONDON, April 16. Twelve persons, including five babies, were killed last night when night raiders heavily bombed a British north-eastern coastal town. Several houses in a working-class area were demolished and many others were badly damaged. A few enemy aircraft were over the south coast of England tonight. There was a small number of casualties in one place as a result of machinegun fire. The Berlin news agency stated that formations of heavy German bombers attacked harbour installations in the British war industrial centre on the Tyne estuary last night. A Berlin communique stated that the Luftwaffe last night bombed the harbour and shipyards at Sunderland and started big fires.