R.A.F. STILL VIGOROUS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 136, 10 June 1940, Page 9

R.A.F. STILL VIGOROUS

KEY POINTS AS TARGETS

OIL TANKS LEFT IN FLAMES

(British Official Wireless.) "*

('Received June 10, 11.30 a.m.)

RUGBY, June 9.

The Air Ministry announces that throughout Saturday RA.F.I medium bombers , continued their attacks on the enemy's lines of com- J munication, including road junctions and river crossings behind the fighting fronts. Tr / oop m concentrations and columns of armoured fighting vehicles were also sought out and bombed. Two of our aircraft are missing. These operations were continued during the night. . «■

The northern entrances to Amiens and key points in the Abbeville area were Attacked by heavy bombers. Ammunition dumps concealed in the wooded areas near Ardennes were blown up. Other formations of heavy bombers made night attacks on military objectives over a wide area ranging from Ardennes north-east to Rhenish Prussia and the Ruhr. Bombing and machine-gun attacks were made by coastal command aircraft on oil storage tanks at Ghent during the night. Extensive damage was done and many fires started. All the aircraft engaged in the night operations returned. Ten enemy aircraft, including seven bombers, were shot down by our fighters yesterday. Two of ours are missing.

The Air Ministry news service states that eight R.A.F. Hurricanes on patrol over the fighting zone in France yesterday met a formation of 20 Heinkel 111 bombers and shot down six. Ten

Messerschmitt 109 fighters escorting the enemy bombers were unable to give them effective protection against the attack, by the Hurricanes. One of the was also shot down. Two\Hurricanes are missing. Scores of heavy bombs were dropped] last night on oil depots in eriemyoccupied territoryl^ Ghent with effective results. The raid was carried out by Coastal Command medium bombers, all of which returned without damage. CONSISTENT SUCCESS. One cluster of oil tanks was already blazing. fiercely when the~*second wave of bombers arrived. They placed their bombs, therefore, on other oil reservoirs silhouetted by the flames. These, too, were set alight. When the' following aircraft found their target had been fired already they aimed their bombs so as to widen the burning areas—every time with success. Sol widespread and high were the. flames rising from the oil tanks -that one pilot in ' the last stage of the attack thought it would be a waste of bombs to drop any more in the cauldron.

The glare of the flames revealed five railway lines, two of which were filled with covered wagons. The pilot was able to obtain very precise results on this unexpected target. As the wagons blew up' there was a succession of great explosions. There were also explosions, followed by eruptions of black smoke, when another aircraft made four hits on a further section of large oil containers. The pilot of another aircraft released all his bombs in a single salvo and set at least two more oil tanks alight. Then he came down low and pierced other tanks with bullets from his machine-gun. The escaping fuel was set on fire by tracer bullets and added to the scene of naming ruin.