RAID ON HAMBURG

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 99, 23 October 1940, Page 9

RAID ON HAMBURG

Fires in Shipyards and Docks

R.A.F. DROPS TONS OF BOMBS

{British Official Wireless.) (Received October 23, noon.) RUGBY, October 22. An Air Ministry communique states: '' Our bombers yesterday carried out daylight attacks on the ports of Boulogne and Gravelines. At Boulogne a merchant ship was hit and damage was done to wharves and warehouses. Other aircraft attacked an enemy convoy off the French coast. One ship was hit and disabled. "Last night adverse weather reduced the scale of our bomber offensive. Nevertheless, a heavy attack was made on the naval dockyards at Hamburg, where many fires and explosions resulted. Other targets included a synthetic oil plant at Reisholz, the Dusseldorf goods yards, various industrial objectives, and an aerodrome at Stadc. One of our aircraft is missing."

Enemy warships under construction at the Blohm and Voss yards at Hamburg were heavily attacked. Tons of high-explosive bombs and over 1000 fire bombs were dropped on the shipyard and docks in the immediate vicinity in waves which began soon after 3 p.m. and continued for more than an hour. Heavy ground haze, combined with great searchlight activity and intense i anti-aircraft fire, made conditions dif-j ficult for the raiding crews, but by making individual attacks from different directions and heights they were able to evade the ground defences and press home the attacks. Many fires broke out in the shipyards and the surrounding docks, and in one place a chain of fires became engulfed in one great flaming mass. I

The Ruhr had one of its earliest night raid alarms since the war, when at 7.30 p.m. a raiding force of heavy bombers opened a lightning attack at an oil refinery at Reisholz, near Dusseldorf. For ten minutes high explosive and incendiary bombs rained on the plant and 14 separate fires were counted in the target area.

BERLIN CASUALTIES

CLOSE TO 3000

SUNDAY NIGHT'S RAID

There were many explosions and several big fires were started in the railway yards at Dusseldorf-Derendorf.

Bombs were also dropped on the main south-west line at Dusseldorf and an aerodrome at Stade.

TERRIFIC ONSLAUGHT

INVASION PORTS

DAYLIGHT ATTACKS

A DIRECT HIT

(Received October 23, noon.) LONDON, October 22. I Long after the sun had risen yester- j day people on the south-east coast saw evidence of the R.A.F.'s terrific overnight battering of the invasion ports. An immense red glo^ like a prairie fire stretched for miles in a great unbroken line. Heavy explosions were heard on the French coast yesterday I afternoon, indicating that the R.A.F. had launched a daylight attack on the gun emplacements.

GERMAN CARGO VESSEL

For the third day in succession the

thunder of trans-Channel artillery fire shook the Dover area. The British opened a bombardment this morning.

(Received October 23, 12.30 p.m.) LONDON, October 22. According to the "Daily Mail," the Rome radio estimated that the air raid casualties in Berlin on October 20-21 amounted to 2871, which is considerably more than double the highest number suffered in any night raid on London.

The Rome radio stated that nine persons were killed and 14 injured in Italy as a result of R.A.F. raids on October 20-21. LONDON, October 22. Details of the heavy long-distance raids carried out by the Royal Air Force on Sunday night are already known all over the world.

An indication of the effectiveness of the attack on Berlin, with all reference to military objectives carefully deleted, comes from the Moscow wireless, which quoted German newspapers. It said that several districts of Berlin had been destroyed.

Others had received considerable damage, and there had been many casualties. High-explosive bombs were dropped in the southern part of the city, and a fire in one building could not be put out until the next day.

•. (British Official Wireless.) (Received October 23, 12.30 p.m.) RUGBY, October 22. A Royal Air Force bomber this afternoon sighted and attacked an enemy cargo vessel of nearly 2000 tons three miles off the Hook of Holland, states an Air Ministry communique. Diving down through the cloud, the pilot dropped a stick of heavy high-explo-sive bombs from 900 feet and scored a direct hit on the ship's bow.