EXCELLENT RESULTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 121, 18 November 1940, Page 7

EXCELLENT RESULTS

RAIDS ELSEWHERE

ENEMY AERODROMES

(British Official Wireless.)

(Received November 18, 11.40 a.m.)

RUGBY, November 17,

In addition to the concentrated at- ! tack' on Hamburg, R.A.F. bombers also I made visits to other parts of Germany and enemy-occupied territory. [ The docks at Antwerp were also ' bombed. Coastal Command aircraft made a series of attacks on aerodromes in enemy occupation. Fires and explosions were caused. Dunkirk was also attacked. In daylight yesterday raids were carried out by the Bomber Command on oil refinery plants at Cologne and Bremen and on the Dortmund-Ems Canal. From all these operations three British aircraft have not returned. Coastal Command bombers made an effective and destructive tour of enemy aerodromes in the Rouen, Abbeville, Arras, and Cambrai areas. The crews of the attacking Hudsons and Beauforts, despite bad weather, were able Jto get excellent resjults. Four audacious dive attacks, in the ■ course of which the pilot went down to within 300 feet of the ground, were made by one Beaufort on the aerodrome in the Cambrai sector at dusk. In the first sweep he planted incenj diary bombs which ignited buildings. In the following attacks he "opened up" the targets with high-explosive bombs. The flames spread fast andj when the aircraf left they were leaping nearly 100 feet up. One Hudson which distributed highexplosive bombs along the boundary of another Cambrai landing ground produced six explosions and fierce fires.

All the aircraft which went to Abbeville reported similar successes. As a result of one explosion there the tail bomber of a Hudson was thrown from bis feet and the anterior of the aircraft was floodlit by successive flashes from the wrecked targets. Another Hudson bombed objectives across 1800 yards of the aerodrome, and the crew, had the satisfaction of seeing extensive fires sweeping inwards from' each end of the bombed area.

along' with Hudsons, Blenheims, and Beauforts. At Stavanger large fires were started, probably among aircraft, and explosions were observed among the flames. Substantial results were obtained on the French aerodromes, where buildings were hit and set on fire and damage was caused to landing grounds. At Rennes an arsenal was left blazing.