DAYLIGHT RAID

Evening Post, Volume CXXXV, Issue 77, 1 April 1943, Page 5

DAYLIGHT RAID

ROTTERDAM BOMBED

ONE PLANE MISSING

(Rec. 12.20 p.m.) RUGBY, March 31. The Air Ministry announces that Flying Fortresses attacked shipping and shipbuilding yards at Rotterdam in daylight today. R.A.F., Dominion, and Allied fighters supported the bombers over the target area and carried out diversionary sweeps. Bombs were seen to burst in the target area, but owing to heavy cloud observation of the results was difficult. The flak was heavy, and enemy fighter opposition was slight. One bomber is missing. Between 1000 and 2000 aircraft took part in four successive nights of bombing of. enemy-occupied territory which began on March 26 and ended yesterday morning. Very heavy blows were struck at Duisburg, Berlin, and St. Nazaire, and on the fourth night Berlin again and also targets, in the Ruhr. Experts consider that the loss of 48 machines in four nights is a small cost in'relation to the havoc caused to enemy war industries, and also the number of bombers engaged. An official of the Ministry of Economic Warfare said in London today that tha air bombing of Germany, combined with the British blockade, was having an effect in weakening Germany's production. "During the last three months," said the spokesman, "industrial damage done by our air force has been far greater' to the enemy than the damage he inflicted on us in any given period of three months in raids on this country. Not at any time during the raids on Britain was damage done to compare with the destruction at Krupps's or the vast destruction of factories in Berlin and the Ruhr."~B.O.W.