FAR-RANGING ATTACK

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 126, 30 May 1944, Page 5

FAR-RANGING ATTACK

PLANE OFFENSIVE

AIRCRAFT WORKS HIT

(U.P.A. and 8.0. W.) Rec. 11 a.m. LONDON, May 29. » Allied planes from Britain today ranged far and wide over Germany and enemy-occupied Europe. Strong forces of bombers and fighters from the Mediterranean joined in what became the greatest day attack of the war against purely aircraft targets. Between 500 and 750 heavy bombers of the Mediterranean Air Force again flew over the Alps and heavily bombed plane factories and airfields in the Vienna and Wienerneustadt areas. The main targets were the No. 1 aircraft plant at Wienerneustadt, which is a Messerschmitt assembly centre, and the airframe factory a few - miles south-west of Vienna. Allied raiders also attacked two ferry plane airfields near Wienerneustadt. The Mediterranean Air Force was very active in Italy, where it switched its attack from railway connections between Rome and Florence, which are now cut, to the west coast ports . and neighbouring targets. Liberators carried the attack to Yugoslavia and flew two missions against German troop concentrations. THOUSAND HEAVY BOMBERS. Meanwhile, from Britain nearly 1000 heavy bombers, with clouds of escorting American and Allied fighters, car- ; 1-ied on the R.A.F.'s overnight bomb--1 ing and struck at German aircraft \ factories from Poland to Leipzig. ! Heavy bombers smashing against j Posen had to fly a round trip exceedi ing 1400 miles. Berlin radio indicated the intensity I and extent of the attack. All day ; long it poured out reports of Allied intrusions and heavy air fighting. : This afternoon strong forces of ) Marauders and Havocs of the Ninth t Air Force attacked four bridges in I northern France and Belgium, includ--5 ing one crossing the Meuse at Liege- ■ val-Benoit, and an airfield at Achiet, ■ north of Paris. They were escorted } by Thunderbolts. \ FIGHTER FACTORIES TARGETS. United States headquarters states: : "Fighter aircraft factories at Posen i and Kreising, in Poland, and Leipzig, i Tutow, Kottbus, and Sorau, in Germany, were attacked today by very ' strong forces of Fortresses and Liberat tors of the Eighth Air Force. Kreising >is five miles south-east of Posen. i Tutow is south-east of Rostock, near r Anklam. Kottbus is 95 miles southeast of Berlin. Sorau is . 130 miles : south-east of Berlin. Over 1200 ; fighters of the Eighth and Ninth Air t Forces were 'in the escort. They int eluded Lightnings, Mustangs. and ; Thunderbolts." . ; It is understood between 750 and I 1000 heavy bombers took part, i The. British United Press says that • the attacks against Tutow, Posen, and s Leipzig were return visits, but that it was the first time the Allies have bombed the factories at Kottbus, Sorau, and Kreising. It added: "This is a re- . minder to Hitler that no matter how : far he transfers his plane factories ' eastward he cannot safeguard them , from our bombers." t- HEAVIEST BLOW OF WAR. ] Simultaneously with the blows of ', the heavy bombers, Marauders and ; Havocs from Britain carried out their ! heaviest attack of the war when 400 ;of them, escorted by Thunderbolts, ! "attacked four bridges and an airfield - in northern France and Belgium. One ' bridge was completely broken, another wrecked, the third had a row • of craters across it, and the fourth, ; crossing the Meuse at Liege-val- ' Benoit, received at least 12 hits. j The airfield attacked was Achiet, 1 north of Paris. Not a single enemy ' plane was sighted during these operations. \ Bostons and Mitchells this afternoon ■ attacked railway yards in Belgium, while other Mitchell squadrons attack- ; ed military targets in northern France. These followed earlier operations, in I the course of which rocket-projector L Typhoons made a successful attack on ; a power station in northern France. \ U.S.A.A.F. headquarters announced ,' tonight that bombers also attacked the . synthetic oil plant at Politz today. This . is a suburb of Stettin. j ASSAULT ON ANGERS. The offensive against the German- . held railways of north-western Europe . was continued last night by the . Bomber Command with a heavy attack on the important railway centre of ■ Angers, 50 miles east of Nantes. The attack was made by a force of Lani casters just before midnight, and concentrated into less than ten minutes. : The heavy load of high-explosive : bombs left big fires in the target area, smoke rising over 15,000 feet. The force achieved complete surprise. There were no searchlights over the target, and after the attack started only two or three guns continued to ' fire. A few fighters were encountered, and though one crew saw three on the return journey not one made any attempt to attack. PERFECT VISIBILITY. The pilot of the first aircraft to reach.the target had perfect visibility, and by the light of'flares and markers the railway lines and the adjacent river could be seen clearly. The area was soon covered with smoke, however, as the markers were repeatedly hit by sticks of bombs. One pilot reported a violent explosion, as though an oil dump had been hit. Great flames followed the explosion, and dense clouds of black smoke formed a pillar over the target. Crews who attacked Ludwigshafen saw two large explosions in the target area. The Press Association reported that a large force of medium bombers was crossing the Channel over a south-east coast town at 4 p.m. to keep up the air pounding. Subsequently a second considerable force of medium bombers went out over the same town. The British United Press aviation writer, summing up, says that in the : day raids alone today about 1600 heavy bombers were engaged, probably carrying a load of about 3000 tons of bombs to factories which must supply the new Luftwaffe planes during the ; coming battles in Europe. COASTAL COMMAND'S PART. Coastal Command aircraft have con- ; tributed greatly to the pre-invasion i operations, states the Press Association's aviation writer. Rocket, torpedo, and cannon-firing Beaufightei-s and other planes in recent weeks have co-operated in a succession of powerful strikes against German coastal : shipping. The job was carried out so : successfully that the Germans' sea communications have been strained to the utmost. Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian squadrons, operating Beaufighters, Mosquitoes. Wellingtons, and Albacores, participated in the offensive.. The Coastal Command, in the last | seven months, has made 563 attacks against enemy vessels, of which at least 66 were either sunk or damaged, : while in the past three years to March. 1944, 1,079.907 tons of enemy shipping ; have been attacked, of which 287.71?. tons were sunk. 1 Paris.radio, joining in the Axis i propaganda campaign against Allied ] airmen, said: "The Allied raids on France since May 26 have killed 4480 ' persons, injured about 8000, and made < 100.000 homeless. "Many persons in Marseilles were ! killed in the streets because they did < not obey advice to take shelter when < the alert was given." J The Associated Press Stockholm cor- 1 respondent reports that eight Ameri- * can heavy bombers were forced-down ' in Sweden today. Over 500 American J airmen are now interned in Sweden. £