ITS SERVICE ENDED

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 31, 6 February 1945, Page 6

ITS SERVICE ENDED

R.A.F. BALLOON COMMAND

Bee. 11.10 a.m. RUGBY, Feb. 5. The R.A.F. Balloon Command has ceased to exist after six years of operations.

Sir Archibald Sinclair, Secretary of State for Air, in announcing this, said that the balloons Avould still fly under other R.A.F. commands. It was believed that they would become mobile units, chiefly for service overseas.

Addressing the final parade of the command, Sir Archibald Sinclair said ,that in November, 1938, the command .came to life, and in September, 1939, at was flying some 600 balloons. By I the end of the blitz it was flying 2400 jrTo answer the challenge of the flyingjbomb, nearly 2000 were flying over j London. In 1943 over 1000 balloon sites were staffed by the Women's 'Auxiliary Air Force—BiO.W

RAID ON KOBE

MANY FIRES CAUSED

Eec. 9 a.m. WASHINGTON, Feb 4 A Twentieth Air Force communique says Super-Fortresses based on the Mariana Islands bombed Kobe in daylight today with good results. Three enemy planes were destroyed, and 29 damaged. The United Press of America says that this is the first daylight bombing of Kobe.

Photographs show that the raid caused 22 major fires, mostly in the north-west area. The wind was blowing the flames towards the centre of Kobe. Six fires were burning around a large plant in the centre of the city, and two in a congested area near the waterfront. One Superfortress crashed in the sea on the return flight, and the crew were rescued. . All the others returned.

General Mac Arthur reports that heavy bombers attacked the Okayama ;airbase in daylight and destroyed 20 ! parked planes. Patrol planes along the Formosa coast and the Sakashini ! Islands destroyed or damaged four small freighters and left a fifth on fire.