NO OPPOSITION

Evening Star, Issue 23512, 28 February 1940, Page 9

NO OPPOSITION

BRITISH PLANES OVER BERLIN LEAFLETS DROPPED IN MAIN STREETS R.A.F.'S BIG NIGHT DARING EXCURSION INTO ENEMY TERRITORY LONDON, February 27. (Received' February- 28, at 8 a.m.) Planes of the Royal Air Force continue to show their ability to fly over Germany without loss and to take valuable photographs and drop leaflets with practically no interference from the enexny. During the past 24 hours the Royal Air Force has made big reconnaissance flights over Berlin, Heligoland, and German seaports on the Baltic coast. This is the third visit to Berlin, but the first to the Baltic ports. Flights over Germany have been made on four out of the past five days—the pilots having a day off on Sunday. A striking feature of the flights has been the almost complete lack of resistance by Germany. Leaflets have been dropped in the main streets of Berlin itself and all over the suburbs, but practically no planes have gone up to engage the Royal Air Force machines, and there has been very little anti-aircraft fire. Some of the British pilots have allowed themselves to be caught in the German searchlights to see what would happen. Very little anti-aircraft fire resulted, and no planes have gone up to engage the British machines. All the British planes returned home safely. Behind the Air Ministry’s communique lies a story tof possibly the most dramatic and certainly the most active night ot the Royal Air Force. It is believed the communique covers several separate adventures carried out in darkness by many machines operating in independent groups. It is noted that the Baltic is mentioned for the first time in any official air bulletin. A direct flight from the bomber base in Britain would have taken the pilots over the narrow and heavily-fortified neck of land north of Hamburg, which is cut by the Kiel Canal. The Royal Air Force’s visit to Berlin is the third of these Berlin trips, and probably the most thrilling and most osacting of its exploits. The pilots more than once courted the German searchlights in order to bring back the maximum amount of information and also to judge the enemy’s efforts to improve the. night defences by means of coloured searchlights, which were operated with- a view to discovering which colour is the most penetrating. Our pilots say the lights arc “ very pretty.” It was reported a fortnight ago that Berlin’s defence organisation was badly shaken when a British reconnaissance machine flew over the city. The British pilot said every available anti-air-craft gun came into action, but not a single shot went near him. FLARES DROPPED OH BERLIN LONDON, February 27. ' (Received February 28, at 1 p.m.) During the Royal Air Force’s flight last night over Berlin the planes flew up and down over the principal Berlin streets, throwing down flares and thousands of leaflets. The raiders clearly observed the outlay of Berlin. The reoonnaisseurs met witli obstruction only when returning over the Ruhr, where heavy anti-aircraft fire and varicoloured searchlights criss-orossedi the skies. The Royal Air Force pilots flew over Cologne, Dusseldorf, Emden, Duisberg. and Dortmund.

GERMAN DENIAL BERLIN, February 27. (Received February 28, at 1 p.m.) It is officially denied that British planes reached Berlin. No foreign planes were seen eastward of the Elbe. LIMPED HOME TO BASE REMARKABLE FLIGHT BY BRITISH PLANE (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, February 26. A remarkable flight has been made by the pilot of the Coastal Command, who for three hours brought his aircraft with a broken rudder back over the North Sba and made' a safe landing at the base. The aircraft was on reconnaissance patrol towards the coast of Norway when the tail was damaged in a fight with a Cornier. Bullets wrecked the hinge of one of the double rudders as the British aircraft was diving to attack the Cornier close to the sea. The flapping rudder made the aircraft practically uncontrollable, and the pilot pulled out of the dive only a few feet above water. Limping away, he made a good target, but the Cornier had taken its own share of punishment and flew off badly damaged. After the fight the British pilot was unable to keep the machine flying straight. It vibrated violently from end to end and developed a corkscrew motion. He pulled open the emergency hatch above his head, and the navigator and wireless operator opened the cabin door. All three had parachutes and lifejackets ready. Steering by the varying revolutions of the two engines and manipulating the ailerons and the remaining half-rudder, the pilot coaxed

the aircraft back towards the base on the east coast. Very soon it was dark. The pilot decided that the chances of making a safe lauding were so small as to be negligible, and he prepared the crew to “ bail out ” by parachute as soon as they saw that they were over land. After nearly two hours, the wireless operator, who had been unable to establish contact with the base, succeeded in doing so. He asked the aircraft’s position, and in a few moments the answer came back and the crew were astonished to learn that they wore over the Irish Sea, halfway between the Cumberland coast and tho Isle of Man. With wireless again in operation they “ homed ” back to the oast coast. When tho damaged tail was inspected it was found that in addition to a broken wing, a fracture had started across tho main tail plane and crept two-thirds of tho way across.