AERIAL WARFARE

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 March 1941, Page 7

AERIAL WARFARE

R.A.F. OVER GERMANY

RUHR & RHINELAND BOMBED

[BY CABLE.—PRESS ASSN.—COPYRIGHT-]

LONDON, March 28.

Though there was no German air activity over Britain last night, Royal Air Force bombers attacked targets in the Ruhr and the Rhineland. Cologne and Dusseldorf were the principal centres attacked. Many heavy bombs were dropped, and the explosions could be clearly seen. There was a brief daylight alert in London this morning, when a small force of raiders reached the outskirts of the London area. The raiders were quickly driven off.

ENEMY SHIPPING BOMBED.

■ -RUGBY, March 28. Yesterday, aircraft of the Coastal Bomber Command made a number of harrassing attacks on enemy shipping. The operations extended from the Friesian Islands to La Rochelle. Naval vessels and supply ships were bombed and machine-gunned from a low level. , ... The supply ship harbour at Aldeiney received direct hits. The Bres naval base was also attacked during of the Coastal Command are missing. HEINKEL SHOT DOWN.

(Recd. March 29, 11 a.m.). LONDON, March 28. H.M.S. Leith shot down a Heinkel, when it attacked a convoy in the Bristol Channel. The crew of five were captured. One was wounded. Anotner Heinkel was badly damaged. The Leith and the convoy suffered no casualties. An enemy bomber was shot down in the sea south of Beachy Head, this morning. DAYLIGHT RAIDERS. RUGBY, March 28. A short alert sounded in London, this morning, the first for eight days. Low-flying raiders bombed a south coast town, wrecked six houses, and damaged many others. It is feared that many people are trapped. A raider machine-gunned the town after the bombing. Some were killed and injured when a restaurant was machine-gunned. Boys from a school nearby rushed to assist in digging ou those trapped.

FIRST GREAT CONFLICT.

OFFICIAL REVIEW.

RUGBY, March 27. The official story is now published of the gerat days from August 8 to, October 31 last year, when the German Air Force attacked Britain in the. greatest air battle in history. Nothing like it,” states the official account, “has ever been fought in the histoi y of mankind. “The first decisive encounter between Britain and Germany took place, in the air and was fought three, four,! five, and sometimes more than six ; miles above the surface of the earth, bysome hundreds of aircraft, at speeds i often more than 300 miles an hour., What did the Germans do during those 1 84 days of almost continuous attack? , “At the outset they sank five ships, and damaged five more, sailing in our coastal convoys. They -next did intermittent and sometimes severe damage to aerodromes. They scored hits on a number of factories which caused production to slow down for a short time. . 5 ’ “In London they did considerable damage to the docks and to various famous buildings, including Buckingham Palace. They destroyed or damaged beyond repair some thousands of houses. They killed during day attacks 1,700 people, nearly all civilians, and seltidusly wounded 3,360. At night 12,581 persons were killed and 16,065 injured. “What the Luftwaffe failed to do was to destroy the fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force which, indeed, were stronger at the end of the battle than at the beginning. This failure meant defeat —the defeat of the German Air Force itself, the defeat of a carefully designed plan, and the defeat of that which Herr Hitler most longed for, the invasion of this island. “The victory was not achieved without cost. The Royal Air Force lost 375 pilots killed, and 358 were wounded.”