RAIDS ON GERMANY

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 April 1941, Page 8

RAIDS ON GERMANY

KIEL AND BERLIN BOMBED

MORE SHIPS DESTROYED

[BRITISH OFFICIAL WIRELESS.]

RUGBY, April 26.

An Air Ministry communique says: “Kiel was the principal objective of Friday night’s operations by the Royal Air Force Bomber Command. Many fires broke out in the shipyards and the dock area. Targets in Berlin, Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven, Emden, Lubeck, and Friedrichstadt were bombed, and also oil stores at Rotterdam. , . “The Bomber Command was also verv active during Friday. At Ijmuiden the iron and steel works was successfully attacked Bombs fell across blast furnaces and factory buildings. The plant, which was in full operation when the attack took place, was left wrapped in a pall of smoke. Direct hits were made on barges and quayside buildings. In the docks and gun-pits troops and shipping were machine-gunned. On the German island of Baltrum, a factory building was bombed and severely damaged. Bombs dropped on the railway between Middleburg and Flushing—on the island of Walcheren —hit the track. Other bombers made attacks over enemy occupied Denmark. Railways and two wireless stations were bombed. “In addition to the land attacks the usual searches for enemy shipping were made. A supply vessel in the canal joining Rotterdam to the North Sea was hit from a height of 24 feet and sunk. Other aircraft discovered three ships in convoy, heavily escorted, some miles west of Heligoland. These were attacked form a very low level. The largest was set on fire and almost certainly destroyed. Another was hit on the stern and severely damaged. The convoy and its escort were also machine-gunned.

“From these day and night opera tions, two aircraft are missing.”

FURTHER DAYLIGHT ATTACKS.

RUGBY, April 27.

An Air Ministry communique states: During daylight yesterday, the Bomber Command continued' operations against enemy shipping. Three supply ships were attacked off the coast of Norway, and at least one was sunk. A vessel of about 4000 tons, in an escorted convoy off the Frisian Islands, was bombed anddamaged. Anti-aircraft ships near the Dutch coast were attacked with bombs and machine-gun fire. A successful surprise attack was made on one aerodrome near Sund, in Norway, yesterday. Two grounded aircraft were destroyed by bombs, and others were machine-gunned. The main attack last night by the same Command was made on objectives at Hamburg. Powerful bombs and thousands of incendiaries were dropped, and fires were started in the industrial and dock areas. Other aircraft attacked Emden, Bremerhaven, and Cuxhaven. From all these day and night operations, five of our planes are missing. The Coastal Command, last night, successfully bombed the docks at. Le Havre and Ijmuiden. No aircraft is missing from these operations.

BRITAIN’S NEW FIGHTER.

RUGBY, April 26

The new Typhoon fighter aircraft for the Royal Air Force is now in full production. Powered by a Sabre engine of nearly 2000 horse-power, it is a single seater machine with a speed of more than 400 miles an hour.

The Typhoon’s armament is a combination of machine-guns and cannon. Its ceiling is higher than that of any enemy machine. It can climb like a rocket with a full war load.

NEW BOMBS’ EFFECT

RUGBY, April 27

Describing the raid on Hamburg, in which the latest and most-powerful bombs were used, the Air Ministry reports: Night fighters were up again, attempting to intercept the British bombers as they neared the enemy coast, but save for one aircraft, a Messerschmitt 110, which followed one aircraft for half an hour and then broke off after a brief exchange of fire, there were no obstacles. The i bombers arrived over Hamburg to find low drifting clouds between them and the ground, but every now and then there were clear patches, through which to aim the bombs and see the results. e Pilots’ impressions of the effects of these powerful bombs were very similar. One pilot spoke of “a huge heaving mass like a volcanic eruption, which rose and settled down into a great red glow, fully half-a-mile in diameter.” The burst of this bomb was seen by a sergeant-pilot in another aircraft. “It was away on our port side,” he said. “We were ten miles off, but even from that distance it was terrific.” One aircraft which attacked Bremerhaven dropped its load, and the effect was very much the same as at Hamburg. “I had with me one of the powerful bombs,” said the pilot, “and after it burst I could see a great circle of red, and on the rim it was quite a distance from the centre. I saw buildings going up in the air. Although I have been in 31 raids, I have never seen anything to match the effect of this bomb.”

THE WEEK’S LOSSES

RUGBY, April 27. During the period from dusk on April 19 to dusk on April 26, 13 German aircraft were destroyed, over Britain, 11 of these after darkness. No British machines were lost over Britain. during this period. Over Europe, excluding the Balkans, three German aircraft were shot down, and 17 British were lost in offensive operations. Two enemy aircraft were destroyed by ships between these dates. In the Mediterranean and African area, the Axis lost 50 machines in the air, and five on the ground, at a cost to the British Empire Air Forces of 18.

In addition to the above figures, the nayy accounted for six Axis aircraft in this theatre. The figures given for the Mediterranean include only those reported up to yesterday.

MERSEYSIDE RAIDED.

MR. CHURCHILL’S PROMISE

LONDON, April 27. The Merseyside was the principal objective of air attacks on Britain last night. The raid was not on a heavy scale, though some damage was

done and a few persons were killed. There were no concentrated attacks elsewhere. The Luftwaffe’s main attack on Friday night was directed against the north-east of England. A communique says that it was sharp. It occurred in the early part of the night, but had ended by midnight. Bombs were dropped at several points, and at some the damage was considerable. There were a number of casualties, of which only a small number were fatal. Some bombs were also dropped on the east and north-east coasts of Scotland, and at isolated points in the east and northwest of England. These incidents caused neither damage nor casualties. Enemy daylight activity on Saturday was on a very small scale. Bombs were dropped on towns on the east coast. Several people were injured and a number of houses damaged. It is officially stated that on Saturday enemy aircraft dropped bombs on a town near the south coast. A number of people were injured and some damage was done. An enemy bomber was shot down into the seas by fighters. There was little other enemy air activity during the day. Mr. Churchill, seeing the air raid damage in Manchester to-day, said: “It is a tragedy, but they will get it back threefold.” Mr. Churchill was enthusiastically welcomed by workers and citizens in the streets when he visited Liverpool. When he asked: “Are we downhearted?” he received a rousing reply, “No!”

LONDON’S FIRE FIGHTERS

RUGBY, April 26. An order has been made requiring London’s city workers between the ages of 18 and 60 to register 'for fire prevention duties in the city area. The order is necessary because of the very small residential night population in the city of London. The Minister for Home Security (Mr. Herbert Morrison) to-day described the “battle of flames” at home as just as important as many an engagement in other theatres. The firefighters, he said, were a mechanised army. He emphasised that the equioment was first-class and that there was no shortage of it. The total fire-fighting strength in men and equipment was 15 to 20 times greater than normal for<*the whole country, and up to 25 times greater in “target areas.”

LONDON EVACUEES.

LONDON, April 25. As a result of the recent mass raids, sponsored evacuation from London has greatly increased. Parties of mothers and children are leaving three times a week. The average for each party in the last few months has been 200, but last Tuesday there were 1100 and yesterday 2500. To-morrow’s partv will number 2880.