BREMEN AND HANOVER

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 July 1941, Page 5

BREMEN AND HANOVER

AGAIN HEAVILY RAIDED EXTENSIVE FIRES & DAMAGE _ RUGBY, July 15. An Air Ministry communique states: The industrial areas of Bremen and Hanover were heavily attacked by R.A.F. bombers last night. Many tons of heavy high explosive bombs and thousands.of incendiaries were dropped on both cities. Extensive fires were caused and considerable damage done to the docks at Bremen, and among industrial buildings at Hanover. Several other targets in north-west Germany were also bombed. A smaller force attacked the docks at Rotterdam. Five of our aircraft are missing. It is now known that during the operations on Sunday night, a bomber shot down an enemy fighter. NEW BOMBS’ HAVOC (Rec. 2.5 p.m.) LONDON, July 15. Stories of the devastating effects of Britain’s ndw bombs are trickling from Germany. One recent raid on Bremen caused 1200 deaths, and 15,Ouu were injured. One heavy bomb destroyed or damaged 350 houses.— U.P.A. ATTACK ON~CHERBOURG. ~RUGBY, July 15. The attack on Cherbourg met some resistance from light anti-aircraft and machine-guns in the town and in forts about it, but the townspeople gave the aircraft a very different welcome. As the British bombers roared over the house-tops the streets were crowded with people waving to them. One bomber attacked an enemy merchant vessel of about 6000 the trans-Atlantic dock. The results of the attack were seen by the crew of another bomber. ■ One bomb fell directly on the ship and the explosion was followed by columns of smoke. After the attack the bomber went on. to machine-gun a column of German military transport in the town. Another Blenheim dropped its bombs on a railway station south of the docks. Bombs fell on the station itself, and one was seen to skid along the railway line and burst in the mouth of a tunnel. Railway buildings and a crane were also hit. Locomotive sheds and an important factory building south-west of the transAtlantic docks were attacked by other aircraft. None of the enemy fighters got through the protective screen of the British fighters to intercept the the Royal Air Force bombers. In an attack on the railway yards at Hazebrouck yesterday morning British fighters also kept the enemy away while the bombers straddled their target with high explosives. The pilots of two British fighters which collided when attacking a Messerschmitt during yesterday’s sweeps were seen to bail out safely. RAIDS ON BRITAIN. LONDON, July 15. Enemy activity over Britain last night was confined to eastern England. Only a small number of enemy aeroplanes took paq’t- An attack on a coastal town caused some damage, but the number of casualties was not large. Bombs dropped at two other points in this area caused only minor danicigc. A small number of enemy aircraft were seen off the coasts of Britain in daylight yesterday and a tew were flown inland, but there were no reports of any bombs being dropped. Two enemy bombers were destroyed in the afternoon, one by anti-aircraft gunfire on the east coast of Scotland, and the other by fighters off the coast of Wales. “RUGBY, July 15. An Air Ministry and Home Security communique states: Early this afternoon, single enemy aircraft flew over South Wales and the west of England, but apart from this there is nothing to report. Up to 8 p.m.. there were no reports of any bombs having been dropped.—B.O.W. D.F.C. FOR NEW ZEALANDER (Rec. 2.10 p.m.) LONDON, July 15. It is officially announced that a New Zealander, Pilot Officer Arthur Ashworth, has been awarded the D.F.C. x . . The citation states that he participated in the attack on the Scharnhorst at Brest last month and attacked the objective after dropping flares and circling over the area for seventy-five minutes. He also aimed a bomb over another ten thousand tonner entering the docks. After the bombing, Ashworth, despite the'’intense barrage, made fligne surveying runs at low altitude. “He displayed outstanding skill, courage, and infinite care in the efforts to bomb the objectives accurately.”—U.P.A.