RUHR DAMS

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 May 1943, Page 5

RUHR DAMS

DESTRUCTION DESCRIBED

“HIGH HOPES EXCEEDED”

RUGBY, May 17.

Wing Commander G. P. Gibson, who was in charge of the whole of the operations, personally led the attack on the Mohne Dam. After dropping his mines, he flew up and down alongside the dam to draw the fire of the light anti-aircraft guns emplaced on it. The guns were poking out of slots in the walls of the dam. Wing Commander Gibson’s gunners fired back as he repeatedly flew through the barrage, and this had the effect of making some of the enemy gunfire waver. A flight lieutenant who dropped his mines later was in a better position to see what actually happened to the dam. “I was able to watch the whole process,” he said. “The wing commander’s load was placed just right, and a spout of water went 300 feet into the air. The second Lancaster attacked with equal accuracy, and there was still no sign of a breach. Then I went in, and we caused a huge explosion up against the dam. It was not until another load had been dropped that the dam at last broke. I saw the first jet very clearly in the moonlight. I should say the breach was about 50 yards wide.” ' A sergeant who holds the D.F.M. was the last to see the Mohne Dam. He was returning from the attack on the Sorpe Dam. “I found some difficulty in finding the right end of the reservoir,” he said, “because the shape had already changed. There was already a new sheet ot water seven miles long, and the water was spreading fast.” “When we attacked,” one pilot =aid “you could see that the crown of the wall was already crumbling. There was a tremendous amount of debris at the top. Our load sent up water and mud for 100 feet. The spurt of water was silhouetted against the moon. It rose with tremendous speed and then gently felli back. You could see the shock wave at the base of the jet.” . The Eder Dam was breached in two places. There was a hole about 30 feet below the top of the dam wall, and another gap to the eastern side of the dam. A torrent poured through, while below a wave feet high rushed through the valley. Air "Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, Chief of the Bomber Command, and the air officer commanding the bomber group to which the Lancasters belong were waiting to hear the first news when the crews returned Wing Commander Gibson made his report to them. “We had high hopes,” said Wing Commander Gibson, “but the immediate results were far beyond our expectations. ” Reconnaissance aircraft were busy to-day. Their photographs show water still pouring out.. “But so far we only know the beginning,' says the Air Ministry News Service. Further reconnaissance alone will be able to show the full extent of the disaster brought about by the skill, courage, and determination of these Lancaster crews. . Swiss reports say that a state ol emergency has been declared over large areas. Railways and industries are reported to be almost at a standstill.

EFFECTS OF BLOW

LONDON, May 17.

Before the Mohne and Sorpe Dams i were built, the Ruhr was always running short of water in the dry season. The Sorpe reservoir alone takes two or three vears to fill. There were 300 or more waterworks and many pumping stations in the Ruhr Valley. Interference with these would very seriously affect the supply of water for industrial purposes. Electric power stations along the valley would be affected. River and canal traffic is vitally important to all the Ruhr industries. With these dams gone and water pouring front the deep lakes behind them, the Riy er Ruhr itself might become unnavtgable. The water level m the canals could not be maintained. Finally, there is the possibility that important industrial areas in the Ruhr would themselves be flooded. Before the construction of the Eder Dara, the Rivers Eder and Weser regularly caused serious floods, ine breaking of the dam would probably flood parts of Cassel, including importanuindustrial areas, as well as Darts of the towns beyond. Agricultural districts along the Weser would also be inundated. Several hydroelectric stations would be affected, four of them being of considerable value to the electrical supply ot the whole district. , As with the other two dams, floods from the Eder Dam would do the first damage, and loss of water the rest. The primary object of this reservoir is to compensate the Weser for water taken from it lor the huge Mittelland Canal, the mam artery for water-borne traffic from west to east, and the link between all the mam navigable rivers west of Berhn. Without the reservoir there would not be enough water tor both the Weser and the Mittelland canal. Navigation on one or other, probably on both, would be seriously affected. THOUSANDS DROWNED (Recd. 10.10 a.m.) LONDON. 18. Reuter’s Stockholm correspondent says the German underground radio station “Atlantic” states that Hitler has proclaimed a state of siege lor the whole of Westphalia, following the R.A.F. blasting of the three dams. Mulheim and many cities in Westphalia are under water. Thousands

were drowned and many were homeless as the result of the breaking of the dams. Swedish correspondents at Berlin are strictly forbidden to comment on the blowing up of the dams. Dagensnyheter’s Berlin correspondent was told: “Since the dams were military objectives, nothing can be added to the official report.” A leading Swedish dam-building expert told the same newspaper that it would take at least six months to repair the dams. ■ Reports from Berne say the information received from private channels indicates that at least four thousand were killed and 120,000 are homeless in the upper Ruhr-Weser valley. The railways of the Ruhr are reported to be virtually brought .to a standstill. Scenes of disorder and tumult occurred at Duisberg and Mulheim, where the public are apprehensive about air-raids, because the shelters are flooded. The Exchange Telegraph’s Zurich correspondent says that turbine experts who worked quite recently on |the Mohne dam consider the blowing 1 up of the dams as the greatest catastrophe Germany has suffered since the outbreak. Most telephone communications with Cassel, Dortmund and Duisberg are interrupted. ■ It is learned in London that photographs taken to-day show extensive flooding in the neighbourhood of Cassel. Floods have, also been spreading towards the centre of the Ruhr. According to official German figures, unusually high water levels have been recorded to-day, in the Rhine at Duisberg, where the Ruhr enters, and in Weser below Cassel.

A reconnaissance, to-day, showed the Mohne dam to be nearly empty, and the breach in the Eder dam is nearly the same size as that in the !V|ohne, namely three hundred feet.

ENEMY CONVOY BOMBED

RUGBY, May 18. Two attacks by Coastal Command aircraft, one yesterday and one in moonlight this morning, on an enemy convoy off the Dutch coast, damaged five out of eight supply vessels, and three out of six escort ships. A pilot in the second attack saw two supply ships smoking with decks awash, and the crews scrambling to lifeboats. Two aircraft are missing. The attacks were escorted by fighters. Torpedo-carrying planes hit two large merchantmen. One headed for shore, and the other was left burning. A smaller supply ship was damaged. The escort ships were raked with cannon fire, three being set on fire.

Bostons bombed Abbeville airfield to-day, their escort of Spitfires shooting down a FW 190. Earlier in the day. Typhoons attacked the airfield at Polx, and dropped bombs in the dispersal areas, causing fires. One aircraft is missing. The Air Ministry News Service says: A New Zealander, Squadron Leader G. D. Wise, D.F.C.. commanded the torpedo-carrying Beaufighters which attacked the convoy off the Dutch coast.

TRANSPORT SYSTEMS BOMBED

RUGBY, May 18

More trains, lorries, and canal traffic were shot up by Fighter Command intruder and long-range aircraft over occupied territory last night, says the Air Ministry News Service. ' A. Whirlwind bomber attacked a convoy of 40 lorries northwest of Ghent. The pilots saw a lorry blown to pieces, another set on fire,' and several turned over. The seaplane base at Concarnau, on Brest Peninsula,- was shot up by a Polish squadron. A pilot flying a Mosquito put out of action a large searchlight which tried to illuminate the cliff top above the base. The pilot then turned his attention to a seaplane control boat at the end of the flare path. His cannon set Ibis on fire and sank it quickly. Five trains were damaged by Beaufighters in the Volledeu-Guingame area. Near Corrai (Northern France) another Whirlwind saw two trains going in opposite directions. Bombs on one brought a big flash with an intermittent red glow from the engine, then the Whirlwind turned round and scored hits on the engine of the second train. .Shortly before dusk Typhoon bombers, escorted by Typhoons, attacked an airfield in Northern France. Two of our fighters are missing. Headquarters of the United States Army in Europe state that P47’s on offensive patrol in strength over Belgium. this afternoon, engaged an enemy formation and destroyed an MEIO9 with the loss of one Thunderbolt. The enemy broke off the action and another formation sighted took evasive action. RAIDS ON BRITAIN. (Rec. 1.1.40 a.m.) LONDON, May 18. Waves of enemy raiders, last night, sharply attacked a Welsh coast town which a German communique says was Cardiff. The casualties are not thought to have been heavy, but a number of families were trapped under demolished houses and shops. In addition, houses suffered badly. Other raiders dropped bombs on widely separated places in south-west and south-east England. Little damage and few casualties are reported. Three raiders were destroyed.

The German communique states: The Luftwaffe, for several hours last night, continued its attacks against important targets in the London area. Strong formations of heavy bombers attacked the important supply port of Cardiff. The enemy, in daylight raids on several places in occupied western territories yesterday, caused heavy civilian casualties, particularly at Bordeaux. Seventeen planes were destroyed. It Is now known that a fifth enemv aircraft was destroyed in the raids'on Ulis country on Sunday night.