BERLIN AGAIN BOMBED

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 September 1943, Page 5

BERLIN AGAIN BOMBED

STRONG FIGHTER DEFENCE FORTY-EIGHT R.A.F. LOSSES LONDON, September 1. The Royal Air Force last night made a heavy and concentrated at-' „ tack on Berlin. The attack was made in somewhat cloudy weather. It is believed to have been very successful, in spite of strong fighter opposition. Mosquitoes were out over the Ruhr, and intruder aircraft attacked airfields in Northern France and the Low Countries. Forty-eight bombers are missing. The last big raid on Berlin, eight nights ago, in which T7OO tons of bombs were dropped, cost the Royal Air Force 58 bombers. The Berlin News Agency said:— “Newly-reorganised, the German air defences inflicted extremely heavy losses on the Berlin raiders, whose formations were dispersed. They were forced to jettison most of the bombs. A concentrated attack was frustrated. Heavy air combats developed, wherein numerous raiders were shot down. GERMAN NEW FLARES. RUGBY, September 1. “Gunners were reporting enemy fighters, some with lights on and some without, from the moment we crossed the enemy coast,” a wing commander reported after the Berlin raid. “It wasn’t until we got to the capital that I personally saw any. of the new flares the Germans are using. About a dozen were dropped at a lime. They fell slowly from a good height and burnt with a brilliant white light. They were coming down in parallel lines, and I saw at least six. My navigator at one time counted 40 going down, even more slowly than a leaf falls through the sky The Germans were obviously using them to illuminate us as we went in, and the whole aim of the enemy aircraft dropping tnem was to form a lane of flares through which we would have to pass on ihe way to the target. THOUSAND FIGHTERS USED. (Rec. 12.45 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 1. The R.A.F. Bomber Command s tremendous success in the recent attacks on Germany led the Luftwaffe to try an astonishing new defence device during the great raid on Berlin last night. Enemy fighters flying at a great height dropped scores pl flares, forming lanes of brilliant light over the clouds. As the R.A.F. machines flew into these illuminated avenues German night fighters swooped down. It was a clever plan, designed to take the bombers by surprise, but it failed because the flares illuminated the fighters also, and several of the interceptors were destroyed. . The “Express” aviation correspondent says the Germans apparently scraped up every available night fighter to defend Berlin. About a thousand must have been operating on the 400-mile route over enemy territory and Berlin. NEW ZEALANDERS PARTICIPATE (N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent) LONDON, Sept. 1. The Seventy-five (New Zealand) Stirling Squadron was in yesternight’s Berlin raid. It was the second time the squadron had been to Berlin in eight nights, this time coinciding with the fourth anniversary of the Germans’ invasion of Poland. NORTHERN FRANCE. LONDON. September 1. Allied bombers and fighters flew out across the Channel to Northern France in daylight yesterday. The bombers attacked chemical and iron works at Bethune, and the fighter airfields at Lille. Installations at the aerodrome were blown sky high. Royal Air Force fighters escorted the bombers and shot down three enemy fighters. One bomber and one fighter are missing. R.A.F. Mitchells and Typhoons, without loss, attacked two airfields near Saint Pol. Spitfires in the afternoon shot down two enemy aircraft over the Channel, making the day’s bag 12 for the loss of two bombers and three fighters. RAIDS ON~ENGLAND. LONDON, September 1. There was some enemy air activity over the east coast of England last night. Bombs caused slight damage. U.S.A. GAINS AND LOSSES RUGBY, September 1. The United States Headquarters announced that the Eighth Air Force got a record bag of 631 enemy planes during August. Fortresses shot down 541, and Marauders and Thunderbolts the remainder. One hundred Fortresses were lost during August, less than five per cent, of the number sent out, and only slightly more than four per cent, lost in July. The Thunderbolts destroyed eighty-eight enemy fighters last month, and only sixteen of the American machines were lost. U.S.A. “BATTLESHIP.” WASHINGTON, September 1. A new and revolutionary “air battleship,” with a very large bomb capacity and flying range for a round trip from America to Europe, will soon be in service, according to Lieutenant-General H. H. Arnold, Chief of the United States Army Air Corps, writing in the magazine' “Army Ordnance.” Lieutenant-General Arnold adds that the new bomber dwarfs the Flying Fortress. It has numerous “blisters,” which are multiple gun turrets. controllable from sighting stations, and also bombsights as revolutionary as the present Norden sight. These air battleships will carry bombs of an entirely new design* and may mount heavy-cahbre cannon of a new principle of opeia-tloLieutenant-General Arnold also discloses that the United States air forces in the near future will have row” types of fighter aeroplanes, which are advanced beyond recognition in shape and combat equipment. AUSTRALIAN ACE SYDNEY, September 1. It is the ambition of Wing Commander Clive Caldwell to remain in combat long enough to take top place on the list of Allied fightei Aces in this war. This place is held at present by a South African, Group Captain A. G. Malan, who is credited with 35 Axis planes. Wing Commander Caldwall has destroyed 27- 2 ’ enemy planes, ranks equal, fourth on the list, with the New Zealander Wing Commander Colin Gray. Ahead of them are the late Wing Commander Paddy Finucane, who destroyed 32 planes, and Flight Lieutenant P. Beurling, of Canada, who has destroyed 29 planes. Wing Commander Caldwells record is 271 planes destroyed in the air for certain; seven probably destroyed; and 12 damaged. Of these seven certainties and one machine damaged were scored in the Darwin area, while the remainder were shot down overseas. In addition, he is credited with 17 machines destroyed on the ground in a strafing attack in the Middle East. Wing Commander Caldwell is now on leave at Sydney. He said he had reason to be proud of the Spitfire unit which he commanded in the Darwin area. “Since

Navy and the Army. we have been there we have shot down definitely 66 enemy aircraft, probably destroyed 18, and damaged 32. Our average is slightly better than that achieved by the R.A.F. m the Battle for Britain,” he added. AWARDS TO N.Z. AIRMEN WELLINGTON, September 1. New Zealand airmen who took part in the intensive air operations which helped to break the enemy s back in North Africa and Sicily are included in the latest award winners, states the Royal New ZealandAir Force Official News Service. Five distinguished flying crosses and two distinguished flying medals are announced. They are: Distinguished Flying Cross Flight Lieutenant Cyril Patrick Towsey. Mother, Mrs C. Towsey, Auckland. Flight Lieutenant Roy Elliott Hanlon. Father, Mr T. E. Hanlon, Hamilton. Flying Officer Frederick James Read. Father, Mr F. J. Read, Wellington. Flying Officer Raymond Joseph Peterson. Wife, Mrs M. R. Peterson, Napier. Pilot Officer John Rex Wood (R.A.F.). Distinguished Flying Medal Pilot Officer (formerly Sergeant) Bernard Cullinane. Wife, Mrs G. D. Cullinane, Whatatutu, Gisborne. Sergeant Pax Gilbert Frank Smith. Mr B. J. Smith, Auckland. (Relationship not stated.)