AERIAL ATTACKS

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 September 1943, Page 5

AERIAL ATTACKS

FRENCH AIRFIELD THE TARGET STRONG GERMAN RESISTANCE RUGBY. September 27. An Air Ministry communique says: Flying Fortresses attacked targets at Emden. , , , Mosquitoes, without loss, bombed targets in the* Rhineland last night. A Canadian intruder destroyed an enemy bomber over Holland. This morning Marauders, escorted and supported by R.A.F.; Dominion and Allied Spitfires, attacked the Beauvais-Tille airfield. LAflLn,.

Flying through flak and a swarm of enemy fighters, United States Marauders delivered another blow against the heavily defended fighter base of Beauvais Tille in the sixth raid on the aerodrome this month. Clouds rendered observation of the results difficult, but the crews were certain the bombing was in the target area. Many fighters attacked the Marauders, and the escorting Spitfires had many dogfights. The Luftwaffe, which so often in recent months allowed the Allied aircraft to attack targets in Northern France without opposition, is showing a disposition to fight it out, at least over Beauvais. . , , On'returning from the raid, during which the escorting aircraft shot down nine enemy aircraft and damaged many more, a wing commander said the Huns were fighting like mad. . , _. _ Shortly before the raid, R.A.F. Mitchells attacked the marshallingyards near Rouen, where no opposition was offered. The bombers had no difficulty in reaching the target and despite heavy flak were aole to drop bombs in a few minutes. Bursts were seen concentrated in the yards and some fell near a bridge and locomotive repair shop. Hits were scored by Typhoons in a raid on Abbeville aerodrome. Five of our aircraft are missing. United States Marauders, escorted by Allied fighters, attacked airfields at Conceds. 45 miles west of Paris, this afternoon. RAIDS ON GERMANY. LONDON, September 27. Flying Fortresses from Britain flew to North-west Germany this morning to attack targets in Emden. Last ' night Mosquitoes of the Royal Air Force attacked targets m the Rhineland. No aircraft are missing from the night’s operations. “Flying Fortresses attacked an airfield at Rheirns late on Sunday night,” says a joint British and American communique. “American Thunderbolts and Royal Air Force, Dominion, and Allied Spitfires supported the bombers. None of our aircraft is missing. Two Royal AnForce fighters are missing from an offensive patrol over France earlier in the day.” RAID (Recd. 12.30 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 27. A horde of Flying Fortresses flung down about one thousand tons ot bombs against the German U-boat base of Emden to-day. They were accompanied'for the first time on the entire round trip of six hundred miles by Thunderbolt fighters. Many German fighters came up to attack the bombers, but were fought off, mostly by Thunderbolts. However, when the German fighters did break through the Fortresses overwhelmed them. Official figures when Issued are likely to show heavy German losses. Thunderbolt pilots’ from one station alone shot down nine planes. The Fortresses at the greatest height flew in seventy-six degrees of frost. They mounted bombs in a new manner, allowing greater diversity of bombs and greater weight in each plane. The load included one thousand small incendiaries. A great force of bombers was employed to enable them to carry out. area bombing, instead of the usual precision bombing.

GERMAN DEFENSIVE. RUGBY, September 27. The United States Deputy Chiet-ol'-Staff said in Washington that the change over in German production from bombers to fighters was the first, evidence that Germany had abandoned the offensive, and was now seeking the defensive for a stalemate. He said that Allied losses in ground fighting, especially equipment, had been heavy. GERMAN FACTORIES. LONDON, Sept. 27. “The Royal Air Force is bracketed with the Red Army as Germany s public enemy No. 1,” says a Swedish journalist, Gunnar Pihl, who recently left Germany. In an account of conditions _m Germany published in the “Daily Telegraph,” Pihl says: “The production “of German war factories this year has fallen 15 to 2!) per cent, short of the peak reached in the Autumn of 1941. Workmen at the Blohm and Voss shipyards in Hamburg remained idle because Krupps, of Essen, could not deliver steel plates for U-boats. Workmen elsewhere complain of poor-quality tools, and delay in the supply ol coa., spare parts, and raw materials from the Ruhr and the Rhineland. Germany during the Winter ol 1942 sulfered a shortage of tanki. aim factories in Western Germany have been thrown out of gear by bombing The new 62-ton Tige- Jank is only beginning mass production. Pihl says that the Zehlendorl' metal works, in South-west Berlin, were badlv damaged on March 1. and repairs had not been completed bv August 23. The Royal Air Force that night so badly damaged the factory that it closed down. Pihl also says that German rocketguns are already installed on the French Channel coast. They are gigantic, with 100-foot barrels. Reputed to have a range of 125 miles, they are intended to bombard London. « The rocket, which, travels through the stratosphere, is fitted with wings and rudders. Experiments have shown that the barrel withstands only 25 to 30 shots, and it takes almost a week to change barrels.