ALLIES’ AERIAL RAIDS

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 September 1944, Page 5

ALLIES’ AERIAL RAIDS

DARMSTADT AND BERLIN MASS ATTACKS CONTINUED LONDON, Sept. 12. With improved weather over the battle area the air war has been stepped up. Big fleets of Allied aeroplanes are keeping up an almost nonstop blitz against enemy targets wherever the battle rages, over the coastal ports of Belgium and Holland, and into Germany itself. Royal Air Force heavy bombers, just after midnight last night, attacked Darmstadt, a centre of the German chemical industry, in the upper Rhineland. Enemy night fighters were up in great strength, but too late to interfere with the attack. Huge fires were already burning in the great chemical works. Mosquitoes last night dropped many 40001 b. bombs on Berlin, and extensive minelaying was carried out. Sixteen aircraft are missing from all the night’s operations. At least seven enemy fighters were destroyed. Yesterday Royal Air Force Lancasters made their biggest daylight attack on targets in Germany, when they bombed synthetic oil centres in the Ruhr. . _ The Air Ministry communique states: R.A.F. Lancasters and Halifaxes, escorted by Spitfires and Mustangs in daylight, last evening attacked synthetic oil plants at Castroprauxel, Kamen and Nordstern, in the Ruhr. Nine bombers are missing. SIXTEEN BOMBERS MISSING (Rec. 10 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 12. 1 R.A.F. Lancasters, last night, heavily attacked Darmstadt, in the face of strong fighter opposition, says an Air Ministry communique. An accurate and’concentrated attack was carried out, and very large fires were left burning, the smoke rising over 10,000 ft. Mosquitoes attacked Berlin, where a large explosion was observed. An extensive mine-laying programme was also undertaken. At least seven enemy fighters were destroyed. Sixteen bombers are missing. The Air Ministry News Service states Darmstadt, an industrial railway town in the Upper Rhineland, is the centre of the enemy’s chemical industry, containing large an- important chemical works and a number of engineering plants. It is also a junction for several main lines, with wagon and locomotive workshops.

GERMAN RECORD LOSSES.

LONDON, Sept. 11

The latest information about the air battles fought over Germany today shows that 116 German fighters were shot down by the American escort and 17 shot down by bombers, bringing the total for the day to 133. In addition, 42 enemy aircraft were destroyed on the ground, making a grand total of 175. Our losses were 48 bombers of which four are believed to be safe in France or Belgium and 29 fighters, of which about 15 are thought to have landed on safe territory. This is the largest number of enemy victims claimed by' fighters alone over Germany during the war. Air battles took place roughly in the area bounded by Kassel, Brunswick, Magdeburg, and Dresden. American fighters, not satisfied with their kills in the air, shot up 56 locomotives and 34 railroad cars as well as hitting flak targets and other installations. OIL-PLANTS DESTROYED. RUGBY, September 12. Very strong forces of Liberators of the Bth Air Force, to-day, attacked a number of synthetic and natural oil plants and other industries targets in Eastern and Central Germany. It was the second consecutive day on which a full-scale assault was made against oil targets, which included the synthetic oil plants at Thuland, northeast of Dresden, and Bohlen, near Leipzig, Magdeburg and Brux on the border of Czechoslovakia and the natural oil refineries at Hamingstadt, near Heide and Misburg, near Hanover. An automobile engine plant near Kiel and an ordnance factory at Friedrichstadt, near Magdeburg, were also attacked. The weather was good at most of the targets and the escort was provided by strong forces of fighters. This afternoon R.A.F. Halifaxes, with fighter cover, were also ovei' the Ruhr in strength to attack synthetic oil plants at Scholven, Buer and Wanne Eickel. A correspondent at Supreme Headquarters says that the recent intensive bombing of oil plants in Germany and in German-occupied territory has cut their present capacity to produce finished oil by 61 per cent. The plants bombed yesterday by the Bth Air Force are estimated to produce more than 2000 tons of oil annually. BOTH SIDES LOSE HEAVILY. LONDON, September 12? Fighters escorting American heavy bombers to Germany to-day destroyed 53 enemy aircraft in combat and 26 on the ground, says SHAEF. The bombers destroyed 26. Forty-three bombers and 17 fighters are missing. “JET-PROPELLED” FACTORY RUGBY, Sept. 12. A factory producing jet-propelled aircraft at Ulm, 70 miles west of Munich, was bombed by Italy-based Liberators to-day with good results, while Fortresses and Liberators attacked the aerodrome at Lechfeld, near Munich. shuttlFbombing "“RUGBY, Sept. 12. United States heavy bombers, shuttling from England, attacked industrial targets at Chemnitz, Germany, on Monday, and landed at bases in Russia, states a Moscow correspondent. They were escorted throughout by Mustangs and Soviet fighters gave support over Soviet territory. All the bombers are safe, but one fighter is missing. ENEMY SHIPS ATTACKED RUGBY, Sept. 12. An enemy naval force of four large-sized minesweepers, moving up the Norwegian coast, was attacked off Christiansand by 30 Royal Air Force Beaufighters. All the minesweepers were left on fire, three of them blazing furiously. In one there was an explosion below deck, and another was seen to be disintegrating. A second groun of Beaufighters attacked a formation of 14 or 16 enemy naval vessels near Terchelling (one of the Frisian Islands, off Holland). One auxiliary type trawler was hit by several rockets and concentrated cannonfire, which caused a heavy explosion, the vessel probably sinking, while another ship was hit by cannon fire, which also caused an explosion, and she was left on fire. Two of the remainder were damaged.

Two flak batteries on the Frisian Islands were silenced.