“GREATEST OF ALL”

Greymouth Evening Star, 24 March 1945, Page 5

“GREATEST OF ALL”

Devastation Spreading Hourly

LONDON, March 23. , With perfect flying weather over the Straits of Dover this morning, Allied heavy bombers from Britain went out to continue the greatest air offensive of the war against Germany. The Ruhr is to all intents and purposes' cut off from western Germany, following the latest massive Allied air attacks, which are described as the greatest air assault of all time,” says Reuter’s correspondent at • 2nd Tactical Air Force headquarters. “The combined bomber and tactical commands to-day (Thursday) left front-line towns and fortified villages wrecked, smoking, or in flames, reduced roads to masses of craters, and had brought to a standstill all traffic behind General Blaskowitz’s front line. ” “Pilots returning from raids reported that the entire area in and behind the German front lines was hidden under haze from fires and great clouds of billowing smoke were rising from towns and villages. All the crews reported that the bombing was concentrated and accurate. The region of devastation was spreading hourly. Heavy flak met the bombers but the crews pressed home their attacks through curtains of fire. “One report on Alstatte, north of Koesfeld, was the shortest yet received at Tactical Air Force headquarters: ‘This place existed.’ ” “HACKING” TRANSPORT Targets along, the river front included the Duisburg railway yards,, where railway installations and rolling stock went up in smoke. The British United Press correspondent with the 21st Army Group says: “The whole enemy transportation system has been’ so hacked about by the Tactical Air Force in the last few weeks that it is no longer consideed an effective part of the German army organisation. The whole area has been turned into a smoking wreck of marshalling yards and stations, and shattered bridges.” About 700 Mustangs escorting Royal Air Force and American heavy bombers on Thursday covered Germany from Bremen in the northwest to Lake Constance in the south, and beyond Berlin almost to the Russian lines in the east. The Luftwaffe declined the challenge, but 13 enemy aereplanes were shot down in isolated encounters. Nine more were destroyed on the ground. The American heavy bombers, more than 1300 United States Flying Fortresses and Liberators, in clear weather attacked nine German army stations in the Ruhr Valley and five enezny airfields, including jet-propelled bases, in north-western and southern Germany. “The home-based and Europeanbased Allied air forces are now flying 8000 to 10,000 battle sorties daily, at times exceeding the effort before . and after D Day,” says the aviation correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph.” “The bomb load is sometimes 10,000 tons daily. Airmen, in their enthusiasm to hit targets, have been coming down to nought feet. The heavy bombers’ daylight pinpointing has been particularly accurate. All monthly records, will be broken if the present weather continues until March 31.” WIDESPREAD DESTRUCTION RUGBY, March 23. The Anglo-American aerial often- ’ sive against German communications was continued to-day. R.A.F. Lancasters, escorted by R.A.F. Mustangs, , attacked with 10-ton and other heavy bombs a railway bridge at Bremen. : More than 50 railway yards were ■ attacked in yesterday’s widespread operations. A large number of railcars and motor vehicles were de- ‘ stroyed. locomotives disabled,, and . lines cut in many places. , Tanks and armoured vehicles were | attacked last night by 'fighter- • bombers. Targets in Berlin were at- ( tacked last night by Mosquitos for the 31st night running. Other light , Jjombers strudk at enemy move- ( ments around the Ruhr. Six R.A.F. bombers are missing from 850 engaged yesterday. j An important railway bridge at Nienburg, between Hanover and Bremen, was attacked with 10 bombs and destroyed. To-day 11 railway yards in and ' near the Ruhr were attacked by ‘ more than 1250 Fortresses and Liberators, escorted by more than 350 J Mustangs, states United States' c Headquarters in France. The targets 1 were at Osnabruck, Rheime, Munster, Coesfeld, north of the Kuhr, 1 Recklinghausen, and Gladbach in < the Ruhr, and other places east and ( south-east of the Ruhr. s

A Mediterranean Air communique says that eight enemy aircraft were destroyed in the air yesterday and nine on the ground. Twenty-seven of our planes are missing from nearly 2600 sorties. It is known that 10 additional enemy aircraft were destroyed on the ground on March 21.

A later message says that this afternoon Lancasters of the R.A.F. Bomber Command, escorted by R.A.F. Spitfires, attacked enemy troop concentrations and fortified positions on the east bank of the Rhine. R.A.F. and Polish Spitfire squadrons carried out transport interdiction work in the Netherlands rocket zone, obtaining direct hits on most of their targets on key roads and railways. Four cutsjn an important railway were made in one small attack. Motor transport was also attacked by Fighter Command. During bomber escort operations over Germany to-day an R.A.F. Mustang destroyed an ME 262 jet aircraft in air combat. PARALYSING EFFECT. RUGBY, March 23. a Recent reconnaissance shows that in the last few weeks, R.A.F. bombers have caused devastation on an hitherto unprecedented scale in industrial and railway towns attacked for both strategic and tactical reasons, throughout the length and breadth of Germany. Never before has air power been so exerted with such paralysing effect behind all war fronts.

The effect of this campaign can be estimated, not only in terms of material damage, but in innumerable signs of confusion and lack of control in the enemy’s war effort. R.A.F. bombers’ recent attacks on the enemy’s oil and benzol plants are now known to have been particularly successful, and, in the campaign to isolate the Ruhr from Central Germany, the R.A.F. has already cut lines of communication by breaking two railway viaducts at Bielefeld, the Arnsberg viaduct, and the Altenbaken viaduct, and the Arbergen bridge over the Weser. Saxony, vital for organising the defence of the eastern front, was deprived within a few weeks of three of the largest of its hitherto undamaged towns.

Instead of untouched war factories, highly organised communications, large barrack areas and refuges for the evacuated Government depart-

MASSIVE AIR ATTACKS

CRIPPLING BLOWS ON RUHR

ments, the enemy was faced with new centres of disorganisation at the focal point in Central Germany. WESER BRIDGE BOMBED. This afternoon R.A.F. Lancasters, escorted by Mustangs, attacked with 1200-pounder bombs, a railway bridge at Bielefeld, one of the few routes still open across the Weser to the Ruhr. This followed a heavy attack on the bridge over the Weser at Bremen, this morning, with 22,000pounders, and other heavy bombs. The aircrews in this operation, described the weather as ideal for precision bombing. The Lancasters had to fiy through the main defences of Bremen. The attack was yet another move in the campaign to cut the mam route from Central Germany to the Ruhr. Already six bridges or railway viaducts, which form bottlenecks on the enemy’s main railway line, nave been broken down in recent attacks by the R-A.F.