HARRYING LINES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20259, 29 May 1940, Page 11

HARRYING LINES

BRITISH BOMBERS INCESSANT RAIDING GERMAN AERODROMES TRAIL OF WRECKAGE MUNITIONS EXPLODED (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (British Official Wireless.) Reed. 2.45 p.m. RUGBY, May 27. Further details are now available of Sunday night’s Royal Air Force attacks. Typical of the scope and effectiveness of the achievements was the record of one heavy bomber which, within less than 30 minutes, scored direct hits on a mechanised column on a main road near Brussels, extinguished a searchlight by bombing, put out another by machine-gun fire, wrecked a railway line and bridge and finally demolished a maqhine-gun post on the top of a hill by direct hits with a salvo of three bombs. A salvo of heavy bombs falling close to the main hangars at Flushing started several fires. They were still blazing when the raiders left. At Antwerp, in the course of divebombing several fires were started and were still blazing when the raiders left. At Antwerp in the course of a dive-bombing attack carried out, by two aircraft a line of high-ex-plosive bombs was laid across one end of an aerodrome and in a speond bombardment a few minutes later a petrol dump is believed to have been hit and set alight. Use of Parachute Flares

In bombing the aerodromes, the landing grounds were first illuminated by parachute flares and then systematically bombed, numerous hits being registered. Venlo, on the Dutch-German border, was attacked from a height of only 1500 ft. Buildings on the aerodrome were wrecked by direct hits and fires were started by incendiary bombs.

Other j objectives successfully Ideated and attacked during the night’s operations were railway junctions and main line tracks in Belgium and western Germany. A railway bridge over a Belgium main road is believed to have been completely destroyed by two direct hits with high-explosive bombs of heavy calibre. A direct hit was scored on a railway track south of Aachen and at a town in Belgium, where a railway junction was wrecked. Bombs which fell in a nearby wood caused an exceptionally heavy explosion as an ammunition store was hit. Moving columns of troops and supply lorries were also attacked behind the enemy’s lines. A convoy of about 24 vehicles detected by the light of a parachute flare was struck by two heavy bombs whose bursts were followed by three violent explosions and a blinding flash lit up the surrounding country for several miles.