CIRCLE OF FIRES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20572, 4 June 1941, Page 6

CIRCLE OF FIRES

BOMBS ON BERLIN

WIDE GERMAN RAIDS

ADVERSE CONDITIONS

i Elec. Tel. CojiyriKht—United Press Assn.i (British Official Wireless.)

Reed. 1 p.m. RUGBY, June 3. Royal Air Force attacks on industrial objectives in north-west Germany and on Berlin last night were pressed home despite very bad weather conditions.

Though there were heavy clouds and muen ground haze m ine Dtisseiriorf area, there were enough breads in the weather for tne crews or aircraft of the Bomber Command to aim a heavy load of incendiary and mgnexplosive bombs at the industrial pari, of the town.

Bad weather, states the Air Ministry news service, stretched over muen ol the Continent, and some bombers had to fly through heavy rainstorms and through clouds charged witn electricity There -was ice as well as ram which fell from the higher clouds on to the aircraft and froze very quickiy in smooth layers.

“We climbed,” one pilot said, “to 14,000 ft. but still could not get above this front of bad weather. We baa been in it for about 40 minutes, when suddenly the engines died on 'us. I turned to an angle of about 90 degrees, because I thought the weather would be clearer that way. We lost 4000 ft. and then the engines gradually picked up. Electrical Discharges He and other pilots came back with reports of “St. Elmo’s fire” and a "brushing” discharge, of electricity wnich is sometimes seen on the masis and yards of ships at sea in stormy weather and sometimes also in the mountains. “It was pouring with rain,” a pilot said, “and we were getting iced up. On top ol it all came St. Blmo's. An electrical discharge made btuisli white circles of light round the airscrews and sparks Hashed betwen the guns oolh in the front and rear turret. There was a glow oil the wing-tips which made me think we had our navigation lights on by mistake. The aerial was trailing below the aircraft, and the rear gunner said it looked like a white hot wire. We wound it in. We were in the storm for about naif an hour, but we got through to Ousseldorf.” Over Berlin the weather was clearer and a small force of aircrau oombed objectives in the centre of the my. Bombs from one aircrait alone started five large fires, and other crews reported a wnoie circle o, ares.

RAIDS IN DAYLIGHT

FIGHTERS OVER FRANCE

TROOPS MAKE TARGET

(British Official Wileless.) Reed. 2 p.m. RUGBY, June 3.

Fighter Command pilots agai.i ranged over occupied Prance to-day, says the Air Ministry news service, and in lightning dives snot up whtu targets they could find.

One Spitfire pilot had the satisfaction of seeing two German staif officers hurt themselves into a ditcn to avoid a stream of bullets from his guns. He had attacked their camouflaged car on a main road and fired more than 1000 rounds at it.

A column of troops in full marching order made a target for another pilot of the same squadron. Coming down to 300 ft.. he sent 1200 rounds into the closely-packed ranks and saw men falling down. Several British pilots report seeing friendly waves from French civilians.

“One trawler probably destroyed is the latest addition to the score of a Royal Air Force Fighter Command pilot. He saw an armed trawler close to the French coast and, diving low, poured a stream of cannon shells into her hull all along the water-line. Zooming up again, he repeated the attack on the other side of the vessel, and when he last saw her she had sunk at least 4ft. lower in the water. Because he did not see her actually sink, he only claimed her in Royal Air Force terms as “probably destroyed.”