HANOVER AFLAME

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20637, 18 August 1941, Page 7

HANOVER AFLAME

FIERCE BOMBING IMMENSE HAVOC FACTORY CENTRES (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Asgn.) (British Official Wireless.) Reed. 2.15 p.m. RUGBY, Aug. 15. The Royal Air Force offensive last night moved on to the great manufacturing cities of Prussia, states the Air Ministry news service. The largest of the three attacking forces was sent tc Hanover, but the two other capitals of the German provinces, Brunswick and Magdeburg, were each heavily bombed. Not only were the British bombers out in great numbers, but the latest types of Manchesters, four-engined Stirlings and Halifaxes were also among them. Hanover, with a population of 500,000, is the centre of heavy industries, iron foundries and factories, which are now given over to war production. These lie mostly in the north and south-west of the city. From 50 miles away, the pilots of successive waves of bopibers could pick out the fires started among these objectives by the first arrivals. When their turn came to bomb, a bright moon lit up the buildings and railway line. There was little cloud. The bombing was steady and accurate, and the report of the last crew to leave Hanover spoke of a great triangle of raging fires left in the city. The fires in Hanover were seen by the crews striking yet more deeply into Germany. Their objectives were Brunswick, a town with many factories, making machinery and motor transport, and Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony, another great industrial city and centre of railway and river traffic. Here the clouds were thicker. At Brunswick, too, British crews overcame the weather and returned with satisfying reports of the damage done.