AMAZING RAID

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20744, 20 April 1942, Page 3

AMAZING RAID

NEW RAF. RECORD AUGSBERG PLANT ATTACK IN DAYLIGHT 2000-MILE JOURNEY (By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright.) (British Official Wireless.) (10.30 a.m.) RUGBY, April 19. It is officially stated that in daylight on Friday evening' a number of heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force bombed an important factory at Augsberg, 40 miles north-west of Munich, in southern Germany.

Augsberg is the home of the huge Messerschmitt works and it was from there that Rudolf Hess flew to Britain on May 10 of last year. The raid was conducted by 12 new four-engined Lancaster aircraft and their crossing of more than 1000 miles of enemy and enemy-occupied territory in daylight was one of the most daring flights of the war. They flew ali the way at a very low level and many people in England saw them setting out during the afternoon. The Machinefabrik Augsberg Nurberg factory, which was the objective of the raid, makes,no less than 50 per cent of the Diesel engines for submarines and to cut down the supply o£ these engines is to throw the whole submarine building programme out of gear. Our bombers came in over the factory at chimney height and the air crews saw the burst of bombs on the target. The factory was heavily defended by anti-aircraft guns and there were even gun-posts on the roof, one of the plane’s crews reporting having seen more than one wiped out by bursting bombs. Fierce Engagements Almost from the start of the outward journey, the Lancasters experienced fierce engagements with enemy fighters and four of our bombers were shot down south of Paris, but the remainder pressed on to the objective. Three other Lancasters were shot down by anti-aircraft fire after making their attack, but the remaining five landed safely at their bases well before midnight. Augsberg is 400 miles deeper into Germany than any target previously attacked in daytime. It is the first time that Lancasters have been mentioned as participating in an operational flight. Further details of the attack became known as the preliminary reports of the pilots were examined. These show that the works have been hit by many bombs. The formation of Lancasters crossed the Channel in the afternoon and reached Augsberg in broad daylight. , ~ The squadron leader who led tne first section has given his own account of the raid. He said: As soon as the French coast came into sight. I took my formation down to 25ft. to 30ft. and we flew the whole of the rest of the way to Augsberg at that height. Soon after we crossed the coast enemy fighters appeared m fairly big numbers. A fierce running light developed. It was our job to pierce straight through to the target, so we kept in the tightest possible formation, wing-tip to wing-tip, so as io support each other by combined fire. Charged At Target “We went roaring on over the countryside, lifting over hills and skimming down the valleys. Fighter after fighter attacked us from astern. Their cannon shells were bursting ahead. We were continually firing at them from our power-operated turrets. We rushed over the roofs of a village and I saw the cannon shells which had missed us crashing into the houses, blowing holes in the walls and smashing the gables of roofs. The fight lasted for 15 minutes or so and aircraft were lost both by ourselves and by the Germans. Then their fighters gave up. probably running out of ammunition. “After that we had no more trouble until we reached the target. We swept in across France and skirted the border of Switzerland into Germany. I pulled the nose of my aircraft up a trifle to clear a hill, pushed it down on the other side a-'' 5 saw the town of Augsberg. We charged straight at it. Our target was not simply the works, but certain vital shops in the works. We had studied their exact appearance from photographs and we saw them just where they should be. Debris and Dust Flying

“Low-angle ‘flak’ began to come up thick and fact. We were so low that the Germans were even shooting into their own buildings. They had quantities of quick-firing guns. All our aircraft had holes made in them. The big sheds which were our targets rose up exactly ahead of me. My bomb-aimer let go. Our bombs, of course, had delayed-action fuSes or they would have blown us all up. “We roared on past the town. I had the painful experience of seeing one of my formation catching fire. I was thankful to see it make a perfect forced landing. At that moment, all our bombs went up. I had turned and so could see the target well. Debris and dust were flying in the air.

“Then I set a course for home. The light was beginning to fail. I was not attacked again. Until dark, we again flew a few feet above the ground. Then we rose to normal height and got home without further incident.”