8000-TON BLITZ

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21385, 21 April 1944, Page 3

8000-TON BLITZ

ALLIED AIR FLEETS 36 HOURS 7 ATTACK LUFTWAFFE IN TRAP LONDON, April 19. Probably not fewer than 6000 Allied bombers and fighters struck shattering blows against Axis Europe in the 36 hours up to darkness to-night, states the Press Association’s air correspondent. The tonage of bombs discharged must be at least 8000. Never has such an onslaught been launched from the air. Vital Luftwaffe and invasion targets were obliterated in the mightiest offensive ever known. The following is the summary of the latest operations:— Yesterday.—ln daylight nearly 2000 bombers and fighters struck deeply into Germany, including Berlin. Marauders attacked a rail centre in Belgium and other targets on the northern coast of France while other planes attacked military objectives in northern France. Yesterday at nighttime 1000 Royal Air Force planes attacked targets in France on the outskirts of Paris and Rouen. A record weight of over 4000 tons of bombs was dropped. Mosquitoes went to Berlin. To-day.—ln daylight nearly 2000 bombers and fighters attacked the Kassel aircraft works and other targets. Three big separate operations occurred-over. France. Finally, waves of Royal'Air-Force fighters, crossed the Straits of Dover in the. evening in' a series of sorties. May Be Crushed Soon How long the' German air force can withstand this unsurpassed scale of air bombardment is a question that is intriguing aviation circles. Many believe that if good bombing weather holds the Luftwaffe can virtually be smashed in a matter of two to, three weeks from now. r “I am assured that the present terrific scale of Allied blows can not only be maintained but stepped up,” ados the correspondent. The Luftwaffe is caught in a twoway trap. If it sends up fighters to save key aircraft centres, its losses are likely to be crippling and, if it conserves its front-line forces their factories and parks will be smashed and essential reserves cut off. The indications during the past 48 hours are that the Germans intend to try the middle line. . The only conclusion that can be reached from the latest phases of the battle is that, even now, the Germans cannot adequately defend the Reich either in the west or the south. The British United Press’ aviation correspondent describes the operations over France as “second-front bombing” and points out that many of the places attacked are bottlenecks for railway traffic to the French coast. Destruction of Railways “Not for nothing did the recent broadcast to the French people tell them to keep away from the railways,” the correspondent adds. He rebuts the fallacy that the railways can be repaired in a few hours and says that this may apply to an isolated bombing of a line but not to marshalling yards on which the efficiency of the whole railway system depends. The German fighters again played safe during the great raid, against Kassel this morning, says the British United Press correspondent at a Flying Fortress base in England. Between 75 and 100 made one run through a Fortress formation as the Fortresses were making their bombing run and then dived for safety before the Mustang escort could engage them. The Luftwaffe left a few fighters to harass the bombers as they withdrew, but this was a suicide attempt in the face of nearly 1000 fighters which were protecting the task forces over Germany.

The first of the returning fighters said that the weather was perfect but the “flak” over Kassel was the heaviest yet experienced. ... • * . In addition operations over France to-day, Beaufighters, striking against enemy shipping off the Dutch Coast for the second time in less than 24 hours, attacked three vessels this afternoon. A violent explosion occurred on one ship which was left enveloped in smoke. A second ship was set on fire and a third raked with cannon and machine-gun fire.„ A New Zealander, Wing Commander C. E. H. McHardy, who. led the wing, said the ship in which the explosion occurred “had the guts shaken out of her.” The Berlin radio stated that about 1200 were killed in Rouen last night. A frank admission that Allied minelaying had reached such a pitch that no single ship was able to carry all the apparatus necessary for dealing With the 10 to 12 types of mines in use is made by the German News Agency. “This mine-laying is being synchronised with the enemy’s destruction of railway junctions and the decimation of rolling stock. The mines now being used are very complicated. They explode immediately a ship enters the minefield,” ' The Vichy radio stated that the raid against the suburbs of Paris was one of the most violent the capital has ever experienced. One suburb had been completely evacuated because of the presence of a large number of delayed-action bombs and the large number of fires still raging. Bombs were still exploding this morning. Seven hundred dead have thus far been identified. Many more bodies still have not been recovered. Delay-ed-action bombs are hampenlng the rescue work. . , M. Henriot, the Vichy Minister of Propaganda, stated over the Vichy, radio that Rouen Cathedral had been seriously damaged and almost all other historical buildings in the town had also been mutilated. (me town looks like a desert of rums, he added.