BRITISH BOMBERS

Grey River Argus, 29 July 1940, Page 7

BRITISH BOMBERS

RAIDS IN FRANCE On German Oil Depots [British Official Wireless] RUGBY, July 27. | The Air Ministry in a communique says: On Friday night, owing to verse weather conditions, bomber operations were chiefly confined to attacks on oil depots at Cherbourg, St. Nazaire, and Nantes, in France. One of cur aircraft is missing. On Saturday an aircraft of the Coastal Command successfuly bombed an enemy ship off the Norwegian coast. The crew were seen to abandon the ship. Heavy explosions and fires broke out after Blenheims of the Coastal Command had raided German oil stores at Cherbourg, in France, on Friday' night. ■ They flew through bad weather to the objective, and dropped many salvoes of heavy and incendiary bombs. One pilot, com-, ing in over tanks, watched bombs from aircraft ahead of him explode and start fires. His own bombs added to the flames. Another pilot dropped all his bombs in a salvo, and white smoke billowed up from the target, and a minute after his bombs burst there was a series of heavy explosions. When one Blenheim ran in to attack the pilot could not see the target because of bad visibility and dazzling searchlights. He made another run. This time his aircraft was hit. Nevertheless he came in a third time, and found the target. Oil stores in German hands were heaviy damaged last night when a strong force of R.A.F. bombers attacked oil refineries and storage depots. Their objectives were five refineries and depots at Nantes, in France, and three separate installations at St. Nazaire, France, with a total storage capacity of 152 thousand tons. Both objectives were located shortly after midnight, and each was systematically bombed for over an hour by separate striking forces. Tons of high explosive bombs and several hundreds of small incendiary bombs were dropped on the two targets This was done in the face of considerable opposition from ground defences. At Nantes salvoes or heavy calibre bombs were seen to burst in many parts of the target area. A big storage depot was straddled. Great clouds of smoke were seen issuing from the centre of one of the refineries, and many of the fires started were still burning strongly when the last of the bombers left for home.

In the attack on the S't. Nazare oil depot, repeated hits on the target were followed by an explosion and clouds of black smoke. The western end of the depot appeared to have been particularly heavily damaged, and one raiding crew reported a series of explosions in this area, which continued for some time after the bombing ceased.

Other aircraft of the Bomber Command, overcoming adverse weather conditions over isorthern Germany, succeeded in renewing attacks on raiway yards at Hamm. Bombs burst in the centre of the yards. A nearby railway junction was stradded by a row of heavy calibre bombs, and direct hits were made on an important power station. On Friday,! our bombers made daylight raids on the Dortmund power station and on tne Dutch aerodromes of Schipol and Waahaven. All our aircraft returned safely. RUGBY, July 26. An Air Ministry communique states: Last night R.A.F. bombers carried out extensive operations over a wide area, the object, as on previous occasions, being to reduce the striking power of the German Air Force by attacking oil supplies, aircraft factories and aerodromes. Thus, the oil supplies at Bremen, Sterkrade, Bottrop, Castrop, Rauxel, Dortmund and Gotha were attacked, together with fourteen aerodromes in Holland and Germany.

Besides these primary ' targets, the Dortmund-Ems Canal, Hamburg docks, and other military objectives, including blast furnaces, goods yards in the Ruhr, were bombed. An enemy fighter which attempted to intercept our bombers, was shot down.

Five of ours ar e missing. Of the total of over 1000 largescale raids made by the R.A.F. on Germany and German-occupied countr'3s, within the past three months, 161 raids were made on industrial targets, 229 on aerodromes, 258 on military objectives, and 275 on communications. Between May 10, .when the intensified raid s began with the invasion of Holland and Belgium, and June 17, when Paris was reached, no fewer than 416 big-scale operations were carried out over Germany and the occupied countries, while since that, time 517 raids hav e been directed jn a month at the enemy’s main military and industrial centres. The British have made 377 bombing raids on targets in Germany itself between June 1 and July 18. BERLIN, July 2b.

A High Command commuique says: The British Air Force continued raids on north, west, and central Germany on the-night of July 20. .No military damage was done, and other damage was unimportant. The antiaircraft defences brought down lour p.aneb- oix The total British losses on July 20 wier P 23 manes. Nin e of ours are missing.