R.A.F. RAIDERS

Grey River Argus, 5 August 1940, Page 5

R.A.F. RAIDERS

OVER BERLIN Other Continental Activities FRENCH AIRMEN IN RAID OVER GERMANY [British Official Wireless] RUGBY, August 2. The following communique was issued to-day from the headquarters of General de Gaulle, commanding the army of all free Frenchmen: “Our airmen took part in the operations carried out last night by the R.A.F. over north-west Germany, their chief objective being the important oil production plant at Kamen. The ground defences put up a heavy barrage, but in spite of this our men pressed home their attacks, with highly satisfactory results. "All our airmen returned safety.” This is General de Gaulle’s third official communique. ATTACK ON CHERBOURG [British Official Wireless] , RUGBY, August 2. An Air Ministry communique states; A strong force of the coastal command aircraft made a successful daylight attack on the German-occupied aerodrome at Cherbourg, yesterday. The attack was pressed home m face of very heavy anti-aircraft lire. Three of our bombers are missing. An Air Ministry bulletin contains details amplifying this after’wafs communique, announcing the R.A.v. raid on Cherbourg yesterday. Direct hits, it states, wrecked the hangars, and heavy explosions , fallowed the Blenheims’ salvos. There v as a large number of enemy aircraft on the aerodrome. Bombs burst among them, and others pitted the landing ground Barrack blocks in another corner of the airfield were damaged. One pilot, having dropped all his bombs, machine-gunned the German aircraft on the ground. Just before the R.A.F. bombers reformed for the return journey, one dived to 50 feet, and put bursts into the German ground defences. Only one German fighter appeared. It followed the Blenheims for a mile or two, as they flew home, but only o few shots were exchanged. Antiaircraft fire was intense throughout the- action, and some of it from the coastal batteries followed the formation several miles out to set on the rdurn journey. Once again the German High Command communique, referring to this raid, has had to resort to a fle Itious account. They claim that “through our fighters going up in time, and heavy anti-aircraft fire, they succeeded in bringing down all the eight enemy planes—three by Messerschmitts' and five by anti-aircraft fire.” As already announced, only three of cur bombers are missing. CANADIANS’ GOOD WORK LONDON, August 2. Three pilots of the original Canadian fighter squadron engaged two German dive-bombers during yesterday’s encounters. A sergeant-pilot shot down one while protecting a convoy. His comrades severely damaged the other in a running fight over the sea. All the Canadians returned safety. ATTACKS ON HOLLAND. [British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, August 2. Detailed information of the R.A.F. ' attacks on Dutch aerodromes, announced in an Air Ministry communique, reveal that no enemy fighters were encountered. A British attacking machine, emerging from a cloudbank on its return journey, just missed a headon collision with a German bomber. In the fraction of time which elapsed as the aircraft avoided each other, the British pilot recognised the other machine as a Junkers 88. He was even close enough to see splashes of mud on its wings, but so brief was the encounter that neither had time to fire. Reports of the raids on Germany show that, in the Reicholz area, a British aircraft saw in the distance an enemy aircraft diving to the ground in flames, hit apparently by the German anti-aircraft barrage. D.F.C. FOR INVERCARGILL PILOT. LONDON, August 2. The citation of the D.F.C. awarded to Pilot Officer Swift of Invercargill states: “Since January, Swift has participated in twenty-eight raids aaginst | the enemy. One one occasion Swift successfully attacked a railway marshalling yard at Osnabruck. A fgw nights later he damaged a hangar at Rotenburg by a bomb and also ma-chine-gunned two trains south from the target.’’