R.A.F. RAIDS

Grey River Argus, 15 January 1941, Page 5

R.A.F. RAIDS

SUNDAY’S OPERATIONS On Wider Scale [British Official Wireless] RUGBY, January 13. A communique issued by me Air Ministry states: Targets in France, Germany and Italy were objectives of th e R.A.F. last night. The docks at Brest were attacked with incendiaries and high explosives. A number of heavy bombs burst along the watdrfront. Fires broke out. A warehouse was set ablaze, .and a large fire parted at the port. Le Havre and Lorient were also attacked, and high explosives were seen to burst on the docks at both • hese harbours. t

Aerodromes, including those at Vannes,. Chartres. Evreux and Morlaix, were visited, and good results observed. At. Vannes and Chartres aerodrome buildings were set well alight, and at Evreux a number of hostile aircraft on the ground were set on fire. From these operations over France, none of bur aircraft is missing. Daylight attacks were made on Sunday on th e French and Belgian coasts," aimed at hampering German preparations for night raids on Bib tain. Aircraft, both of the Bomber and Coastal Commands, participated in the night attack, the objectiveranging from shipping off Norway to a U-boat base at Lorient, and inland targets in France. Germany, and Italy. „ . Th e Air Ministry says? 3he dry and wet docks at Lorient were battered with heavy bombs on Sunday night. One pilot saw a salvo explode in a crimson sheet of flame among the buildings on the river bank. At the end of the attacks, storehouses and other buildings near Port Mflitairc and power station were burning fiercely. Docks and shipping at Brest were also attacked, and a heavy bomb was seen to burst near the power station. Big fires were seen in the docks. Hurricanes of the Fighter Command swept low over the Belgian and French coasts, and machine-gunned enemy troops and shipping. The first patrol was led by a squadron leader who came down to sea level, and twice attacked an E-boat, 800 yards offshore. Hurricanes swept the deck With bullets, then attacked a drifter. Another patrol attacked a second E-boat from astern from sea level, and the boat. mad e for th a shore. The patrol continued aijrofis the .coast, and .ma-chine-gunned troops in the trenches near the beach. Two other small ships were machine-gunned. A third patrol attacked a large two-masted schooner, and a nuffiber of . small vessels. Heavy accurate anti-aircraft fire wa s encountered, and Messerschmitt 109’s sent up to intercept were engaged. Two of our pilots are missing. One- pilor thought, ho had been hit, when he looked into a mirror and saw what seemed to ha damage to his elevator tip. When h e landed, he found wire entangled in his aerial

On Sunday, Coastal Command aircraft bombed a supp’.v ship, and af'er scoring a direct hit on the. stern flew over the vessel, ana silenced its deck with machine-gun fire. Th e ship was left shrouded in smoke. Blenheims of the Coastal Command were also off Norway, and attacked and hit. a second large German supply ship, which opened lire, and the Blenheims raked its deck with machineguns. A small force of bombers last night attacked the important oil refineries at Regensburg. Several fires broke out, and at Ostend a large explosion followed a fire.

For the second night in succession on Sunday, bombers of the Royal Air Force made raids on objectives in Northern Italy. Incendiary bombs set fire to Porto Marghera, near Venice. The whole target was well alight when the last arrived, an hour later. Machine-gun lire from a few hundred feet first sfenced the anti-aircraft defences, then a heavy bomb was released at a very low level, and blew i\p one large refinery building. More bombs set fire to oil storage tanks. Two bombs hit a nearby second large building, which was seen to collapse and fall to pieces. Sheds and workshops were machine-gunned at almost ground level. The target ivas left blazing. One of our planes is missing. The bombers arrived at Porto Marghera just before two in the morning, to find very clear weather. The last lieft an hour; later, its rear-gunner looking back with satisfaction at the target alight from end to end. One pilot came down to under one thousand feet, and saw one of th ( , heaviest bombs fall on the roof of a large factory, and burst inside the building. A cloud of smoke, reddened *>./ fire, rose to more than half the height at which the British machine was flying, and th e building was soon hidden by leaping flames. When another large building Was hit, the whole mass appeared to disintegrate in a shower of sparks, and a cloud of smoke. The pilots got direct hits on oil storage tanks. The unmistakable black smoke of burning oil rolled over the port, and the fires of Porto Marghera could easily be seen when our bombers wer e back over the French Alps. Attacks were carried out on invasion ports in France on Sunday, when enemy troops were attacked from a low level. From these operations, three British aeroptanes Mlii missing. The chief target in Saturday night’s raid on northern Italy was the Royal Arsenal at Turin. There was no need for the machines to fly high, as the peaks of the Alps were clearly visible. As on e pilot remarked, the raiders cut in between them. Over Turin, the sky was clear, and the railways, streets and lin (! of the River Po could clearly- be seen. The Royal Arsenal, which has been raided several' times, was severely damaged by heavy bombs. A series ot explosions occurred and was continuing when the machines wer,e on their homeward journey. Fires wore started by a shower of incendiary bombs, and the reap- gunner ol one bomber saw a huge fire start in th# middle of on e large building. All th t > bombs were not drooped on the arsenal, however. On the trip out, the bomb-release mechanism of one machine froze, and the bomb-aimer was unable to release his cargo fit! the machine was over the Fiat works. Four fires were started, and five minutes later there wa ? a shattering explosion. Pamphlets giving a four-page translation of Mr Churchill’s speech to the Italians

were also dropped over Turin. These pamphlets pointed out that one alone —Signor Mussolini—was responsible for bringing Italy into the war. An Italian communique admits that damage and casualties were caused by the R.A.F. raids on Turin, Venice, and Catania.

Monday Night Raids ON FRENCH PORTS (Received January 15, 1.25 a.m.) LONDON, January 14. Despite bad weather, R.A.F. planes attacked ports in occupied Franc? on Monday night. PLANES FROM U.S.A. RUGBY. January 13. It is learned in London that the following types of American aircraft ar e i being flown or will be down across the Atlantic to Britain: Lockheed Hudson, a long-rangve reconnaissance bomber for the Coasta. Command; Boeing 817 four-engined bomber, commonly called ih<» Flying Fortress”; a consolidated two-en-gined flying-boat; and the LockheedVega Ventura bomber, which is a larger and faster version of the Hudson.