ENEMY SUPPLY SHIPS

Grey River Argus, 22 July 1941, Page 3

ENEMY SUPPLY SHIPS

242,000 TONS SUNK By R.A.F. Last Week [Aus. & N.Z. Cable Assn.J LONDON, July 20. The Air Ministry states: On Saturday, eight enemy supply vessels in a convoy, of an aggregate tonnage ox about 48,000, were badly damaged, and probably destroyed, bringing tne total of enemy supply ships sunk by British aircraft in the last week to 42, of a total tonnage of about 242,000, or more than the British shipping tonnage lost last month. Six Hurricane pilots attacked an enemy tanker off the French coast on Sunday and set it on fire. Two columns of black smoke, each 50 feet high, were coming from the centre of the tanker as the British aircraft flew away. While this attack was m progress, six other Hurricanes poured thousands of machine-gun bullets into an anti-aircraft ship escorting the tanker. This attack was cne or several that have been made on enemy shipping by British fighters in the' past few days. Half a dozen Hurricanes attacked an anti-aircraft ship on Saturday, streaking sown one after another from 2,500 feet to 50 feet. After the’ fourth of the six fighters dived, all the guns on the anti-aircraft ship stored firing. Another attack on Saturday was made by a lone fighter pilot on a 1,500-ton motor vessel, half a mile from the French coast. Diviirn down nearly to sea level, he blazed away with his guns and cannons, and stormed firing only when his ’plane was nearly nitting the mast. As he broke away he saw flashes and small explosions, followed by smoke, coming from the bridge of the vessel, which turned and made for the shore. The destruction of an enemy tanker of about seven thousand tons off the coast of France on Sunday brought the Bomber Command’s bag of enemy vessels to fiftyfive thousand tons. The tanker, which was originally attacked by Hurricanes, was later found by Blenheims, half-way between Le Touquet and Berck Sur Mer. It was then escorted by enemy fighters. It vvas attacked by aircraft from mast height, and hit amidships and astern. A column of smoke was still visible when our aircraft were well away. Effective gunfire from the bombers drove off tljree enemy aircraft from one of which black smoke was seen pouring. During a reconnaissance on Sunday evening, the tanker was seen beached half a mile from Berck Sur Mer. It was down at the stern, with bow well out of the water and a trail of oil drifting seawards. From these operations two British bombers are missing. There was an attack by aircraft of the Coastal Command on an enemy sunnly ship off Norway on Saturday morning, and a welcome was accorded the bombers from local Norwegian inhabitants. German snips were sighted off the Norwegian coast by Beaufort aircraft and they . attacked Hying low to drop their bombs —one aircraft actually passed between the masts of the ship. The pilot of another saw his bombs fall . through the rigging. A few minutes later, bombers which had banked 1 away steeply to avoid anti-aircraft fire, returned to rake the decks with machine-gun fire. The vessel in the, ■ meantime took a heavy list and was steaming very slowly. As the aircraft 1 went over, Norwegians came to the , doors of their houses and waved, I and fishermen stood up in their boats < also waving. • < In the daylight raid on Rotterdam ( last Wednesday, between 90,000 and i 100,000 tons were probably sunk, and 1 a further 40,000 to 45.000 tons were f severely damaged. On the night of that day, a further 10,000 tons were } almost certainly sunk. On July 18, r 16,000 tons were destroyed. Yester- . day, a further 48,000 tons were des- . troyed. These totals do not include . successes in the Mediterranean against shipping, which have also been considerable recently. The Air Minister’s figures for the total enemy losses in the past four months must' have grown to some 500.u00 sunk, and about as much again severely damaged. As Sir A. Sinclair said': “The rate of destruction increases, and the weight of attack de- , I’vered against enemy shipping in the ’ past fortnight of this month exceeds 1 anything previously achieved.” y

Nor’West German Centres EXTENSIVELY WRECKED. IN RECENT NIGHTS. (8.0.W.) RUGBY, July 20. The R.A.F. in a communique gives details of activity of the R.A.F. over Western Germany on Saturday night. During the night, Bomber Command aircraft continued their offensive over Western Germany. Concentrating on the industrial areas of Hanover, they started large fires, which were visible for many miles. An enemy 7 fighter which tried to intercept a British bomber near the German coast was destroyed. Two British bombers are missing from night operations. Hunover was raided and big fires were started. Two German bombers are missing. An enemy fighter was shot down over Germany. Dusseldorf, according to several reports, is in ruins, while Hamburg and Bremen sustained immense damage. At least one-third of Muenster and Aachen has been destroyed or seriously damaged,. says the bulletin. “Aachen has been attacked, previously, but the most important raid was made during the night of July 10 and 11, when terrific damage was done. Loads of high-explosive bombs and 7,000 incendiary bombs were dropped. Some of the biggest bombs carried by the Royal Air Force found their mark in the city in good weather, when close observation was possible. Pilots’ reports have since been confirmed by reconnaissance, r nd it is established that this particular. raid was one of the most successful of the Air Force night attacks. Good navigation ensued that almost, every bomb reached its intended target and the town was thoroughly plastered. The damage was mostly in the centre, but no part of the town escaped. Fire caused widespread havoc and many areas suffered heavily from the blast. Craters in the roadways disorganised public services. There were three main arbas of damage by high-explo-sive bombs and a fire in the centre of the town in which are important municipal and state buildings, commercial houses, and warehouses, shipping centres, and residential j quarters. These three sections, which ] are close together, measure approximately 1,100 yards by 700 yards and cover approximate!” 30 per cent, of the town proper. About GO to 70 per cent, of the buildings in each areaj were destroyed and almost all the re-j mainder damaged. Muenster tells the, same tale. The town was attacked m force on the nights of July 7 and 8, i and three times since. Again a large] tonnage of the biggest high-explosive, bombs were dropped. Reconnaissance has shown that ver” heavv damage was done. Entire areas were comple.. telv burnt out, including industrial arid residential buddings. A single heavy bomb devastated an area of more than 700/square yards and another had a similar effect, covering 600 yards square. These two areas had been demolished and they were surrounded by much larger areas of buildings damaged b" fire and blast.! Other districts have been heavily damaged, including 25.000 square vards’between the railway and the Dortmund-Ems Canal. In this section major damage has been done to an area of at least 250,000 square yards

Aachen and Muenster are but two of the many industrial centres of Western Germany which have received the heaviest attacks during the last five weeks.” Heavy R.A.F. bombers, escorted by fighters, bombed the docks at Dunkirk on Saturday afternoon. Four enemy fighters were destroyed by the Britisn fighter escort. From all these operations three British bombers and two lightens are missing. Formations ot fighters swe n t over Northern France, but the few M.E’s. seen kept their distance, except one, which was shot down. On Friday night, R.A.F. .attacks were made by fighters in France on aerodromes. The pilots were sent out in American-built Havoc aircraft. Two of them, one over Holland and the other over France, started fires which they could see long after leaving the target. One reported that his light bombs started maiiy fires which became two big ones, ten minutes after he left the area. A coastal aerodrome in France was the target of the other pilot, who reports that his bombs started a fire which could be seen 40 miles out to sea. A new method of quickly getting out of a damaged Messerschmitt is reported by a Wing Commander who destroyed one Messerschmitt and shared in the destruction of another in the attack on Dunkirk on Saturday. He said: “After being hit, one Messerschmitt pilot immediately threw back his hood and sprung out like a jack-in-the box. It looked as though he had been released by a spring and his parachute opened as soon as he was out of the top of his loop.” A squadron leader reports that he recently noticed similar sprink-like releases of Messerschmitt pilots on other occasions. Air losses during the week ending at dawn on July 20 total 47 Axis aeroplanes and 44 British. Over Britain and the coast, the Germans lost 10 to the R.A.F. nil. Over Germany and German-occupied territory, the enemy lost 22 and the R.A.F. 40. In the Middle East, the Axis lost lo and the R-.A.F. four.

In the course of operations over the Channel, this morning, British fighters destroyed an enemy fighter. An official communique states: Very few enemy aircraft flew inland last night. Bombs were dropped at two points in the Midlands, causing little damage and no casualties. Regarding air activity over Britain during the day, an official communique says: There is nothing to report. Unsuccessful tactics employed bv German ships when attacked bv a single Royal Air Force bomber are described in an Air Ministry account of how a German mine-sweeper of 120 tons was swept by. fire from end to end after being bombed .off Ushant on Saturday. The ship was the largest of three sighted by a Hudson of the Coastal Command, which closed to investigate. As soon as the aircraft camp within range the ship opened fire and was followed bv the other two. The ships had arranged themselves .on three sides of a square, leaving the fourth side open to the aircraft’s course, and they concentrated their fire op. this passage. In order to attack, the Hudson had to weave its way almost at sea level through an intensive bararge. It was only 50 yards from the largest ship when the pilot let go a saL’o .of heavy bombs with a slight de’ay action on them to allow him to get clear before they exploded. Every bomb hit, and as the Hudson pufled away the crew saw the ship become a mass of flames. She ceased. to fire immediately and listed heavily to port She appeared I’kel 1 ’ to s ; nk at anv moment Then the Hudson had Io look tn its own safety. The. aircraft. which was hit many times, came out of the attack with its port engine on fire. The flames died d&wn. hut the other emfine cut out a fte r the n?iot had pulled the aircraft up to J fioo feet. Tim crew found that no fuel wa« rean'nino- the engine and ’t n'cke'’’ up a He l ' petrol was numned from the tank bv hand. The crew also managed to get thp port engine go•no- pwl mnrln n cni’n Innd’n". SUNDAY NIGHT RAIDS.

IN TT^T .LAND AND FRANCE. 1.55 a.m ). LONDON, July 21. The Air Ministry states: Our Bomber Command was again over the Rhineland in force on Sunday night. Cologne was the principal objective of a sustained attack. Many large fires were started in the industrial areas of the city. There was -a subsidiary attack made on the docks cf Rotterdam. None of our aircraft is missing. “Our offensive patrols, also carried out a raid over France on Sunday night. Several aerodromes were bombed.”

U.S.A. War Plane Output LARGE INCREASE THIS YEAR. (Rec. 9.0). WASHINGTON, July 20. The Washington correspondent ot the Associated Press of America says: During the first six months or 1941, gains in the output of combat planes have been far greater than 1 has been indicated by the announced , increases in the manufacture of ah i types of aircraft. Two-engine bombers gained 92 per cent.; one-engine dive and torpedo-bombers 146 per cent.: and pursuit, observation, ana other military aircraft, 142 per cent. WASHINGTON, July Rear-Admiral Towers House of Representatives Naval Committee that United States Navy ’planes are patrolling the Atlantic, Pacific, Philippine and Panama areas. He added that the patrols were not just practice work. . 4 Defence officials said to-day that the Government is now training nurses for duty with the armed services in Cantonments and industrial areas. A recruiting plan is being considered in order to enlist young women who would assume non-medical duties, now performed by registered nurses, relieving them for more vital work. While the War Department did not know the Axis next move, after the Russian campaign, it could envisage the future steps of great magnitude, said General Marshall, giving evidence before the Senate Military Committee. The Department, he said, could see Spain, Portugal and North Africa conquered very quickly. Each move would leave the Axis more ready for another move. Unless the United States made businesslike preparations, she might find herself in a traffic situation. The efficiency' of the War Department and the military forces would be greatly improved if Congress removed „ae prohibition on extended service for trainees. He said it was absurd to say he was planning an Expeditionary Force.

The office of Production Management announced that rifles and submachine guns were being produced at the rate of fifteen hundred daily, compared with 931 in January, 1941. Lend-and-lease assistance is being given to South America to build air-bases, strengthen the armed forces, and construct coastal fortifications capable of repulsing any attacks, says the “Journal of Commerce.”

Brazil will be the first to receive aid, ana will be expected to cooperate in economic warfare against the Axis, by controlling exports and continuing to permit the United States to purchase her entire strategic materials. Almost a score ol air-fields are being built along the coast of Brazil b” x-an-American Airways, so they may be easily converted to military use. As much as 100 000,000 dollars may go to Brazil. The agreement made this week,

[ "ovidiny for the United States to I purchase vital materials from Mexico, is likely to be followed soon by other agreements, settling the controversial oil dispute, land claims, and several border and water disputes. A settlement will embrace the extension of military supplies to Mexico. General Marshall told the Senate Military Committee that the United States aimed to surround the hemisI phere with a ring of protection I against a ruthless foreign Power. Interviewed by the Associated Press, Senator Pepper said that the United States should send war materials to General Weygand, on the understanding that he used them to prevent a German occupation of Dakar.