TARGETS IN FRANCE

Grey River Argus, 11 May 1944, Page 5

TARGETS IN FRANCE

CONTINUOUS RAIDS By U.S. and R.A.F. Bombers

(Special to N.Z. Press Assn;. (Rec. 1.5.) LONDON, May 10. What effect is the Allied bombing having on the German people ? ln e “Daily Telegraph’s” Stocknolm correspondent says it is the greatest factor in their lives to-day compared with interest in the great battles on the eastern front is negligible. He dates' “The Carparthians are still S the other end of the world for rn e average German, but every citizen is affected directly in^ ectl y by the bomb warfare. He adds that a week’s study of enemy newspapers and talks with' men and women recently arrived from Germany indicate that the “bitter quarrel between those evacuated from towns ana thPir hosts has died down before the of ‘he eoltenin a'woutiar apathy which haa mrned the German people into a race of sleep walkers. They seem hardly pvp„ to have the energy for hale, Nthe/of Churchill or Hitler or in Alima airmen or Nazi masters.Over strain, irritation and shortage 2 nourishhig foods show tnemselves S hundreds of little incidents daily, n a greatly increased number of petty breaches of discipline as well as major crimes. , aPP m ell t s The increase m iatai acuueno and break-downs of machinery m factories due to carelessness tracetv, directly to tiredness led to the installation Y of engineers in charge of safety in over 4000 big industrial plants Public health suffered, too, □ influenza and diphtheria were rife all through the winter. Above all food to-day is the problem nearest the German heart, there is literally no unrationed goods to be bought in German shops. yThere is always enough to meet ration cards, but food is of miserable quality, Jacking both fats and albumen. This with the food situation steadily deteriorating, with the threat of invasion in the west, and defeat in the east hemming in, with heads bowed beneath the storm of Allied bombs, German people face the phase of the war. . The German people are tired and worn out, in their hearts defeatist and more concerned with their own problems of what to eat and where to buy clothes than with the progress of the war.

The German people will continue the war to the bitter end because their leaders have got them to believe to surrender means the annihilation bedause, they still believe in the invincibility of their? army, because of the regimented might of the Gestapo against which their illorganised, petty discontent can have no chance of success.

U.S.A. Bombers’ Offensive IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM. LONDON, May 9. On Tuesday, U.S.A. Bth. Air Force heavy bombers attacked railway marshalling yards, handling German war freight, and also aerodromes in France, Belgium and Luxembourg. U.S.A. Ninth Air Force Marauders and Havocs bombed military objectives and railway yards in Northern France and Belgium, R.A.F., Dominion and Allied Spitfires ancl 9th Air Force provided the escort.

English towns were rocked by a series of explosions across the Channel. Whether these were from our block-busters or from German blasting operations is not known, but the concussion shook coastal houses for 15 minutes.

Tuesday’s offensive began with an attack bv nearly 2,000 bombers and fighters against the yards at Liege, Thionville and Luxembourg and eight aerodromes. Five enemy ’planes were shot down bv American fighters. Six American bombers and seven fighters are missing from these operations. Mitchells and. Bostons, struck tne railway yards at Valencinnes. The visibility was so good that one navigator, a New Zealander, Flight Sergeant Bert Durrand of Wellington, saw the market dav in full swing witn stalls and people in the market place at Roulers, Belgium. He reported: “None of the people seemed the least perturbed bv us.” He added: Great columns of smoke rose up 9,000 leet after the attack against the target, with bright red flames in their m'dst. United States Thunderbolt fighters, Thunderbolt fighter-bombers, Marauder medium bombers and Havoc light bombers on Tuesday morning, waged an all-out assault against military objectives in the Pas de Calais area. Preceded by over 200 Thunderbolt fighter-bombers, which silenced anti-aircraft- guns and sent scores o German gunners running, a strong force of Marauders, attacked military objectives in the coast area across the Channel. Havocs raced inland to Aerschot, Belgium, where they hit an important railway ‘vard Approxi mately 250 medium and light bombers were used in this operation, while formation of Tnunderbolts stayed aloft to provide top cover for the bombers. One Thunderbolt is miss and fighter-bombers participated in another operaion against Nantes, Gassicourt, Mezieres asd elsewhere. Some hundreds o 'XSX.d Havocs on « evening attacked military ob J®^’ ve ” in Northern France and a bridg across the Seine near Rouen, chells attacked railway yards at «us IS The German radio gave the all clear at 9 p..m. after an almost con tinuous 12-hour alert. oviatton The British United Press aviation correspondent says: A „£ un d cordon is being established North-western Europe bv 1000 Ail e ’planes which are now shuttling dav and night in _ .the higge A tinuous air offensive of the c •. ring of targets stretching from Lie,m in the east to Brest in -the w est has been hammered unmercifully in past 24 hours bv Lancasters, faxes, Liberators, Fortresses, Michells, Bostons, Marauders ana Havocs, as well as a host of g er-bombers. A steadv ram of J g explosives has poured down alm without ceasing on vital Geim communication points, airfields a a ammunition dumns. No area of in size in the world has vet been e ' jected to such an intense air bombardment. The correspondent esri mates that over 4,000 bombers ana. fighters in the nast 24 hours nay® •'"rticipated in the attacks on German communications and airfields m North-western Europe, and between them thev have dropped nearly b.uuo tons of bombs. Possiblv the conditions for bombino- have been better in ims 24 hours than ever before, wiren means that no bombs have paid better dividends. Our bombers last njS"; could see in the brilliant moonlight the hangars, at Brest airfields so pla’nlv. that, they did not need Hares. Colin Bednail in the “Dailv Mail savs: The Allies’ non-stop blitz on railways in Western Europe is only

the first stage of an unparalleled offensive designed to force a state of seige on the German Army in the expected invasion battle areas. Aided by a larve and efficient repair organisation, the enemy has thus far succeeded in getting at least one or two lines punning through bombed rail junctions shortly after the attack. Despite terrific battering of the marshalling yards of Paris, for example, the French capital is still fairly well served by main line railways, but dislocation of the rail system is only the beginning of paralysis. Allied air forces have vet a long systematic programme covering the enemy’s entire communications. By the time the programme is well under way the nights will he shortened to such an extent that the enemy’s chances of movement under covei- of darkness will be small. Thusfar there have been virtually no assaults on road communications. These may come late on the list. Another form of transport not yet directly attacked is the air transport. The Germans are expected to make skilful use of this mode of transport Reports of more successful Naval Air Arm surface attacks on coastal convoys shows the intensification of the long campaign against this third important branch of enemy transport —sea haulage. . The Berlin radio stated that Lying battleships are operating with the American bombing forces over. Europe. They are Boeing four-en-gined ’planes carrying two guns and 30 heavy machine-guns, but na bombs.

450 U.S. BOMBERS. ATTACK IN FRANCE, BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. (Rec. 11.10) LONDON, May 9. Thunderbolt lighter-bombers and fighters and Lightning fighters of the Ninth U.S. Air Force yesterday carried out one of the heaviest day’s operations. They dive-bombed railway targets and bridges on the French coast between Dieppe and Calais, and swept widely over France, Belgium, and Holland. Only one plane failed to return from these attacks, in which over eight hundred planes participated. Marauders and Havocs late yesterday evening in the second assault of the day strongly attacked a railway bridge near Rouen and other military objectives in Northern France. ' One Marauder and one Havoc has not returned. Thunderbolts, R.A.F., Dominion, and Allied Spitfires escorted the bombers, of which 450 participated in the day’s attacks. dropping over eight hundred tons of bombs. '• R.A.F. BOMBINGS. LONDON. May 9. , On Monday night, R.A.F. Lancasters and Halifaxes, in fine weather, bombed military targets in France, Belgium and Germany. Ten aircraft failed to return from the night’s operations. * One force, which raided a railway centre in Belgium, met the biggest concentration of enemy fighters seen during the night. The Air Ministry News Service reports Lancasters and Halifaxes which; carried out last night’s raids found that most of the enemy fighters con-, centrated around railway yards at Haine-St. Pierre, between Mons and Charleroi. Raiders met heavy flak at an airfield near Brest. The crews reported fires and explosions at the targets. , Raiders Oyer Paris R.A.F. ATTACKS ON TUESDAY NIGHT. (Rec. 1.0) LONDON, May 10. RA.F. bombers in strength pounded vital targets in France on Tuesday night. The Air Ministry in a communique reports attacks on military objectives on the French coast; on an aero engine / foundry and stamping plant at Gennevilliers, a suburb of- Paris; and on ball-bearing works in Annecy. A force of Mosquitoes attacked Berlin. Mines were I laid in enemy waters. Seven bombers are missing. Paris radio reports that Allied planes on Tuesday night attacked a north-west suburb of Paris, where incendiaries started great fires, and caused considerable damage. Wednesday’s Raiding R.A.F. OUT EARLY (Rec. 1.40) LONDON, May 10. , The Exchange Telegraph Agency’s aviation correspondent says: R.A.F. planes launched another terrific attack shortly before 4 a.m. to-day. The bombardment shook south-east coast districts after waves of heavy bombers were heard crossing the Straits. It is believed a concentrated attack was made in the Cape Gris Nez area. The bombing was even heavier than earlier in the nfeht. i One eye-witness said ihe could feel the blast from bombs across the channel, hot air hitting him in the face. I A British United Press report says: Enemy radio stations began to i black-out soon after dawn. Luxemburg closed down after announcing enemy planes were approaching. It put out the same warning just four years ago when Germans launched an air invasion in Belgium, Holland and Luxemburg.