AIR WARFARE

Grey River Argus, 12 October 1944, Page 8

AIR WARFARE

RUGBY, October 8. The two largest German , tank production plants were seriously damaged in Saturday’s attack by American heavy bombers. Liberators at Kassel laid down concentrations of high-explosives and’incendiaries, which covered every building but one in the Henschel-Werke plant, believed to be manufacturing nearly all the heavy Tiger tanks. Liberators attacking the- Krupp Mark IV. tank works .at MagdeburgBackau placed near l -- every bomb in the plant area, hitting 21 of the-. 23 large factory buildings. Fires were burning throughout the plant as the bombers turned for home. The destruction of the Kembs Dam means that the Germans have lost the chance of flooding the Rhine at the moment of their choosing, perhaps when the Allies were actually crossing it. Instead, the German troops on the French side have the swelling water of the river behind them. The great head of water above the dam, which was built to maintain a constant level of water for the large hydro-electric power station, is no longer there for enemy use when he wishes for defence of the frontier, which follows the river itself.

“Europe’s historic landmarks and works of art have escaped with little damage, but Britain’s churches, museums, monuments and libraries suffered severely,” said the Director of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art (Mr. Francis Taylor) who has returned from Europe, where he collected data on art works pillaged by the Nazis. He said that in Britain 2,800 I churches were destroyed and 4,000 1 damaged. All the- Wren-designed London churches, including St, lEHde’s, St. Giles, Cripplegate, and St. Mary le Bow were hard hit and some wiped out. St. James, Piccadilly, was virtually destroyed and nearly all Grinling Gibbons’ 17th. century wood carving was lost. Exeter Cathedral was very severely bombed. Rare books and documents were stowed away, but many libraries were a total loss. Particularly heavy destruction was done to 18th. and 19th. century newspaper files and art and archaeology libraries. Many great collections, including famous manuscripts, were lost in the almost complete destruction of Holland House. Virtually all the art treasures in Haris escaped, although there was evidence the Nazis had looted private collections.

The revelation that 1.200 people were killed and 70,000 houses damaged or destroyed during the 1940 attacks on Coventry was made by Mr Morrison, addressing c’vil defence wardens at Coventry. The c'ty was attacked more than 40 times, including three attacks in great, force, but the enemy failed to knock Coventry out, as had been hoped.