BOMBING ATTACKS

Hokitika Guardian, 20 May 1940, Page 5

BOMBING ATTACKS

■ ON GERMAN PORTS OF HAMBURG AND BREMEN. (United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright;. BERLIN, May 18. A German official communique states; The. enemy by air, attacked towns in the north German coastal region, especially Hamburg and Bremen. Twenty-'one -civilians were killed and fifty-one were wounded in Hamburg. A number of houses and other buildings were damaged. “As on previous occasions, only nonmilitary objectives, except one barracks, were attacked at random. The Higli Command places this fact on iecord, especially in view of its consequences.” LONDON, May 18. The Air Ministry announced that Royal Air Force squadrons successfully attacked important military objectives ini Western Germany. The operations again were on a very heavy scale. No planes were lost. Among the objectives attacked were a number of large depots including storage tanks at Hamburg and Bremen, from which German forces derive supplies of oil fuel. Several were destroyed. Others were heavily damaged. f BREMEN CASUALTIES. BERLIN, May 19. The Bremen and Hamburg radios were silenced at 10 p.m. until after midnight. > The German News Agency says: 11 civilians were killed and 63 were wound- , ed in Friday night's raid on Bremen by the Royal Air Force. NO BRITISH BOMBING. OF NON-MILITARY OBJECTIVES. ( Per British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, May 18. An official statejneni issued this evening says: “His Majesty’s government has made it clear that it is no part of its policy to bomb nonmilitary objectives, no matter what the policy of the German Government may be. In spite of wanton, repeated attacks by the German air force on undefended towns in Poland, Norway, France, Holland, Belgium, His Majesty’s Government steadfastly adheres to this policy. Statements to the effect that the R.A.F. deliberately bombed civilians or non-military objectives are completely untrue, and ore obviously designed to prepare the wav for an extension to this couniry of the inhuman methods used by the Germans in other countries ’* GERMAN BOMBING. OF FRONTIER TOWNS. LONDON, May 17. The special correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” on. the French and Belgian frontier states that forty .German aeroplanes bombed and ma-chine-gunned Belgian fi.ntier roads along which 20,000 refugees are going to France. Many were kii’ed. A Belgian frontier town of 130,000 inhabitants was savagely bombed by German aeroplanes. Houses are blazing fiercely, a church was destroyed, and the beautiful medieval square was terribly damaged. The town is not a military objective in any sense of the word. The Germans bombed the surrounding roads and while flying over the town wantonly / dropped forty bombs at random, killing and wounding scores of civilians. GERMAN CLAIM. MAGINOT LINE BROKEN. (Received this day at 9.55 a.m) LONDON, May 19. The German High Command claims that after the occupation of Antwerp, the troops arc pushing back the enemy, who are fighting tenaciously. The Solid do was grossed west of Antwerp, and the Sambre and Oise also* crossed. Lechateau and St. Quentin are in German hands. North-west of Montmedy a strong fortified position, number 505 of the jV/aginot Line wlaff /captured; One hundred and ten thousand prisoners have thus far been counted, excluding the Dutch. With the resistance at Walehcren broken, the whole of Holland and all the islands are in German hands. A 6000-ton cargo steamer was sunk by bombs on the Frencli-Belgian coast. The Allies have lost 147 planes, and 27 German planes are missing. Allied planes have again bombed northern and western German towns, but failed to hit any military objective. BRITISH REPORT. (Received this day at 9.55 a.m) LONDON. May 19. The British Army in Belgium, is entrenched in an elaborate Gort line.