BOMB HAVOC

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 96, 21 March 1940, Page 7

BOMB HAVOC

NUMEROUS FIRES. ACCURATE TACTICS. (British Official Wireless.) Received March 21, 9.50 a.m. RUGBY, March 21. Typical of the preliminary reports of the pilots on their return from the . Sylt raid was that by the captain of one of the first aircraft to arrive over the seaplane base. “One bomb was observed to burst between the hangars,” he said. “Three bursts were observed just north of the hangars. Two bursts were observed between the base and the slipway.” The captain of another aircraft, reporting the successful completion of his task, an enemy fighter had been driven off by the accurate fire of his rear gunner. Direct hits on hangars housing seaplanes which have raided the British coast were claimed by the crews of several aircraft. One of the bomber crews saw one of four of five bombs dropped by the aircraft ahead of them burst just inland off the jetty. Another crew reported that two hangars were burning fiercely as they left the island. Other fires were seen to break out following the explosion of a number of bombs near the seaplane slipway. Round the seaplane base itself a semi-circle of searchlights came into action as the British aircraft approached. In the earlier phase of the attack the dropping of bombs was followed by r intense light anti-aircraft fire from the batteries within the target area. The last of the British raiders to leave the scene of the attack landed back in England at 6.30 a.m. Reports from Tonder state that numerous observation ’planes were seen flying over Sylt at 3 p.m. Machineguns barked, but there was no heavy gunfire. The Air Minister (Sir Kingsley Wood), in the House of Commons, said the Royal Air Force in the Sylt raid last night registered direct hits on hangars which were set on fire. Oil storage tanks were also set on fire. Many hits were made on the jetty, the "light railway and other parts of the base. Reconnaissance flights today confirmed the success of the operation. All the reconnaissance ’planes returned safely. The Sylt raiders used double the number of German ’planes in the Scapa Flow raid. The Royal Air Force met intense anti-aircraft fire which did not prevent them from reaching their targets and dropping a large number of bombs. The German fighters sheered off when they encountered our fire. As the Air Ministry gathered further knowledge of the results of the attack it announced that the Hornum base had been extensively damaged by direct hits on slips and hangars. Later, returning pilots added the information that railway lines and barracks were also hit. One of the last crews to leave said they saw two hangars burning fiercely. L DAYLIGHT INSPECTION. At about 9 a.m. to-day two more R.A.F. machines flew over Sylt. The flight wiis presumably made to enable photographs to be taken of damage done by the raids during the night. Further reports from pilots who participated in the attacks all indicate that heavy damage was done. In addition to earlier reports, it was said that a fire was seen to be raging near a seaplane slipway. Latest reports from Denmark say that explosions are still being heard from the island. A message from Tonder, near the Danish border, states that muffled flashes and detonations indicated that the Royal Air Force attack on Sylt was resumed at 9 a.m. Two British machines also dropped three to four bombs in the centre of the island and disappeared westward. They were pursued by a swarm of German fighters. THOUSAND BOMBS.

HEAVY DAMAGE. j (From Davcntry.) Thirty ’planes took part in the raid on Sylt, only one failing to return. It is estimated that a thousand bombs were dropped. This is more than the Germans dropped on London during the Great War. Danish observers reported yesterday morning that smoke from the fires was still rising. One of the four towers on the dam was demolished, arid the railway is believed to have been damaged, no trains having been run yesterday. SYLT DESCRIBED. GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES. Sylt, which is connected to the mainland of Germany by the Hindenburg

Dam and Causeway, is a long, narrow island near the Danish southern frontier. The seaplane base of List is on the island’s northern end, with Hornum in the south. The main part of Svlt is from seven to 12 miles from the mainland. It has been in German possession since 1864, when the Prussians occupied it at the time of the war with Denmark. The Mindenburg Dam reaches the coast of Schleswig a few miles south of the Danish border. The northernmost part of the island projects past this boundary. The causeway was damaged by a previous Tt.A.F. raid in January. Svlt was declared a “bird sanctuary” in 1033, when Hitler reached power, hut the obvious purpose was to use the island for military purposes.