DAYLIGHT RAIDS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 264, 5 October 1940, Page 7

DAYLIGHT RAIDS

ON ENEMY BASES.

NO NIGHT FLIGHTS

(United Press Association—-Copyright.)

(British Official AVireless.) (Rec. 10.20 a.m.) RUGBY, Oct. 4 Tliougk unfavourable weather restricted the daylight activities of our bombers yesterday, attacks were made, says an Air Ministry communique, on shipping off Dunkirk and on Rotterdam harbour, barge concentrations at Heusden, and an industrial plant near Wesel.

Other aircraft attacked railway communications and oil storage depots near Cherbourg. All our aircraft returned safely. The bomber operations were cancelled last night owing to a worsening of the weather.

A" bar to the D.F.C. won by PilotOfficer W. D. MeKLnight is among new It.A.F. awards announced. McKnight, who has destroyed six enemy aircrait in the last 13 weeks, was born at Alberta (Canada) in 1918 and was commissioned in the R.A.F. in 1939. He was awarded the D.F-C. last June. An Admiralty communique says further damage was inflicted on enemy shipping by the aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm operating over the coast of Norway. Squas attacked enemy supply ships of four to five thousand tons lying alongside the jetty at Haugesund. Hits were obtained with bombs and a ship was left heavily on fire in both forward and after holds. In Bjiorne Fiord Skuas attacked an enemy supply ship of about 2000 tons and bombs were seen to hit the ship, which is considered to have been sunk. Our aircraft were subsequently attacked by a superior force of enemy fighters and one Skua is missing. British bombers, it is learned officially, carried out daylight attacks today on various objectives on the enemy occupied coast of Holland.

NAZIS ADMIT DAMAGE.

EVACUATION OF CAPITAL.

LONDON, Oct. 4

Evidence that Germany is feeling the severity of the air war is provided bv four statemenss picked up by the Daily Mail radio station from German-con-trolled radios. 1

The first stated that Berlin yesterday evacuated 5000 women and children. The second admitted that R.A.F. raids in the last two nights had resulted in 2543 casualties. The third announced the destruction of a “very important factory” in western Germany. Regarding this Goebbels promised the severest reprisals. In the fourth statement Berlin announced the losses .on Wednesday of 12 German planes and one British.

It is officially announced in Berlin that the R.A.F. carried out 1741 attacks on Germany and German-oc-cupied territory, dropping. 7542 bombs during September. Of the attacks, it is stated, 1.6 per cent, caused military damage, ’-50.4 civilian damage or deaths, and 48 were unsuccessful.