GUNS AND PLANES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 126, 30 April 1941, Page 7

GUNS AND PLANES

ACTIVITY IN CHANNEL. EXPLOSIONS IN FRANCE. (United Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 9 a.m.) LONDON, April 29. A violent action is being waged across the Straits of Dover. The

I Germans are shelling the Dover i area —an operation that has eonj tinned for the whole of the morning and to which the British guns replied, first with single shells and -then salvoes of four to six shells. There are indications that the 'R.A.F. are busy on the other side, i big exp.osions, apparently from bombs, have been seen at Gape Gris Ness, and great columns of yellowish

smoke are rising from Calais harbour. The shelling of Dover lasted from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The damage from the whole bombardment was negligible and was confined to cottages. Most of the shells were high-explosive splinter shells, bursting in mid-air with a ter- ! rific flash and scattering heavy splin-j ters over a wide area. The bombardment was the heaviest I since the autumn. Two civilian men j and one soldier were the only casual- ! ties; they were cut by .glass -when a ; shell splinter smashed tlie windscreen j of a lorry in which they were riding, i The British long-range guns replied j in the alternoon.

The Berlin News Agency stated that' aji important military objective near j Dover was the target or to-day’s bom- j bardment. An Air Ministry communique says the Bomber Command last night, re- j sumed the attack on the German 1 cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau at ! Brest. Planes of the Coastal Command j

also attacked Brest during the. night, j None of our planes is missing, says a j British Official Wireless report. It is learned in London that R.A.F. bomb?rs,- escorted by fighters, attacked enemy supply ships off the Belgian coast, to-day.

An Admiralty communique states j that a German aircraft was destroyed j last evening by His Majesty’s minesweeper Elgin, which sustained no '■ casualties or damage. The enemy air- j

craft, a Heinkel 111. attacked the minesweeper with bombs and its ma-chine-gun. A shell from the Elgin was seen to pass right through the Heinkel. which stalled and crashed into iiie sea with a terrific explosion. A Dutch pilot Hying with an R.A.F. Spitfire squadron on an offensive patrol yesterday sent a German divebomber crashing to destruction over Flushing aerodrome. Seeing the enemy Hying at only 100 ft, the Dutchman dived to attack head-on with a one-second hurst from his machineguns. He then swung round and delivered another attack of three seconds and saw the bomber crash on to the ] aerodrome. The other pilots of the j

squadron came down low to attack military buildings and sprayed the searchlight posts and crews with ma-chine-gun bullets. RAID ON PORTSMOUTH. Night raiders in waves heavily attacked Portsmouth, dropping first incendiaries and oil bombs and then high explosives, also many flares. The ground defences put up an intensive barrage. Jt is confirmed that a third enemy bomber was shot down by anti-aircraft fire during the raid on Plymouth last night. This is in addition to a bomber announced as having been destroyed by British fighters and makes a total of four enemy aircraft destroyed during the night.

Little enemy activity over Britain is reported to-day; no bombs arc reported to have been dropped. Berlin reports that the Luftwaffe, attacked Portsmouth, Great Yarmouth, and Peterhead.