BACK TO DUISBERG

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 193, 17 July 1941, Page 7

BACK TO DUISBERG

BOMBER OFFENSIVE. “GOOD RESULTS.” (United Press Association —Copyright] (Rec. 9 a.m.) RUGBY, July 16 An Air Ministry communique says tliat last night the R.A.F j attacked industrial objectives m ' Duisburg 1 and elsewhere in the i Ruhr. I Good results were observed in spite o bad weather. I A Beaufort aircraft of the Coasta Command this morning attacked ai enemy supply ship of about 3500 ton, on the north-west coast of France. J salvo of bombs was dropped and hit were seen on the stern of the ship It is now known that one of on | bombers destroyed an enemy fighte ! over Germany last night, j Fighters on offensive patrol attackec ian enemy aerodrome, in the North o i Franco during the night. Three bomb ers are missing from these operations The U-boat commander Schroeder in an article in the Hamburger FYed denblatt, states that the Germans ot'tei ask why the U-boats do not blockadi tho British ports. The answer is tha the R.A.F. maintains a constant watel of the coast and the approaches and together with the British Fleet, has es tablished a practically unbreakabh watching system. Tho risks for U-boats proved to( great and the tactics of attack had t< be abandoned.' R.A.F. fighters, it is officially stated shot down an enemy bomber into tin sea off the South Coast this morning. HELP TO RUSSIA. One of the most interesting fea|tures of R.A.F. operations under- ! taken in daylight over enemy territory i has been the series of sweeps, some- | times carried out twice in a day. ] Those following the fortunes of these offensive measures may have noticed that more recently there has been an indication that the R.A.F. fighters have encountered somewhat increasee opposition. Such, in fact, is the case. The pilots report that hostile aircraft are met with in far greater numbers than was the case of the earlier sweeps. This is regarded as | highly satisfactory evidence that [ one of the main purposes of these j patrols is succeeding. | When Germany attacked Russia, the | day fighter strength of the Western ! Front diminished sensibly, both as |to quantity and quality. The fact of I increased resistance means that many !of these fighter squadrons have rei returned from the Eastern Front in j order to endeavour to deal with the R'.A.F'.’s menace. It is not too much to sav that several hundred Nazi fighters would be available for use against the Russians were it not for I these sweeps carried out bv the R.A.F. SHATTERING EXPLOSIONS. Pilots who dropped tho most powerful bombs during Monday night’s attack on North-West Germany report that they exploded with “immense flashes.’’ At Hanover the destruction and | blast caused by these shattering misj siles must have spread over a great i area and details of tho buildings, lit I by the brilliance of the bursts, sprang clear to the eye. Both at Hanover and among the docks at Bremen there were raging fires, impressive clouds of smoke following direct hits on largo industrial buildings. Our aircraft bad a hard journey over the North Sea, meeting thick, cold clouds rising to great heights. Over both Bremen and Hanover, though clear weather made for accurate bombing, there was a vicious barrage through which the bombers had to pass; but with shrapnel bursting around them, and even when hit by flying fragments, they kept a straight course over the target. One pilot, though his aircraft was hit several times over Hanover, went on and bombed the target. Bursts were seen directly on it. This aircraft, in fact, was so badly shot up that when it was later attacked by an enemy fighter, the front gunner found his guns unworkable but, by diving almost to sea level, the captain shook off the fighter. Soon after this he found the undercarriage had been hit and the wing flaps were out of control. Petrol was also running short and when he reached the coast the captain ordered the crew to bale out. With so much damage he doubted whethey he could make a safe landing. The crew all came safely to ground and were eventually taken to their own acro’dromc by lorry. When they got there they found their captain waiting for them. He bad managed to land the aircraft alter all. —Official Wireless. THOUSANDS OF TONS. LONDON, July 16. Between June 16 and July 10 over 2000 tons of bombs were dropped on the Ruhr. One thousand tons were dropped on Cologne and 500 tons on Bremen. CRETE TO SICILY. R.A.F. JUTS HARD. (Ree. 10.52 a.m.) RUGBY, July 16. The R.A.F. Middle East communique says that early this morning R.A.F. bomber aircraft successfully attacked a convoy of enemy shipping off the Tripolitnnian coast. Two heavy, bombs struck an 8000-ton vessel amidships and completely destroyed it. Another ship was damaged in the bows by a direct bit. Enemy aircraft which attempted to drop bombs on .British merchant vessels off the Libyan coast yesterday were engaged by R.A.F. fighters and six Junkers 87’s and one Mcsserschmitt 100 were shot down.

During the* night of July 14-15 our heavy bombers attacked llic enemyoccupied aerodromes at Eleusis and Ilassani,, in Greece, and Heraclion (Crete). At Eleusis direct hits were made on hangars, runways, and dispersal points, causing a number of large fires and explosions. Similar results were reported on the other two objectives. On the same night heavy bombers of the R.A.F. carried out a highly successful attack on the docks and other military objectives at Messina (Sicily). Several tons of liiglicxplosives and incendiary bombs were dropped and great (ires Mere started.

At flic ferry railhead the engine sheds, transformer plant, buildings, warehouses, and four linos of trucks were sot ablaze and the (ires were visible CO inilos distant. A number of enemy aircraft Hew over the Suez Canal area last night. One came down on the Great Bitter, Lake and another crashed south of Port Said. From the above operations two of our aircraft are missing.—Official Wireless.