Berlin Bombed in Snowstorm

Manawatu Times, Volume 65, Issue 259, 1 November 1940, Page 7

Berlin Bombed in Snowstorm

RAF. Planes Strike Heavy Weather VITAL OIL CENTRES ATTACKED (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, Oct. 30. Despito a snowstorm and severe icing conditions, extensive R.A.F. operations were carried out over Germany on Tuesday night. An Air Ministry communique states that Berlin was attacked. Fires wore started in oil plants at Homburg, Sterkrade, and Magdeburg, and shipyards and docks were bombed at Bremen, Wilhelmshaven, Den Tlelder, Ymuiden, Flushing, and Ostend. Other aircraft attacked railway communications, aerodromes, searchlight batteries, and anti-aircraft gun positions in Germany ancl the occupied territory. Two British planes are missing. The severe conditions in with the raid on Berlin was carried out are graphically described by the pilots engaged. , Earliest Raid Yet Made The raid was the earliest Berlin has yet experienced, the first of a small striking force of heavy bombers reaching the capital at 9 p.m. A snowstorm which hampered the airmen over the last 100 miles of Germany was raging over Berlin and made the task of locating the targets extremely difficult, but, after dropping flares, the first raiders succeeded in finding their targets. Driving snow, however, obscured observation of the results. “The early part of the journey to Berlin was grand,” said the pilot of tho first aircraft to reach Berlin. “Visibility was excellent, and we could see the stars in an almost cloudless sky. Then, quite suddenly, we ran into a snowstorm, which kept us company all the way to Berlin and most of the way back. “Some of the fine powdery snow,’' he added, “blew into my cockpit and lay two inches thick on the dashboard recess. To make matters worse, the windscreens of the two front cockpits were completely covered, so we flew for many miles almost blind, depending upon our instruments. “We had hoped to get clear of the snow before reaching Berlin, but, If anything, it was worse when we arrived. Still, we managed to find our target—a large electrical works —and bombed it through the snow.

Snow and Gunfire Another pilot who visited the out* skirts of Berlin was less fortunate. “We ran into the same fine powdery snow,” he said, “and at one time 1 looked like a flying snowman. When we first ran into the snow, we climbed, hoping to find things better higher up; but, almost at once, the controls began to show signs of freezing-up. At 3000 feet, the temperature was still two decrees below zero, so we came down lower still and for 35 minutes flew at a couple of thousand feet. “Once again we ran into a terrific anti-aircraft barrage, though even that didn’t warm us up much, and for a great deal of time the ice cracking on the machine made a noise like hundreds of machine-gun bullets.” Oil Centres Attacked. Oil-supply centres, rail communications, docks, and aerodromes over a wide area of Germany were among many other objectives successfully attacked on Tuesday night. Weather conditions over most of the operations areas, according to an Air Ministry bulletin, were very bad, and low cloud, with severe icing conditions, was frequently encountered. The primary objectives were not in all cases obtainable, and a number of attacks were diverted to alternative targets in Germany and the occupied territories. German oil-supply centres were the main objectives of the night’s operations, and successful attacks were launched against refineries and storage plants, including those at Gelsenkirchen and Leuna. Strongly-burning fires were started in the refinery areas at Homburg and Sterkrade. At Madgeburg, the explosion from one salvo of bombs was so violent that the attacking aircraft was badly shaken. A few seconds later, the crew saw a sheet of flame leap across the targets. In attacks on the docks at Hamburg, Bremen, and Wilhelmshaven, all three of which had been heavily attacked the previous night, heavy-calibre bombs, followed by incendiaries, were seen to burst within the docks, but ground haze and low clouds, which prevailed over the greater part of North-West Germany, obscured the damage. Other aircraft unable to locate their primary targets attacked industrial plants at Leipzig and Gelsenkirchen and Krupp’s works at Essen, and scored hits on the river bridge at Stralaund. Great Blaze Begun. Goods-yards at Cologne, Hamburg, and Krefeld and railway junctions at Osnabruck, Nordhausen, and Hildesheim were struck with heavy-calibre bombs. A bomber which attacked a canal and goods-yard near Munster started a fire which ten minutes later developed into a great blaze. The aircraft came under heavy anti-aircraft fire and suffered several hits from shell splinters in the wings and fuselage. Twenty-nine aerodromes in Germany, Holland, Belgium, and France were located and attacked, and at four fires broke out. The aerodrome at Rheine was lit by the flashes of two terrific explosions which threw debris high into the air. Fires were also started in the docks at Flushing, and Den Holder*