Nazi Fish-oil Factories Make Spectacular Blaze

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 264, 6 November 1941, Page 6

Nazi Fish-oil Factories Make Spectacular Blaze

STREAMS OF TIRE (British. Official 'Wireless.,) ’ RUGBY, Nov. 4.

When Hudson aircraft of the Coastal Command which patrol the coast' find no enemy ships to attack, they devote their attention to an industry which is being developed by the Germans—the fish-oil industry. These factories are being attacked and smashed up by the Coastal Command. Buildings are wrecked and storage tanks bombed. The most successful and spectacular of these attacks was delivered at Bergso by the Hudson squadron which last week sank or damaged seven Nazi supply ships at Aalesund. A Hudson flew in over the Bergso Islands and dropped high-explosive bombs on factory buildings. Four made direct hits, and 20 seconds after the bombs exploded there were two more violent explosions. Then incendiaries were dropped on the oil-storage tanks. The Hudson crew watched an extraordinary incident. First, a four-storey warehouse caught fire and blazed fiercely, but above the flames rose enormous mushrooms of black smoke to a height of half a mile. The Hudson. I flying at 1500 feet, v/as often enveloped ' in the smoke, wlr*h entered the aircraft and had the crew coughing and spitting.

The pilot dived clear of the smoke and below saw storehouses flattened and in ruins. Blazing oil from the storage tanks ran in fierce streams along the ground and linked two fires in one great blaze.

When the Hudson was 30 miles on its way home, the glare could still be seen lighting up the hills behind the islands. An Air Ministry communique states:

“Despite continuing bad weather last night, aircraft of the Bomber Command found and attacked an enemy convoy off the Frisian Islands. One large supply ship was seen to be hit. Other aircraft attacked a harbour in occupied France. About dusk last evening, planes of the Coastal Command set fire to a fish-oil factory at Bergso, on the coast of Norway. Last night, other aircraft of the same command attacked the docks at St. Nazaire. No aircraft is missing from any of these operations.”