U.S. Planes Bomb Hong Kong

Manawatu Times, Volume 67, Issue 255, 28 October 1942, Page 5

U.S. Planes Bomb Hong Kong

NEW YORK, Oct. 26. Twenty tons of bombs landed in the target area when United States aircraft raided Hong Kong, reports tho Chungking correspondent of the Associated Press. Ships, docks, and warehouses were hit and many fires started both on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. Ten enemy fighters were shot down and five probably shot down. One American bomber failed to return and one fighter was forced down in Chinese territory. American heavy bombers seriously damaged the Japanese-operated coal mines in the vicinity of Linsi, NorthEast China, on October 21, says the Associated Press correspondent at United States army headquarters in China. In one of tho longest raids of the war, bombers destroyed a power plant, put out of commission the Linsi mine and five others in the Kailan area, northeast of Tientsin, from which Japan draws large fuel supplies for her war industries. It is believed the powerhouse and other installations cannot be restored for many months.

According to a London report, two attacks were made, one on Sunday and the other on Monday'. A destroyer was probably sunk, another ship was blown up, and others were set on fire. Twenty Japanese planes were attacked near the Indo-China border, three being destroyed and four more probably destroyed. None of the American planes was lost in this operation. Japanese planes raided North-East Assam yesterday and to-day. The damage was small. Four Japanese planes were destroyed yesterday, but there are no details of to-day’s raid. A Press Association cable from Chungking quotes the Associated Press, which says that Sunday's raid on Hong Kong caught the Japanese napping. The last bomb-racks were emptied before the Japanese fighters challenged the bombers. There was a hot time for a few minutes when Zeros swarmed towards the bombers, but tile American fighters soon scattered the enemy. New fires added to Sunday’s devastating assauit. The news of these blows has been greeted with great rejoicing in Chungking as indicating that a big American aerial offensive has begun.