RAF. Smash German Invasion Plans

Northern Advocate, 14 September 1940, Page 8

RAF. Smash German Invasion Plans

[British Official Wireless.'] (Received noon.) RUGBY, September 13. In spite of adverse weather, described succintly by the pilots themselves as “generally foul,” Royal Air Force bombers on Thursday night continued to harry German invasion plans. They struck in particular at the network of vital German railway junctions and goodsyards in the west. A communique issued this evening shows that aircraft of both the Coastal Command and Bomber Command were engaged in the night's operations, from which all planes returned safely. Important Junctions

The Air Ministry news service points out that these junctions and goodsyards, which iclude some of the largest and most elaborate in Europe, must play an important paid in any attempted invasion of Britain. Troops, reserves, equipment and supplies moving westwards to Channel ports from Germany, must pass through one or other of these key transport centres. Rcmbing in Vile Weather

It was before 10 o'clock that, in thick cloud and drizzling rain, the first raider dropped heavy explosive bombs and incendiary bombs at the Hamm yards. At the Ehrang yards, near the Luxembourg frontier north of Trier, heavy bombs burst along a line of trucks, causing several explosions and fires, which burned with a vivid glare.

At Osnabrook, too, bombers flew through dense cloud. On scraped a balloon cable with his wingtip. Attacking from various heights raiders started 10 large fires in the yards. Seme of the aircraft which attacked the Essen yards were badly iced up. Heavy yards were dropped on the railway sidings. The Schwerte marshalling yards were also attacked in the face of an intense barrage from light ant-air-eraft batteries. Another raider bombed the sidings at Emmerich, on the Rhine, near the Dutch border. Brussels Railway Yards The Germans recently have been routing much of their military traffic through the Brussels yards. These have been attacked several times by the Royal Air Force in the past week. They were bombed again last night, and after bursts were seen on the target, a U-shaped fire there-quarters of a mile long was seen on the north side of the yard. There were a series of green-coloured explosions, and then another fire 200 yards long was observed in the middle of the siding. Meanwhile, another section of raiders visited Emdem, and bombed the docks and petroleum sheds en the west side of Altebinnen Hafen. The attack went on for an hour. Dutch Docks Damaged. Squadrons operating over Holland bombed docks at Flushing and Detfzi'jl, at the mouth of the Ems, opposite Emden, and the Norderney seaplane base and the base at de Kooy, near Den H'elder. The first raider to reach Flushing found a semi-circle of antiaircraft ships round the harbour entrance. They immediately opened an intense barrage. Light and heavy shore batteries joined in. Tracer bullets flared past the bombers, and high-angle machine-guns added their quota. Through this barrage one of the raiders flew at 600 feet. A German oil tanker was bombed by Blenheims of the Coastal Command near Le Havre, and a supply ship was also hit.