467 Allied Bombers Lost In February

Northern Advocate, 17 March 1944, Page 3

467 Allied Bombers Lost In February

LONDON, March 15

The Under-Secretary for Air (Captain Balfour) informed Mr R. R. Stokes (Lab., Ipswich) in the House of Commons that 204 British and 263 American bombers operating from Britain were reported lost over Germany and Northern Europe in February last. A communique stated that during the American bomber raid on Brunswick, A.A.F. escorts -shot down 36 enemy interceptors. Five A.A.F. fighters and three heavy bombers are missing. The final tabulation of bombers’ claims has not yet been completed. Bombing was done through almost 100 per cent cloud by use of instruments. Some bomber crews reported sighting numerous enemy fighters, while others said they saw practically none.

Flak ranged from weak in outlying areas to intense over the target. Another American air attack was pressed deep into Belgium. During the morning a strong formation blasted a Luftwaffe airfield at Chievrer and railway yards and locomotive works at Haine St. Pierre.

Simultaneously, other Marauders struck railway yards at Auldnoye, four miles south of Amiens, an important stop for traffic between Lille and the ports of Dunkirk and Calais. None of the Marauders are missing.