SARDINIAN TARGETS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 6 August 1941, Page 5

SARDINIAN TARGETS

ATTACKED BY BRITISH NAVY SEAPLANE BASE BOMBARDED FLEET AIR ARM TAKES PART j (Rec. noon.) Rugby, Aug. 5. :| An Admiralty communique [ states that minor naval operations were carried out in the j western Mediterranean in the • last few days, in which harbours; j of Sardinia were attacked. j A seaplane slipway was dam- | aged by naval gunfire and an at- ! tack by naval aircraft set buildings and hangars on fire. CORRESPONDENT’S VIVID DESCRIPTION j Describing the Mediterranean Fleet’s attack on Sardinian port? an agency | correspondent on board lEM.S. Ark Royal states: "Below me the flight deck, wider than an arterial road, is scarcely ! discernible. It is 3 am. and the night i air is sounding with the hum of aeroj plane engines, their bomb racks full; I for the Gibraltar force under Admiral | Somerville is on the offensive, in fact. J the offensive has already begun for j three-quarters o: an hour ago there was j a luminous reflection in the sky far! j away over the coast of North Sardinia. 1 • It came from star shells by destroyers , | sent in to bombard the seaplane base of Alghero and shipping in the harbour ithere “Now our bombers are to follow and ‘ i four tons of bombs beneath their wings j ! are destined for Alghero aerodrome, j The zero hour is near and the crews) i were already in their aircraft a few minutes ago. wearing flying suits and ! i lifebelts. The pilots and observers un- i : der carefully shaded lights in the Airi , Intelligence Department were receiving [ their final instructions for the raid. “The hum of engines increases with a j shattering crescendo and suddenly the j flight deck is picked out in tiny points iof light. They match the stars in the ! sky. Cunningly devised they cast no radiance to the sky to advertise our presence to possible lurking U-boats, but give the minimum guiding light for a sale take off. The deck vibrates j as the first bomber thunders forward, j and its shadowy outline seems terribly i menacing. As it passes the bridge the i orange glow of its exhaust illuminates) a few feet of fuselage and a flurry of 1 red sparks swirls madly in the wind j oefore they vanish. The centre row of: safely lights disappear for an instant i and we know that the bomber is in the j air. Within a few minutes all are away.”—B.O W.