BOMBING HORRORS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 78, 25 June 1943, Page 2

BOMBING HORRORS

REFUGEES FROM THE RUHR “TERROR RAIDS” DENOUNCED APPALLING DAMAGE DONE (Rec. noon) London, June 24 A procession of eye-witnesses from the Ruhr continues to spe«k over Berlin radio describing the horrors of bombing and denouncing “Britisb-American terror.” All emphasise the appalling damage and call on the population to show fortitude until retribution is possible. The latest speaker, Hans von Platwo, referring to what he himself called the Battle of the Ruhr, said: “It was worse than anything I have seen anywhere in this war. I saw Warsaw after it was conquered. I saw Calais where every single house had to be stormed. I saw many Russian towns which were trans* formed into fortresses and which were accordingly bombed and shelled, but what I have seen at every step in western Germany is worse than anything. Never have such bestial means been used with such bitterness in air wai as the British and Americans are now using. It is important to note that thd British have lately abandoned the old thesis that victory cannot be won in the air. They now seem to think their present terror methods will achieve their aims.” real blows A German radio commentator, summing up the Battle of the Ruhr, declared: "It simply goes beyond human imagination. Nobody who has not seen it can have even the faintest notion thereof. There are real blows. The people of western Germany now find themselves in the very first line of the front. They look eye to eye wills death. Their fight is made more difficult by their realising that they are condemned to passivity.” An eye-witness of the Oberhausen raid, broadcasting from the German Freedom Radio, said: “People who survived the raid look line walking shadows. The ironworks and most foundries are complete shambles. Hundreds of the night-shift were killed. Only charred ruins are witness to Oberhausen’s terrifying night”—PA