GERMAN AIRFIELD BOMBED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 15 April 1944, Page 5

GERMAN AIRFIELD BOMBED

London. April 14 ! Thunderbolts and fighter-bombers of I the United States Ninth Air Force dart- { ing down unexpectedly from a heavy ' cloud bank to-day bombed a German ! airfield in north-west France and destroyed about 20 of 50 or more aircraft which were on the field —some of | them landing and taking off. Thunderbolt pilots were forced to navigate , through an overcast sky right up to ' the target but the sky cleared at almost perfect visibility as they plunged down to their objective So sudden was the attack that only two light bursts of flak met the flyers and they were able to range back and forth over the field almost at will raking installations with machine-gun fire. Big columns of fire were reported among hangars, fuel dumps and dispersal area? and explosions were seen among plane? parked in rows as if fo>* inspection along the runway. So dense were smoke and 1 flame that the pilots could not be sure 1 of the models of the planes they hit. i Fighter-bombers were covered by other [ Ninth Air Force Thunderbolts. Not one aircraft is missing from the operations. £ Other Ninth Air Force Thunderbolts v. hich made an offensive sweep over! 1 northern France to-day also returned without loss.