HEAVY STRAFING

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 16 August 1944, Page 2

HEAVY STRAFING

SUCCESSFUL ALLIED WEEK EFFORT TO CRIPPLE COMMUNICATIONS London, Aug. 15. The story of the past week's concentrated strafing by Thunderbolts. Mustangs and Lightnings in an effort to cripple road and rail communications over north-east France and Belgium so the Germans could not bring supplies and reinforcements to the hard-pressed army west of the Seine is told by a senior officer of the Eighth United States Air Force Fighter Command. Fighters a week ago switched from the strategical work of escorting heavy bombers to tactical tasks. From the morning of 7th August until the night of 13th August, excluding one day when they operated strategically, they immobilised 900 locomotives and destroyed 1800 rail cars and 525 oil cars—the principal objectives—s 72 motor trucks, including 269 on 13th August. "The net result is that not a wheel was turning on 14th August in the area over which we operated.” said the officer. "It was a large-scale effort organised and dealt with in a large-scale way,” he added. "There was no fighter opposition during the week, but flak was enormous and the danger to our pilots was great. It requires courage, determination and high skill—more than in aerial combat —to do what they did. “It is known that in the first week of August the Germans’ position at the front was critical for some forms of supply, and they planned to reinforce through Paris. Reconnaissance showed marshalling yards chock-a-block full of locomotives and trains. The first operation was to wipe out traffic on the western part of Pas de Calais. Six groups comprising about 300 aircraft flew two missions daily. “Group leaders found lots of business,” said the officer. “The primary target was anything containing oil or suspected of containing ammunition. After a few days nothing moved in the area. Reconnaissance then showed traffic banked up (t orn Brussels to Strasbourg. We flew 1300 sorties, averaging four hours each, bombing railway tracks and strafing traffic both moving and in marshalling yards. The week finished with road strafing southwest of Paris ” MARAUDERS OVER ST. MALO Heavy gun batteries in the port of St. Malo were attacked this afternoon by Marauders carrying 2000-lb bombs. Huts and other installations adjoining the guns were splattered with incendiaries. Lightnings and Thunderbolts provided an escort for the bombers, not one of which is missing. No fighters or flak were encountered. The campaign against enemy communications in France was continued by Marauders and Havocs this morning with attacks upon the railway centre at Surquex, 25 miles north of Rouen and two bridges crossing the Oise north of Paris. Heavy damage is reported by bomber crews on the Surquex yards and railway bridges at Auvers-sur-Oise, 15 miles north of Paris. All the bombers returned. Yesterday over 1200 individual attacks were made by Mustangs. Thunderbolts and Lightnings on anything moving on roads. They claimed over 300 military transports destroyed and 108 damaged. Twenty-five tanks were knocked out and 19 damaged. In addition they destroyed 62 railway cars and damaged 15. silenced 13 guns, cut rails in four places and bombed four houses containing enemy troops holding up ground forces. One enmey aircraft was destroyed on the ground and nine shot down. Ten fighter-bombers are missing.