RAID ON ITALY

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24084, 1 October 1941, Page 7

RAID ON ITALY

BOMBING OF GENOA NEW ZEALALD AIRMEN LIGHTNING OVER ALPS LONDON, Sept. 20 An Air "Ministry communique says that in the attacks on northern Italy and western Germany, including Frankfurt, on Sunday night, five aircraft of the Bomber Command are missing. Stirling and Wellington aircraft were in the force that attacked Italian targets. Bombers from the New Zealand and Czech squadrons went to Italy. A New Zealand squadron-leader described how lie flew, "just about 400 ft. above the summit of .Mont Blanc." "There was plenty of light at Genoa, he said. "Flares were dropping all over the place. Coming back it was pitch dark all the way. We could just make out the peaks of the Alps, but after that we did not see a thing until we came out of the cloud over our aerodrome." The pilot of a Wellington aircraft described the long journey and the bombing of a large factory in Genoa. "Going out it was moonlight and we saw the coast," he said, "hut as we neared the Alps the clouds began to build up. We skirted a terrific electric storm over Mont Blanc, where we could see great zigzag flashes of lightning. "When we got to Genoa we stayed there an hour and a-half flying round at between 2000 and 3000 feet. The bombers above kept dropping flares round us and lighting up our Wellington. There was a good deal of heavy 'flak' and a fair amount of light 'flak.' "There were two layers of cloud over Genoa and a high bank of cloud had come up over the moon, but we picked up a good pin-point for the first run up. Our bomb aimer decided to drop a few incendiaries —a cautious Scotsman, he was not going to put all his bombs down at once. The incendiaries went off with a rush right in the factory and soon we could see flames coming out of the roof. Windows on the whole of one end of the factory—it was an enormous place—were lit up. "We saw nothing of the Alps on the return journey as we crossed in pitch black darkness and cloud. Until we got back to our base we had only one glimpse of the ground."