NAPLES AGAIN

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24106, 27 October 1941, Page 8

NAPLES AGAIN

PERSISTENT RAIDS FOUR NIGHTS RUNNING HEAVY DAMAGE CAUSED LONDON, Oct. 26 Naples was bombed on Friday for Ihe fourth night in succession. The raid lasted for six hours. Naples is one of the ports from which troops and supplies are sent across the Mediterranean to Libya. Tripoli, at the other end of the route, has also been raided again. A communique from Royal Air Force hendquurteis in the .Middle Last states that for the third night in succession the Royal Air Force bombed Naples during Thursday night. Bad visibility obscured the target, but fires caused on the two previous nights were still burning. Fresh explosions were observed as the attacking aircraft released their bombs. An earlier communique reported a heavy raid on Naples during Wednesday night. Fires caused by the heavy atlaek on the previous night were still burning when our aircraft arrived over the target. Further fires broke out in the vioiuitv of the railway station and hits were scored on the railway yards as well as on the station buildings. Italians' Mistake "There is no truth in the Italian claim that one of our bombers was shot down oil Tuesday night, states an Air Ministry bulletin. "All the aircraft engaged in these raids returned safely, hut one of our pilots reported having seen a hall of flame, resembling a burning aircraft, in the sea near Pantcllnria Island. As none of our bombers claims to have shot down an enemy aircraft, it must he assumed that tho Italians shot down one of their own machines." Other bombers attacked Tripoli and Benghazi on Thursday night. At Benghazi bombs burst oil tho moles, causing fires, while at Tripoli many bombs were dropped on various targets. Naval aircraft bombed and machinegunned motor transport and tents near the frontier. Fires followed the attack. Other naval aircraft raided Bardia and caused an explosion on the south headland. Enemy Ships Attacked South African bombers raided the south landing ground at Gazala and enemy aircraft on the ground wore severiv damaged. .In 'tho Central Mediterranean two enemy merchant ships were bombed and machine-gunned, but full results of the attack could not he observed. A railway and factory at Ragusa and a factory at Lieata, in Sicily, were also effectively attacked. From all these operations one of our aircraft is missing. An earlier communique stated that heavy bombers attacked shipping and harbour works at Tripoli on Wednesday night. Bombs burst near shipping, causing explosions and clouds of black smoke. Several hits were scored on the Karamanli mole. In the Central Mediterranean medium bombers bombed and machine-gunned an enemy merchant vessel, which was severely damaged. From all these operations all our aircraft returned safely. PARACHUTE JUMP DESCENT FROM 30,400 FEET STRATOSPHERE EXPERIMENT NEW YORK, Oct, 24 Arthur Starnes, laden with 851b. of equipment and scientific instruments, jumped from an altitude of 30,400 feet at Harvery, Illinois, and, opening his parachute at 1500 feet, landed safely in 4'j, minutes. This is claimed as a world's record delayed-opening parachute jump. Starnes used two parachutes. Starnes said the temperature of 25 degrees below zero in the upper atmosphere froze his goggles when he left the aeroplane. As a result, he was unable to see the altimeter and had to squint toward the ground for the purpose of judging when to open his parachute. He wore oxygen apparatus and an electrically-heated suit, and carried a cardiograph recording his heart action. The authorities desired to know what would hnpnen if stratosphere pilots were obliged to bale out. BRAVE SCIENTISTS LIVES RISKED IN TESTS PROFESSOR AND GIRLS LONDON, Oct. 23 Professor J. B. S. Haldane. Professor of Biometry, at University College. London, collapsed several times, and once was unconscious for three hours, after being sealed in a steel chamber, representing a sunken submarine, >n which gas was injected under pressures exceeding 10 times that of the atmosphere. Four girl students who wore assisting Professor Haldane nnd Dr. E. M. Case in tho experiments to discover a safe method of escape from a submarine risked their lives in the chamber after a male assistant had been taken to hospital with a punctured lung. One girl volunteer was unable to stand the terrific pressure, which was reproduced to simulate a depth of 300 feet, but the others stood up to the test.' They did mental arithmetic and simple psychological tests to determine the reaction of the brain and limbs under great pressures. They wero put in a decompression chamber, and then given a further test, in which were reproduced the same conditions as those found in tho escape from a submarine. Each girl went home with a label pinned to her clothes warning people that if she collapsed she was suffering from "bends" —pressure paralysis—and must be returned to a compression chamber. Dr. Negrin, former Premier of Republican Spain, and at one time Professor of Biology at the University of Madrid, also is assisting Professor Haldane in the experiments.