DOMINION PILOTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24294, 8 June 1942, Page 4

DOMINION PILOTS

PART IN GERMAN RAID GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS i; HUGE CLOUDS OF SMOKE COLOGNE LIT BY FLAMES By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Special Correspondent) LONDON. June 0 New Zealanders who took part in the 1000-plane raids on Cologne and Essen told their experiences to the New Zealand High Commissioner, Mr. W. J. Jordan, when he visited their station. Thev included Squadron-Leaders P. W. M. West, D.F.C., of Pnlmerston North, and D. S. X. Constance, of .Auckland; Flight-Sergeant-Pilots X. R. Clever, J. G. Stewart, of Christchnrch. and J. F. Keane, of Gishorno; Ser-geant-Pilots W. H. Gould, ol: Auckland, and G. E. Dale, of Whangarei; and Sergeant-Observers H. D. Holtom, of z Wellington, E. Sisson. of Auckland, .1 C. Webster, of Dunedin. and T. Stewart,- of Dannevirke. Gould, J. G. Stewart, Keane and Webster were in both raids. Lit Up By Fires Squadron-Leader West, who has completed 50 raids, said: "The trip to Cologne was very uneventful and ordinary. It was a lovely moonlight night. We first saw fires burning in Cologne from a distance of 20 minutes' flying time. We arrived in the middle of a raid. The most noticeable tiling was the smoke, which was already at 10.000 feet, blowing away from the town. 1 could see Cologne clearly, built inside a curve of tho Rhine. Lit uj> everywhere by fires; it was ail incredible eight. ''Tho main difference with the Essen raid was that the fires covered a bigger area," continued SquadronLeader West. "We saw flak, searchlights, fires and smoke all mixed up and extending for miles up and down the whole of the Huhr., We arrived during the last hour of the raid and stayed making reconnaissances of the bombing." Squadron-Leader TV est flew a Lancaster. A Satisfactory Raid Sergeant-Pilot Gould, aged 20, joined * np with the R.N.Z.A.F. shortly after leaving the New Plymouth Boys' High School. Ho captained a Hampden for eight raids. He chatted several minutes with Mr. Jordan, who knows Gould's father. -> Squadron-Leader Constance completed his first tour of operations with the Cologne raid. "It was a satisfactory raid." said Sergeant-Observer Webster. "I had never seen so many searchlights. A\ e were held for ISO minutes on the return trip in cones of 50 each, handing us on from one to another." Flight-Ser-geant-Pilot Keane said: "We saw plenty of 'hosepipe' flak sprayed toward us. It petered out below us. There were several dummy fires." "We saw a great red glow on the horizon and thought it was a distant fire, but it was the moon rising," said Flight - Sergeant - Pilot Stewart. "We couldn't niiss the target —docks—lit up by flares, and clearly scored hits. I saw three of our planes flying below me. All were shot down." Flying Lancasters After dinner Mr. Jordan chatted with the New Zealanders, among whom was Squadron-Leader A. M. Paape, D.F.C. and bar, Dunedin, who has finished' his second tour of operations and is now converting a squadron to flying Lancasters. Mr. Jordan then saw several Lancasters take off for Bremen while the pearl sky of early evening turned to a deep mauve. He watched the huge aircraft roar past the control room. It was a thrilling sight to see them gradually lift over the horizon and disappear. He went to bed when all had gone, rose before dawn, and went to the briefing room, where the Lancaster crews were reporting. He met Keane. Webster and J. G. Stewart, and sat chatting with them and drinking hot, sweet tea. They were tired, grubby, find wore incipient beards but were happy. Mr. Jordan left the New Zealanders when they went to get a breakfast of egg and bacon. He returned to bed until breakfast. His visit was much appreciated. Squadron-Leader Constance said: 'lt was like a breath of fresh air hearing him talk about home." DISTRICTS RAZED SCENES IN COLOGNE GREAT FEAT OF AIR WAR LONDON, June G A Swedish report says that the havoc at Cologne was worse than anyone could possibly imagine. Entire districts of the city were completely razed, and long streets were without a single house standing. The most badly damaged part of the -city was between the city hall and important port installations. This was almost obliterated. Signs everywhere on the walls of ruins issued the warning: "Emergency! W T hoever loots will be shot!" Other posters gave large lists of the names of men and women who had been executed for looting. The Turkish newspaper Ulus, commenting on the raid says: "The bombing of Cologne is the greatest feat of the air war. The number of British aircraft was three times as great as the number of German aircraft which bombed- Coventry." A recent reconnaissance flight has brought back proof of the great extent of damage done at the Humboldt ■works in Cologne. The nine large mul-tiple-bay factory buildings have been completely, gutted and five or six smaller buildings damaged. Though it produces engines and maehinerv of other kinds, the Humboldt plant's chief contribution to the German war effort is Diesel engines for submarines, and consequently, it. is almost as important as the Augsburg factory bombed last April. The damage to the Humboldt works is another effective counter-blow to the submarine menace. On the Moscow sector of the Eastern front the German 325 th Regiment was near enough to the Russian lines to hear broadcast announcements. After the new.-, of the Cologne and Essen raids the ( ierman-speaking Russian announcer bellowed through the radio: "Men of tiie .'l2sth Regiment. Cologne has ceased to exist. Over 1000 British bombers attacked it on May 31." The announcer then read out details of the laid. The Germans interrupted with vioient firing, but the announcer waited and then gave details of the Essen raid. The Russians learned that tne announcement spread like wildfire along the 250-mile front. l"t is clear from reports reaching London from German-occupied countries "that workers in these countries are more and more being sent to areas inside the Reich most vulnerable to Jtoval Air Force attacks. There are nearly HKi.OOO of these workers now employed in factories of the Ruhr and r 6 n ' ne a „ reas - Of this total about *40.001! jire Frenchmen, mostly in iron and steel foundries, while at Krupps' jissen works 1 rench, Belgians and Dutch are known to he employed. Of 35,000 t miners working in Germany, 25,000 are to be concentrated in the target .Areas. &