LEIPZIG RAID

New Zealand Herald, Volume 80, Issue 24759, 6 December 1943, Page 3

LEIPZIG RAID

NEW TACTICS USED

GERMANS DECEIVED

FEINT AGAINST BERLIN 23 AIRCRAFT MISSING (Reed. 0.50 p.m.) LONDON. Dec. 5 A large force of Royal Air Force bombers raided Leipzig on Friday night. Fires were sweeping the city more than 12 hours after the bombers had dropped 1500 tons of explosives and incendiaries on the town's industrial areas. Reconnaissance pilots who flew over in the afternoon after the raid reported that the fires appeared to , be out of control. Smoke was rising to a height of four miles and the pilots could still see it when they crossed the German frontier 250 miles away on their way home. The German news agency says: "A terror attack on Leipzig caused devastation in some parts of the town." Enemy Fighters Tricked i The enemy thought it was Berlin that was going to be attacked again. AirMarshal Sir Arthur Harris, Chief ol the Bomber Command, deceived the Germans by sending Mosquitoes to Berlin first, followed by a great force of Lancasters and Halifaxes, also heading toward the capital. Masses of German night fighters sent up flares over 100 miles of sky in the direction of Berlin. , Some air battles started, but just whon the Germans had made every preparation to ward off the expected i onslaught on Berlin the British bombers I swung away to the south toward | Leipzig. I "The bulk of the German fighters I seemed to go one way and we another," | said one of the pilots on his return. "By the time the German fighters were over Leipzig most of our bombers had dropped their bombs and were on the way home." Several German fighters were shot down on the way to Berlin. Our losses for the whole night's operations were 23 aircraft. Early Morning Attack i The attack on Leipzig was swift and concentrated in thick cloud by Lancasters and Halifaxes. The Canadian bomber group sent many aircraft of both types, and Lancasters were out from three Australian squadrons. ' (A minute or two before 4 a.m. l'ath- , finders began laying target indicators. , Although cloud was drifting all the time the attack was taking place, and was seldom less than 8000 feet high j brilliant target indicators guided the ' bombers to their objectives, and in a I short time fires sprung up and were i tightly packed. The attack was planned so that the bombers would not be over German territory before the moon set at 10.30 p.m. As the aircraft returned to England the sun was rising. City's Big Industries ! This is the first time the Bomber i Command has made a feint attack. On ! a number of previous occasions diveri sionary raids by a smaller number of bombers have deceived the German defences, and a bomber force of other raids has hoodwinked the defences by i taking a course leading to the belief that an entirelv different target was their aim. On Friday night, however, new tactics were introduced. The number of bombers lost, 23, is an indication of the success of the feint. Leipzig was last attacked on October ; 21. The Press Association savs the Bomber Command again directed attenj tion to Leipzig because of the settlei ment there of vital German war indus- | tries bombed out of the Ruhr. The j city had many important war plants ! before the new acquisitions. Its main industry is the manufacture of aircraft components, on which more than 20 firms are engaged. It also has aircraft assembly plants, motor transport, machine tools, textile and chemical works, and is one of the most important transport centres in Germany. It is a vital junction for war traffic for the Russian front. II DORNIERS SHOT DOWN £Recd. 6.10 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 5 A smashing blow to a formation of 14 German Dornier 217 bombers was dealt in daylight yesterday by Royal Air Force Typhoons. The Typhoons met the Dorniers over Holland and shot down 11 out of the 14. The only damage to the R.A.F. machines was a bullet hole in one of them. GERMANS' ALTERNATIVES LONDON, Dec. 4 The Daily Mail says that all enemy comment takes it for granted that the Allies are about to issue an ultimatum to the German people on the lines of "surrender or be destroyed by bombs." The Germany news agency says that Germany's setbacks in the past 12 months have shown that the people "can take it." CORRESPONDENTS MISSING LONDON, Dec. 4 Mr. Norman Stockton, Sydney Sun correspondent, and Mr. Lowell Bennett, representing the American International News Service, are missing from Thursday night's Berlin raid. Mr. Stockton participated as an observer with an all-Australian Lancaster crew, who have not returned. Mr. Bennett flew in a Royal Air Force bomber. TITLE TO BASES WASHINGTON, Dec. -1 Discussing post-war problems, Senator Tom Connally said at a press conference that the United States must acquire and fortify naval and air bases, both in the Pacific and Atlantic, and "a better title" must be acquired to the Atlantic naval bases leased from Britain to ensure that they remained under American control.