DAY BATTLES

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24828, 26 February 1944, Page 7

DAY BATTLES

ATTACKS BY FIGHTERS DESPERATE DEFENDERS 49 BOMBERS MISSING (Heed. 8.30 p.m.) LONDON, Felt '25 A British United Press correspondent, in a despatch from.a bomber base in Britain, says that one of the greatest air battles of the war was fought by Liberators and Flying Fortresses cutting across the heart of Germany to bomb Gotha and Schweinfurt, making round flights of nearly 1000 miles. Hundreds of heavy bombers flew- under cover of a great fighter escort. The bomber force split before reaching its targets.

Pilots said they were under fighter attack en route to the targets for 90 minutes. Focke-Wulfs and Messerschmitts six and seven abreast attacked nose on and tried to sneak in between the waves of escort planes. They also tried to sweep up from .below. Antiaircraft fire was very heavy, and a smoke screen was laid in an effort to hide the targets. United States Army Air Force headquarters in London announced that 49 Eight Air Force bombers failed to return from operations to-day. Ten fighters failed to return. A correspondent commenting on pilots' reports of the results of their latest concentrated bombing of German targets says the Germans will have to restart the reconstruction work carried out at Schweinfurt after the ball-bear-ing plants were devastated by raids last autumn. It is estimated that the Germans had restored 70 per cent of the production of the plants. The raid against the Messerschmitt assembly plant- at Gotha is described as a big success. Pilots reported that the German defenders used suicide tactics, but could not stop the bombers reaching the target. One airman said that German fighters caim> up from every airfield from the English Channel all" the way to the target and beyond. They sometimes brushed wing-tips. The Flying Fortresses took long steady runs over their targets and hit them squarely.

BERLIN DESTRUCTION PEOPLE PESSIMISTIC NAZI GRIP TIGHTENED (Becd. 11.15 p.m.) NEW YORK, Feb. 25 Air raids have destroyed 65 per cent of Berlin, says the New York Times correspondent in Stockholm, quoting a Swedish artisan who has returned _to Stockholm after 13 years in the Reich capital. He adds: 4 'Berlin is a city ringed by S.S. troops. The atmosphere in the capital is oppressive, with a feeling of bitterness among the masses. Although the Nazis try to paint a picture of 95 per cent solidarity with the regime, anyone mingling with the workers knows it is a lie. Pessimism is rampant, above all among workers and women, who want a rapid end to the tragedy at any price. . "Widespread hostility to the Jsazi regime is manifest, but the fear of reprisals prevents open discontent. The Nazi grip on the population has been tightened. With firing squads executing people for trifles, 1918 certainly will not be repeated. Himmler will see to that. The opposition is alive, although underground. The Communists are organised and the Social Democrats are preparing for the future." PRESIDENT'S VETO HOUSE OVER-RIDES ACTION RE-ELECTION OF BARKLEY (Reed. 11.10 p. in.) WASHINGTON, Feb. 24

The House of Representatives, by 299 votes to 95, over-rode President Roosevelt's veto of the 2,315,000,000-dollar tax bill. The Senate is expected to act similarly to-morrow.

A conference of Democratic Senators unanimously re-elected Senator A. B. Barkloy majority leader of the Senate and Senator Barkley accepted. He had resigned the previous day as a protest against the President's veto. The vote of the House, which is one of the worst legislative setbacks Mr. Roosevelt lias ever suffered, is indicative of the extent of the Democratic rebellion.

Political experts agree that Mr. Barkley emerged from the crisis with increased prestige, says the Associated Press. Some Democrats who are opposed to President Roosevelt standing tor a fourth term suggested Mr._ Barkley as a possible Presidential nominee. On the other hand, some are of the opinion that the net result of the incident would be "a clearing of the atmosphere" in the relations between Congress and White House and would have little effect on the President's chances for nomination. Mr. Barkley's re-election to the majority leadership creates a unique situation, inasmuch as he has broken openly with the leader of his party. Mr. Barkley has sent a letter to President Roosevelt expressing his fervent hope that the dispute over the veto would bring the legislative and executive branches of the Government closer together. TUNISIAN WAR FILM LONDON, Feb. 24 British and American directors, writers and' editors have finished the first official film of a British-American war operation—the Tunisian campaign.