RAILWAYS BOMBED

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24868, 14 April 1944, Page 3

RAILWAYS BOMBED

YARDS AT BUDAPEST iTALI AN LiNES ATTACKED (Rccd. 11.30 p.m.) LONDON. April 13 Budapest, the capital of Hungary, was bombed last night by Roval Air Force Wellingtons from the Mediterranean Allied Air Force. They dropped some 40001b. bombs. The targets were the railway yards and some of the high explosive and incendiary bombs fell among hundreds of goods trucks. One huge fire indicated a possible hit on an oil dump. This was the third attack on Budapest this month. Communications in Italy were also attacked, particularly the railway between Rome and Florence. Allied losses in the day's operations were 14 planes. At least 31 enemy aircraft were destroyed. The Allied air force Hew 2250 sorties. INTERNED IN SWEDEN CREWS OF 36 BOMBERS (Heed. 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, April 13 A number of Swedish airfields are beginning to resemble American bomber bases 7n Britain, 6ays the Stockholm correspondent of the Associated Press. Thirty-six crippled Fortresses and Liberators have landed in Sweden and more than .">OOO airmen have been interned. The Swedish and American authorities who have the responsibility of carinn; for the internees are facing a housing problem. A special train carrying 190 American airmen who landed in Sweden since Easter Sunday left Malmoe to-day for the north, where the men are being interned under Swedish auspices.

MINE-LAYING FROM AIR WORK IN ENEMY WATERS FOUR YEARS' OPERATIONS LONDON, April 12 To-morrow the R.A.F. Bomber Command celebrates the fourth anniversary of minelaying in enemy waters. It has probably 'stink over 1,000,000 tons of enemy slapping, as more than 500 ships have' been lost or damaged considerably. More than 13,000 sorties have been flown on sea-mining operations. An average of over 10 per cent _of the Bomber Command's effort is being engaged in this work. The percentage of missing aircraft is little, if at all, below the average rate for bombers attacking industrial cities in Germany. % On occasions the weight of the mines laid in a single night has exceeded the weight of bombs dropped by the Germans in the heaviest raids on England. fn 1940 Hampdens each carried one mine. Weighing 15001b., to mine the western Baltic and the Kiel Canal. Now Lancaster*, Halifaxes, Stirlings and Wellingtons carry multiple loads and lay them from the Spanish frontier along the entire enemy coast to distant Norwegian waters. The mines are of the acoustic or magnetic type. They go down by parachute and land gently on the sea. The parachute then detaches itself, the mine sinks and the parachute follows it so thai mi trace of the minelaying work is left A German vessel was carrying iron ore through the Kiel Canal when it hit a mine, blew up and blocked the canal. On another occasion a troopship, carrying a full complement of personnel and equipment to Norway, struck a. mine and sank. Again, when two U-boats wore returning to their base after a [ long Atlantic patrol, one hit a mine and i was blown to pieces in full view of a 1 reception party and band waiting on the jetty BRITISH CASUALTIES 278 KILLED IN MARCH (Rord. (5.30 p.m.) LONDON, April 13 Civilian casualties in Britain as a result of enemy activity during March were 278 killed, or missing believed killed, and 034 injured and taken to hospital. A few German raiders were over south-east England last night, and London had its first alert this month. Guns opened up, but the sirens soon gave the all clear. One raider was shot down. MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE LEVEL CROSSING ACCIDENT SYDNEY, April 13 Cecil Peter To!lev, who was relieving gatekeeper at the Brooklyn level crossing on January 20, when an express train struck a bus and 16 persons were killed or fatally injured, was committed for 'trial on a charge of manslaughter. The coroner found that- Tolley, who is aged 20. had negligently failed to elose the gates at the Wei crasai&g.