AIR ONSLAUGHT

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 25021, 11 October 1944, Page 5

AIR ONSLAUGHT

FOUR GERMAN CENTRES DAY AND NIGHT RAIDS DEADLY 4000LB BOMB (Reed. 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 10 E.A.F. Halifax bombers flew to the Ruhr last night to make a heavy attack on the town of Bochum, which is one of the c main centres of the German iron and steel industry. It suffered heavily in the battle of the Ruhr last year and since then the Germans have carried out some major repairs. Today the city is also of tactical importance as a railway centre to the Siegfried Line. The attack started large fires spreading over a wide area. Seven bombers are missing. Over 1100 Flying Fortresses and Liberators, escorted by strong forces of Thunderbolts, Mustangs and Lightnings, yesterday attacked military targets at Schweinfurt, Coblenz and Mainz. Because of cloud, the bombing was done by instrument. Five bombers and three fighters are missing. There was no fighter opposition. Although the R.A.F.'s 12,0001b bombs are the world's heaviest and most powerful and can smash through concrete 12ft thick and make a crater 100 ft across, the 40001b bomb is the staple high-explosive bomb used against Germany. Several hundred of these are dropped in a single attack, says the Air Ministry news service. They cause severe damage over an area of six acres and entirely destroy all buildings within one acre. The weight of attack this year has been increased greatly by_ the development of instruments and improved tactics. Two hundred planes recently caused as much destruction as 1000 in 1942.The Ii.A.F. Bomber Command alone, operating from bases in England to the end of September, dropped 609,868 tons of bombs on targets in Germany, Italy and occupied Europe, of which 328,173 tons were dropped on targets in Germany. Incendiary bombs form a high proportion of the load in attacks on German industrial towns, _ whereas the targets in occupied countries are usually attacked with nigh-explosives. Incendiaiy bombs are bulkier than high-explosives in proportion to their weight, so that the weight of a bombload alone does not give a true picture of the weight of an attack, especially when it is remembered that the damage done by incendiaries is far more extensive than that achieved by high-explo-sives. Half a million or even more incendiaries are often dropped in a single attack.