PORT OF ANTWERP

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25217, 1 June 1945, Page 5

PORT OF ANTWERP

HOW IT WAS KEPT OPEN FLYING BOMBS DEFEATED GOOD ANTI-AIRCRAFT WORK Six of the Allied armies operating against the Germans in the final offensive received supplies amounting to well over two million tons through one port—Antwerp, says a Sydney Morning Herald correspondent in a despatch from Paris. The Germans tried for 154 days to smash the port with flying-bombs and rocket-shells, but, because flying-bomba were the more accurate missiles against a target only eight miles in diameter, the Allied command knew that the immense build-up of the 21st and 12th Army Groups could be achieved if the Vl's could be successfully combated. By far the greatest responsibility in the vital task of defending Antwerp against the German VI offensive was placed on a command known as "Antwerp X," consisting of 22,000 American and British troops under an American, Brigadier-General Clare H. Armstrong. There were no fighters specifically assigned to attack the Vl's as they sped toward Antwerp, and there were also no balloon screens, but even in the absence of those "competitors" the Antwerp X Command has only now been given its full credit. Remarkable Accuracy Because the work of the command was a "top secret" for five months, there was plenty of opportunity for the growth of strange beliefs. Of these the most persistent among the people of Antwerp was that the VI offensive had been defeated by the mythical marksmanship of an equally mythical force of "coloured troops." The plain fact is that Antwerp continued to work largely because a thousand American and British gunners, engineers and signallers, manning remarkably accurate anti-aircraft artillery and detection equipment, performed a great feat of co-ordinated effort and sustained endurance in cruel winter conditions. Field-Marshal Montgomery asked "Command X" to set itself a minimum of 50 per cent of "kills," which was necessary to allow Antwerp t-o function as a main supply port. General Armstrong's batteries only bettered the minimum by two per cent in December, but in January the score was 64 per cent ; and in February 72 per cent, while in March the gunners destroyed 85 per cent of the flying bombs thoy engaged. Nearly 5000 Detected In the last six days of the campaign only two of 91 flying-bombs bound tor Antwerp got past to fall in the "vital area." During the five-month attack 4483 flving-bombs were detected by Antwerp X defences, and of these 2183 were destroyed, including 648 which blew up in the air, as distinct from being brought down to explode on the ground. Only 211 fell in the "vital area. ' Antwerp port did not cease working for a single day. In the whole of Belgium, British and American forces used 400 heavy guns as defence against "diver" bombs, and the great majority were employed in front of Antwerp, which the Germans attacked with Vl's from three directions. Th£ first attacks came from the southeast —from sites near Trier, Cologne and Bonn. The second group of sites to come into action were in the north-east, near the towns of Almelo, Mengelo and Enschede. The attacks continued .until March 30. The first bomb from this area was plotted on December 15. Vicious and Deadly A third group of sites were almost due north of Antwerp—across the Maas estuary—and from there 40 per cent of the Vl's were launched, beginning on January 24. Because of the short range - barely 50 miles in many instances—these attacks were vicious and deadly. The expenditure of heavy ammunition by the Antwerp batteries exceeded all expectations and supplies had to be flown across the Atlantic. _ Fifteen .thousand rounds of "heavies were fired in two nights, and the total in the campaign was half a million. The German attack reached its peak in the middle of February—the despairing effort to avert the impending doom of the Wehrmacht —-when 360 flymghombs were detected in 24 hours. "CROWDED HOUR" AUSTRALIAN DESTROYER RESCUE FEAT OFF. LUZON SYDNEY. May 24 When H.M.A.S. Warramunga rei turned to an Australian port recently after a ten months' cruise, in which the vessel participated in operations at Morotai, Leyte, Luzon, Wewak and Tarakan, the ship's company was unanimous about the most memorable period of the long voyage. It was one crowded hour off Luzon last January. The hour began with simultaneous attacks by two suicide bombers, one coming from port and the other from starboard, with a high-level bomber adding incident and variety with some bombs which fell into the sea 70 yards from the Australian destroyer. Warramunga's heavy fire discouraged the two suicide planes, which sheered off. One plane was hit and crashed amidships on an Allied destroyer. In a matter of seconds a fire was raging around the Allied vessel's magazine. It put the fire-fighting gear out of action. ' Warramunga closed in to help. The two vessels were so close that paint was blistering on the Australian warship's side as she played water and chemicals on her neighbour's fire. A few yards from the fire-fighters the plating of the Allied vessel's magazine had become red hot, but two of Warramunga's crew hoarded the ship to get closer to the fire, and those who were not fire-fighting or manning the guns against possible new air attacks were busy transferring the wounded from the ship to Warramunga. The fire was quelled in about a quarter of an hour. Lines were rigged to stretchers to transfer 11 wounded men to Warramunga, a tow-line was affixed and the balance of the Allied destroyer's crew taken aboard. As they got under way another suicide plane came in to attack, but it ,was blown to pieces by the guns of •H.M.AtS. Shropshire. ;

JAPAN'S INNER CITADEL | VULNERABLE FROM THE AIR Both military and political experts -have predicted that the»Japanese would make their last stand in an inner citadel made up of North China, Manchuria, Korea and the islands of Japan, writes the New York Herald-Tribune. There are strong indications that the enemy lias in progress now preparations to" this end, the latest beinp reports from China that Japanese civilians and industrial facilities are being moved northward from Shanghai and other coastal cities. The more conies none too soon', from the Japanese point of view, as sea communications between Japan and North China already are under attack. The position of tnc Japanese in their inner citadel would be exceedingly strong'were it not for the devastating weight of American air power. There is no doubt the Japanese feared they might, have to contend with a blockade before the war was over, but it seems improbable that they foresaw that any aerial force could be thrown against their -industrial areas as strong as the American sky . armadas now taking catastrophe, to one city after another. In spite of these aerial attacks, _ however, the Japanese may be tenaciously clinging to a hope that they can hold out for several years. If they could it would mean no more than slow and painful suicide, the only advantage to them being in the faint possibility that their destruction might be interrupted by a negotiated peace,