CHANNEL PORTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24430, 16 October 1940, Page 7

CHANNEL PORTS

HAMMERED BY AIRCRAFT OSTEND TO LE HAVRE SERIES OF HEAVY EXPLOSIONS (British Official Wireless) (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph -Copyright) RUGBY, Oct. 14. Despite extremely adverse weather conditions which hampered operations. R.A.F. bombers attacked a number of targets in Germany last night, also Channel ports in enemy occupation. An Air Ministry communique states: Attacks were made on the naval bases of Kiel and Wilhelmshaven, oil plants at Gelsenkirchen and Duisberg. the -Knapps works at Essen, and several enemy aerodromes, anti-aircraft batteries, and searchlight positions The nightly offensive against the Channel ports from Ostend to Le Havre were continued. One of our aircraft is missing. A series of exceedingly heavy explosions resulted from the attack on Flushing Harbour last night by Coastal Command Blenheims. The main line of the railway junction at the mole was one of the chief targets. and following the major explosion a series of fierce fires were caused where the bombs fell. ■■ Another great explosion occurred a full minute after one aircraft had unloaded its last bombs. '' Other Blenheims attacked Domhurg Harbour, north-west of Flushing, and across the mole at Zeebrugge. Here also the explosions were extremely violent and the destruction was increased by scores of incendiaries.

Weather Hampers Operations

Details of the British attacks on military objectives in Germany and German-occupied territories show that extremely bad weather, with widespread cloud, snow, and temperatures below zero severely hampered the Sunday night operations by the aircraft of the Bomber Command, flying “ blind ” through clouds which blanketed the whole route from England to Germany. Manv raiding crews won through to the target areas only to find clouds down almost to the ground level completely obscuring the objectives. Other raiders were more fortunate in the time of their arrival, and were able to take advantage of the fleeting gaps in the cloud bank, through which they were able to locate and bomb their targets.

The naval dockyards in Kiel were attacked by one force, which reached the canal zone about 10 p.m., after a 400-mile flight, made hazardous by violent electrical storms and an ice-forming belt 8000 feet deep, which extended over the greater part of the route. For nearly three-quarters of an hour the aircraft cruised above the target area awaiting an opportunity to bomb through the occasional breaks in the clouds. Sticks of high explosive bombs were unloosed on the docks, and the flash of exploding bombs could be seen as a sudden glow in the enveloping cloud and snowstorm, which at times reduced visibility to nil. Attack on Wilhelmshaven The conditions also handicapped the attack l on the naval dockyards at Wilhelmshaven. Two of the main shipping basins were* located through momentary cloud breaks and were heavily bombed under severe anti-aircraft fire.

An attack was also 'made on the Biohm and Viss shipbuilding yards at Hamburg shortly after midnight, but here again lew clouds hampered the raiders. The weather conditions in the Ruhr were little better, but another bomber force detailed to attack a large coal-tar plant at Duisburg, where nearly half the coal-tar of Germany is distilled, .finally succeeded in locating their objectives after a chance glimpse of a factory’s tall chimneys through a gap in the clouds. Sticks of high-explosive bombs were dropped to straddle the target, and a large fire was seen to break out after the bombing. Other targets m the Ruhr which were located and bombed included Krupps’ works at Essen. Other raiding forces, prevented by the weather from finding their primaryobjectives, sought out alternative targets and boliibs were dropped by these aircraft on aerodromes at Wesel and Tszel, on gun positions on the islands of Borkum and Terschelling. and on a seaplane base at Norderney.

Engines Begin to Fail

The persistence- with which the bomber crews strove to carry out their mission, in spite of the appalling weather is well instanced by the record of one raider, which was flying in the vicinity of Borkum when part of its de-icing equipment failed and both engines began to fail, but nicked up again. After three-quarters of an hour they were working normally. and having ■crossed the English coast, the pilot checked his position, turned out to sea again, and went back' to bomb docks and enemy shipping at Flushing.

Calais came in for the heaviest attack, and was the centre of a series of raids which began at 8 D.m and did not end until close on midnight Dive-bombing aircraft from one of the recently-formed Polish squadrons took nart in the attack, and heavy damage was seen to have been inflicted on the docks and harbour installations.