GREAT EXPLOSION SEEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25174, 15 March 1943, Page 4

GREAT EXPLOSION SEEN

NEW ZEALANDERS IN MUNICH RAID (N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent) (Rec. 7 p.m.) LONDON, Mar. 12. Air crews of the New Zealand Stirling Bomber Squadron took part in the recent raid on Munich. They consider the attack one of the most successful they have seen. Squadron Leader G. M. Allcock, D.F.C., of Auckland, was flying towards the target when he saw a high explosion ahead of him. “There was suddenly a terrific pillar of flame 1000 feet high,” he said. “We flew on through a smoke ring about a mile and a-half in diameter caused by the explosion, which was reported by nearly every crew.” Sergeant B. H. Burt, of Wellington, who was bomb aimer in Squadron Leader Allcock's Stirling, said: “We got in the centre of a searchlight cone nearing the target. It was like being in a birdcage, but with searchlights instead of wires. Fortunately we were not the bird they were seeking. There was a bomber far over us at the apek of the cone. We threaded our way patiently. I saw the interwoven vapour trails of other aircraft above me lit up by the fires on the ground.” Pilot Officer I. Thompson, of Auckland, said: “The big explosion lit up the whole of the inside of the Stirling.” Sergeant Peter Buck, of Wanganui, took excellent photographs of the Munich fires, which an intelligence officer later stated were well in the target area. Sergeant Buck saw five enemy fighters over Munich, but none came close enough to worry them. Sergeant Buck, commenting on the explosion, said: “It lit up all Munich, which resembled a floodlit architect’s model.”