ESSEN AGAIN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25238, 29 May 1943, Page 5

ESSEN AGAIN

TARGET FOR R.A.F. RAID IN GREAT STRENGTH MOST BLITZED CITY •ec. 11.30 p.m.) LONDON, May 28. Aircraft of Bomber Command were out over Germany again last Might, Essen being the main target. The Air Ministry states that the attack was'made in very, great ■trcngth. Twenty-two aircraft are • missing. .This was the fifty-s/xth visit made by the R.A.F. to Essen, the last raid on which was made four weeks ago. It was announced after that attack that 10,000 tons of bombs had been dropped on Essen since the start of the war, making it the most bombed city in the World. , Esseii, in the heart of industrial Germany, is the -home of the famous Krupp’s armament works. The German news agency, Transocean, admitted this morning that great damage was done to the , city -in last night's raid. Evidence is accumulating in London of a full-scale movement of German industry to the south-east of Europe, the German economic planners deciding not to rebuild many of the large industrial concerns in the north and north-west and in France, which have been shattered by bombing. There is rto sign of any repair work being done at the Focke-Wultfactory at Bremen, which was attacked several weeks ■go. i There is also good reason to believe that the Renault works at Billancourt may not be reconstructed. Instead, the aircraft industry is being developed in the Balkans, where bauxite deposits

are available. New industrial concerns 1 are being established in Vienna, and existing plants converted and enlarged The decision to transfer industry was taken a year ago and has been speeded up in the past few months/ *■ The .Minister of Economic Affairs, * Dr W. Funk, addressing industrialists at Breslau, .said the transfer of heavy industry to the east of Germany was becoming increasing visible. '■The transfer was necessitated in the first place by the tremendous expansion of German space towards the east, and increased industrialisation of Lower , Silesia as well as the Reich’s older eastern districts had become necessary. i- Dr Funk hinted that immense tasks were arising from the transfers, particularly in transport. -j Deep Penetration Two formations of Mosquifbes penetrated far into Germany on Wednesday evening, says the Air Ministry. By skilful navigation in difficult conditions, the aircraft reached Jena, in ' Thuringia, just before dark. Antiaircraft gunfire was intense, and a ' ballon barrage was flying over the target, but the Mosquitoes pressed home the attacks on the Carl Zeiss instrument works and the Schott glass works from below 200 feet. Preliminary, reports indicate that both factories r were hit. Three of our aircraft are missing, two of which Were seen to in ; the’airibver ‘Germany. t ! The Carr Zeiss factories make all types of official instruments for the German Army, Navy, and Air Force, and the Schott factories make raw and finished optical glaSs. They are the., most important factories of their kind . i in .. • - > ■■ ■-■ - Flood Disaster in Ruhr ' A Berne message says, the first account of the Mohne and Eder floods published in a German newspaper appears in the Frankfurter Zeitung. Written guardedly, it does,not specify localities, but conveys" a picture of the disastrous effects in the Valley. It claims that most persons found time to rush to high ground which was not reached by the rising flood. Many were, however, surprised by the torrent, which immediately swamped ' large areas - and surrounded whole ‘t'gfblips of houses. The swelling river " tore’ away walls one after another. Local Stormtroopers and police pioneer battalions were given the alarm, and-told to help wherever possible. Rowing boats were scarce, and so rafts were improvised from wooden boards and bags filled with straw. Relief crews worked with poles and ropes , and formed human chains across the waters to reach the inhabitants of the \ flooded houses. The most pressing emergency work lasted a day and a-halfj Relief crews were busy until the evening of the dgy following, and even then only part of the task was accomplished. The floods caught many, who were drowned before help arrived. Most of the survivors lost their homes and all their belongings.