POWERFUL BLOW

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25660, 7 October 1944, Page 7

POWERFUL BLOW

SAARBRUCKEN POUNDED TOWN A MASS OF FLAMES (Rec. 11 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 6. R.A.F. Lancasters last night struck a heavy blow in support of the American troops battling on German soil when they dropped a great weight of bomb§ on Saarbrucken, 40 miles behind the front line. This industrial edntre is of vital impqrtance to the enemy at the present time. Supplies and reinforcements are sent through it, and units from the front line are sent there for refitting. A reconnaissance pilot over Saarbrucken an hour after the attack said that the whole town seemed to be a mass of flames. It is officially stated that the raid should seriously interrupt the flow of enemy supplies to the front.

Other bombers attacked Berlin last night, all the operations costing three planes. Over 1400 Liberators yesterday attacked the railway marshalling yards at Cologne and Rheine, and aerodromes at Lippstadt, Paderborn; and MunsterLoddenheide, in Germany. Over Cologne the heavy bombers encountered cloud and dropped their bombs by means of instruments. Elsewhere most of the formations bombed visually. Strong forces of Thunderbolts and Mustangs escorted the bombers. Nearly 2000 aircraft took part. A strong force of Lancasters escorted by Mustangs, yesterday morning attacked the great naval base of Wilhelmshaven. The Luftwaffe did' not oppose the attack. The flak was moderate. Cloud obscured results.

Preliminary reports show that one American formation destroyed at least 15 planes on the ground during the attack by 1100 Fortresses and Liberators on four German airfields in the Munster area. The Luftwaffe was using these airfields in support of the ground forces in the Arnhem-Nijmegen zone. Rheine, whose marshalling yards were also a target for the heavy bombers, is an important railway junction, 70 miles north-east of Arnhem. The bombers encountered no air opposition, although they saw a few jet-pro-pelled planes. The escorting fighters disabled five locomotives and 10 freight cars. Thirteen bombers and five fighters are missing. ’ R.A.F. Mosquitoes, despite very hazy weather, attacked and stopped 18 trains in Germany and Holland during the night, bringing the total of trains attacked to 134 in four consecutive nights. Barges on the Rhine and along parts of the Dortmund-Ems canal north of Munster were also strafed.

Reuter’s correspondent with the Tactical Air Force in Belgium reports that six jet-propelled Messerschinitt 262’s in the Nijmegen area jettisoned homos in open country and made off when Spitfires attacked. The majority of the German planes sighted were of the jet type, but the total strength operating was only 20 planes.