WALCHEREN DYKE

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

WALCHEREN DYKE

BREACH BY HEAVY BOMBERS NEW ZEALANDERS TAKE PART (N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent) LONDON. Oct. 5. Lancasters of 75 (New Zealand) Squadron were in two of the waves of heavy bombers sent to breach the West Kapell Dyke and to flood Waicheren Island. The crews had a good view of the development of the attack which was designed to engulf the German garrison and swamp their longestablished defences. While the Germans were on the • island the Allies were unable to use the port of Antwerp. Great accuracy in the bombing was essential, for the actual target was little more than 300 ft by 200 ft. The attack was carefully timed to coincide with the high tide. The Lancasters met little opposition from the ground defences, and escorting fighter aircraft kept the enemy away. Low cloud patches which drifted across the target were a slight complication. Flying Officer M. Smith, of Christchurch, made four circuits before his bomb-aimer was able to get an uninterrupted visual check. “ I was in the fourth wave of bombers,” he said, “ and by the time we released our bombs the dyke was feeling the effect of the pounding. It looked as if the sea wall was just breaking. The water was seeping through when we left.”

Earlier arrivals, pilots who bombed with the second wave, said it was some time before the wall disintegrated. Flying Officer M. E. Dare, of Auckland, reported seeing bomb bursts along the wall and across the target indicator which marked the aiming point. ‘‘We had to go down to 5000 ft to get below cloud, and there seemed to be thousands of aircraft milling around preparing to bomb from low heights.” Flying Officer E. F. Robertson, of Auckland, who bombed towards the end of the attack, said: “We saw our own bombs fall along the length of the sea wall and others dropping dead in the target area. It was somewhat difficult to see the results, but there is no doubt that a breach was made, for on the landward side of the dyke there was a growing lake gradually covering the fields and creeping inland.” English national newspapers publish graphic photographs of the breach. It is improbable the Germans can restore the situation, which means the Allies may soon be able to use Antwerp and Flushing.