OVER GERMANY

Opotiki News, 15 October 1940, Page 4

OVER GERMANY

BRITISH BOMBERS BERLINERS SHAKEN WANING CONFIDENCE GOERING’S ASSURANCES TALES FROM GOEBBELS (News by Cable.) RUGBY, Oct. 13. A bulletin issued by the Air Ministry describing the bombing oi Berlin last night states: “For over an hour the Royal Air Force attacked military objectives in the heart of the German capital. The vanguard of the raiding party reached the city shortly before 10 p.m. and met with heavy opposition from many powerful gun battcr.es supported by an outer ring of searchlights which encircled the capital. Targets of Berlin Making good use of prevailing cloud layers the raiders converged on the city’s centre from different directions. They located their target through breaks in the clouds and . attacked in succession at. short intervals and varying heights. Several tons of high explosives and hundreds of fire bombs were dropped within the target area and although intervening clouds obscured the full results of the bombing a number of large fires were seen one of which was visible from far beyond the city boundaries. The Central electric power stat.on •in the Moabit district received special attention and here too fires were , started by incendiary bombs. - Information reaching London from reliable neutral, sources suggests that the effect of the Royal Air Force raids on mi.l.tary objectives in Berlin has severely shaken the confidence of the population oi Berlin, who had been assured many times, and by Reich Marshal Goer-

ing himself, that no British aircraft would bo permitted to reach Berlin. Berliners now realise that they must accept the presence of British aircraft overhead on any night as inevitable as long as the war continues, and they ho longer are being encouraged by the Nazi authorities to hope for a short war. Hamburg Damage Travellers arriving at Istanbul from the Balkans say that five large merchant men were sunk in Hamburg harbour following. an attack by British bombers. The damage to the harbour is described as enormous. It is said to be now hardly useable. The oil tanks burti continuously. Yugoslav workers at Hanover have asked their Government to repatriate them' as they cannot stand the inferno of the Royal A.r Force bombings nightly. These and othei witnesses comment on the uncanny precision of the British bombers, but generally information concerning the effects of the bombing is difficult to obtain, the districts being sealed from each other to prevent a leakage of information. The effect of the work of the Royal Air Force on the German morale therefore has been until now local and not general. A visitor to Turkey from Belli) states that the people’s confidence in the Fuehrer is still very high. They believe that the war will cm before the winter. The Propaganda Minister, Dr. Goebbcls, lias giver the impression, that London is u ready a'mass of ruins. It is though that the disappointment ahead for the people may seriously affect their morale for a second winter of war is apparently the most dismal prospect the population can imagine. A German communique stale.-.. “A few British planes attacked Berlin and dropped bombs. One soldier was killed and several civilians were wounded. The damage was small. Attacks against industrial installations in western and northern Germany were unsuccessful. Houses were damaged and there were, some casualties, some proving fatal.”