ITALIAN BASES RAIDED

Southland Times, Issue 24273, 2 November 1940, Page 5

ITALIAN BASES RAIDED

R.A.F. Active In North Africa (British Official Wireless) RUGBY, October 31. Aircraft of the Royal Air Force raided Bardia and Tobruk in Libya yesterday says the Air Ministry news service. At Bardia an attack was made on a stores dump and many bombs were seen to hit the target. They started a large fire which was visible for 30 miles. It completely destroyed the dump. At Tobruk bombs fell in the target area.

The raid on Techlezan in Eritrea resulted in a number of fires being started among the military buildings and at Massawa warehouses were heavily bombed. A military camp and a railway compound at Keren in Eritrea were also raided. Bombs were dropped on the camp and the railway compound was straddled by bombs which caused considerable damage. Aircraft of the South African Air Force attacked a military camp at Lugh Ferandi in Italian Somaliland on October 29. Bombs were dropped among buildings in the target area. Other units of the South African Air Force carried out a number of reconnaissance flights over enemy territory. Other reconnaissance flights were

carried out by the Royal Air Force over the Greek and Italian coastal waters. During one of these flights a Cant Z 506 seaplane was encountered and shot down in flames. From all these operations all the British aircraft returned safely to their respective bases. Our fighting patrols were again active in the Kassala arga of the Sudan on the night of October 27-28. A party of the enemy was successfully ambushed, leaving 15 dead. Six prisoners were taken and two mechanical transport vehicles were destroyed. Our casualties were nil. NAZI-OCCUPIED PORTS BOMBED FLUSHING, ANTWERP AND OSTEND RAIDED LONDON, October 31. Details of the Royal Ail- Force attacks on Wednesday night on the invasion ports and German territory show that many tons of high explosives and incendiary bombs were dropped on the Ger-man-occupied ports of Flushing and Antwerp and on Emden. The attack on Flushing began early in the evening and lasted just over an hour. Several sticks of bombs were dropped on the Walcheren Canal and on the inner and outer harbours, though cloud haze made it difficult to see the full results of the bombing. The Air Ministry bulletin containing this information also states that at Emden bursts were observed on the quay of the main waterway and east of the main entrance. One very bright fire was started and other fires in the area were seen to spread rapidly. One aircraft attacked a nearby railway junction and here again a large fire occurred. A small force of Blenheims attacked targets in Ostend Harbour, which had previously been attacked but since repaired. Easy identification of the targets enabled the bombers to score direct hits freely on the quays and shipping berths. Every second bomb burst was followed by heavy explosions and debris was thrown high in the air. Cherbourg harbour was attacked during daylight operations on Wednesday. Dockside buildings were hit and a heavy salvo was dropped among four E-boats cruising 20 miles out to sea. One enemy aircraft was destroyed and one British plane is missing. SPERRY BOMB SIGHT SECRET REPORTED RELEASE TO BRITAIN (Received November 1, 8.40 p.m.) WASHINGTON, October 31. According to responsible officials the Army has released the secret of the Sperry bomb-sight to Britain. /