HEAVY RAID ON BERLIN

Southland Times, Issue 24536, 10 September 1941, Page 5

HEAVY RAID ON BERLIN

MORE THAN 300 BOMBERS USED GERMAN PRESS ANGRY (Rec. 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 8. More than 300 heavy bombers carrying the biggest load of bombs ever to leave Britain took part in last night’s raid on Berlin, reports the aeronautical correspondent of The Daily Mail. The Royal Air Force has completed plans for even heavier raids against the principal German cities as the nights lengthen. It is estimated that well over 300 tons of high explosive bombs were dropped on Berlin, causing colossal damage. Considering the bright moonlight our losses, 20 bombers for the night’s operations, were not excessive in proportion to the number of planes engaged. It was one of the Royal Air Force’s biggest nights. Probably over 400 planes were over Germany. The Germans sent about 250 bombers against London in the last big raid on May 10. Many high explosive and incendiary bombs were dropped in the bright moonlight and good results could be seen everywhere. Berlin has now been raided four times in the past eight nights, twice by the Royal Air Force and twice by the Russian Air Force. GREAT FIRES STARTED The attack was carried out by a very powerful force and lasted about two hours. Great fires sprang up in the city and extensive damage was done. The bombers arrived just before midnight and the last did not leave until well into the small hours. When they reached the city, states the Air Ministry News Service, the lakes round to the west were shining in the moonlight and by familiar landmarks our crews found a way to the centre. “We could see the place like a map,” a flight sergeant said, “and soon there were many fires with one in particular blazing large and fierce in the heart of the city as a further guide to the bombers.”

A great many heavy high explosives were seen to burst round a main railway station. Volumes of black smoke poured upwards and on the return journey it was long before the crews saw the last glow of many fires in the east.

Berlin’s defences were ready for the attack and our crews knew what to expect. Scores of searchlights swept the skies and pursued the invading bombers. Anti-aircraft fire was incessant and only stopped to let the night fighters approach. NIGHT-FIGHTERS APPEAR “We were camped in the large beams of searchlights.” a gunner said, “and Jerry was lumping up the fire as hard as he could. All of a sudden the antiaircraft fire stopped and I saw a Messeschmitt 110 coming up on the starboard quarter. I gave it a burst and saw my tracer enter the starboard engine. The Messerschmitt caught fire and crashed down. It passed us so close that I thought it was going to hit us.” The raid has caused an angry outburst in the Berlin Press, which denounces the raid as “a loutish trick and a crime.” So bright was the moonlight that the crews were able to see the streets of Berlin and the street crossings. A rear-gunner said: “You could easily identify the bigger buildings. It was so bright that you could make out the traffic moving along some streets. I expect most of it consisted of fire engines. Soon raging fires made even better landmarks as the bombers came in thick and fast. Buildings and streets away from the fires were glowing red in the light of the flames.” Reports from many other stations give a more general picture of the success of the attack. There was an immense fire near the Alexanderplatz. Smoke from it stfetched miles to the east. Bombs were seen to hit buildings, factories, warehouses and railway yards. One crew reported a group of 50 small fires sending up a column of smoke several thousand feet high. Another crew reported three large fires which they saw for 25 minutes after leaving the city and even then they were only lost sight of because of cloud. There were fires in all parts of the city, in the industrial suburbs, as well as in the centre. ENEMY FIGHTERS AVOIDED Some idea of what some of the Royal Air Force crews had to face may be gained from the story of the crew of a

Manchester. On the way to Berlin they avoided five enemy fighters and had no other trouble until they were over the city itself. “Then we were hit by anti-aircraft fire,” the pilot said, “but we went on and bombed. The port engine was found to be rapidly getting hotter and to prevent it from seizing and probably catching fire I-feathered the air screw and stopped the engine. There seemed to be little chance of getting such a long way back, but we set a course for home and hoped for the best. Over much of the enemy country we were flying at about 5000 feet and at this height we had to pass through a large belt of searchlights. We got through them all right, but later we had to come down even lower. When we reached the Dutch coast I decided to attempt the crossing, though I thought our chances of reaching the English coast were very slight. All the way back the rest of the crew were jettisoning everything we could spare. Eventually we landed at the first aerodrome after crossing the coast with very little petrol to spare. Not one of us had received a scratch, though the bomber was peppered with shrapnel holes throughout. On landing I found that the dinghy had been sent away and I got rather a shock when I thought how we might have come down in the sea.”

The observer of a Wellington had a very different story to tell. He had been on 42 raids before, but this he described as “one of the best nights I have ever had. Everything went like clockwork. Navigation was 0.K., the searchlights did not worry us unduly and the flak was not too bad. You could see everything perfectly and we had no trouble with fighters. We went straight in, and found what we were looking for and came straight out.” The newspaper Nauchtausgabe says: “The raid was one of the rottenest and most disgusting yet made on Berlin. These shameful acts will be avenged. The German sword will strike with fearful sharpness until Britain is forced to her knees.”

All the German afternoon papers publish at least a column dealing with the raid. They emphasize the exemplary discipline of the population and the care devoted to the victims. The German News Agency states that 27 civilians were killed in the raid. It is announced in Berlin that 3853 persons had been killed in air raids in Germany to August 2.