VITAL TARGETS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIX, Issue 21866, 20 January 1941, Page 5

VITAL TARGETS

Selected Bombin? By R= A. F. Heavy Damage To War Machine British Official Wireless (Received January 19, 9.8 p.m.) RUGBY, January 18. The increasing Intensity of Britain’s air offensive against Germany is revealed in maps published by the Ministry of Information. Similar maps were issued at the end of September showing the number and variety of attacks made by the Royal Air Force to that time. The maps now published are to the end of 1940. The figures relate to what are called “target area attacks,” a term which means not the bombing of a particular target but an area containing one or more different types of objectives. Several such attacks are made in a single night’s operations. Up to December 31, 1400 such attacks had been delivered since the outbreak, 500 of them taking place during the months of October, November and December. The classified list of objectives bombed exceeds 1500, and 270 individual towns have been attacked. The carefully worked out plan of the British aerial offensive is the increasing destruction of the Nazi industrial War machine, and the maps clearly show the unfolding of this plan. The heart of Germany’s production machine is the Ruhr with Essen, the home fit Krupps, as its centre, and the maps show that this area has received the most intensive hammering of any part of the Reich. More than 500 attacks have been made on that district and literally thousands of bombs have been scattered on factories, chemical works, oil plants and other munition making concerns. Deep Penetration The whole of the Ruhr area is within a radius of 350 miles from London, but Germany’s two other greatest munitions areas are deeper into enfemy territory. Hundreds of miles higher up the Rhine, stretching from Frankfurt to Stuttgart with Mannheim at the centre, is another heavily fortified region, important also for its chemical works and oil refineries. One town in this area, Mannheim, had 34 raids. This was equalled in the Ruhr by Duisberg 35, Cologne 55, the Ruhr oil centre Gelsenkirchen 40, while the railway centre, Hamm, tops the list with more than 80 raids. More difficult still to reach is Germany’s other great centre of munition works and oil plants, the Leipzig area, some 200 miles east of. the Ruhr. The great synthetic oil industry there is based on the lignite deposits of Saxony. The famous hydrogenerating plant at Luna, near Leipzig, normally has a production of up to 500,000 tons of synthetic oil a year. It has received some of the heaviest attacks delivered by the Royal Air Force. Madgeburg, which had 19 raids, is another of the most important centres of the synthetic oil industry which produces the bulk of the supplies of aviation spirit for the Luftwaffe and high grade Diesel oil for the submarine fleet. Plants in various parts of Germany producing 90 per cent, of her total output of synthetic oil have been subjected to air attack. Even farther afield is another of Germany’s important oil plants at Politz, near Stettin. A raid on Politz means a round trip of more than 1300 miles. Nevertheless it has been bombed six times.

Shipping Attacked Coastal Command aircraft successfully attacked enemy shipping off the Dutch Coast yesterday afternoon. Night operations were greatly restricted by bad Weather but targets at Brest and Cherbourg and two aerodromes ffi occupied France were bombed. No British aircraft are missing from the daylight and flight operations against Germany. Regarding the Dutch Coas( attacks the Air Ministry communique states: Direct hits were scored on four ships, one of which was left sinking with only the stem visible above water. Another was seen listing to starboard. Severe icing conditions did not prevent the Royal Air Force once more making the Wilhelmshaven naval base its main objective on Thursday night, when a highly concentrated attack was carried out. Though it was on a smaller scale than on the previous night, highly successful results were obtained. Aircraft first on the scene caused many fires, and later arrivals reported that these reached very large proportions, especially in the railway station and ffi the area in which oil storage tanks are situated. It was the fourth raid within a week, and the 41st of the war. The British machines encountered severe icing conditions, and ran into strong electrical storms, which did not, however, deter them from pressing home the In addition, the docks at Emden, Boulogne and Calais, an Important railway objective at Ostend, and an aerodrome ffi occupied France were also attacked. What with the bad Weather and the intense opposition encountered over Wilhelmshaven, the British lost five machines.

A Berlin communique states: — “Royal Air Force aeroplanes dropped bombs on north-west Germany. The damage was slight. A school was set oh fire. There Were no casualties and no military targets were hit.”

Operations for Week During the week ended January 17 the Royal Air Force activities were hampered by bad weather, but numerous raids ranging as far as Turin, Which was visited twice, were carried out. The feature of the week’s offensive was the daylight sweep over Pas de Calais by bomber formations escorted by more than 100 fighters. Targets in Italy included dockyards and petrol works where one bomber carried out an attack from the low level of 700 feet. The aerodrome at Padua was also bombed by low-flying aircraft. Wilhelmshaven, which was attacked on three successive nights, was again the principal objective. During concentrated raids on this target very large fires were caused. In all 28 raids were carried out during the week on shipping and docks, 11 on Industrial targets and four on railways. The usual large number of attacks on aerodromes were also carried out. During these widespread operations, 11 British machines were lost and one fighter crashed on landing.