SUCCESSFUL BLITZ

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVI, Issue 23084, 26 December 1944, Page 4

SUCCESSFUL BLITZ

Synthetic Oil Plant At Politz British Official Wireless RUGBY, Dec. 22. Last night a strong force of R.A.F. Lancasters attacked the great synthetic oil plant at Politz, near Stettin. This and the plant at Leura, near Merseburg, are the two largest in Germany and together produce a large proportion of the oil still available for the armed forces. The Germans have been driven to a desperate expenditure of anti-aircraft weapons to protect these plants, batteries having been moved from industrial cities for the purpose. The Politz plant covers about threequarters of a square mile and is believed to produce about 600,000 tons of oil a year by the Bergius process. The Germans began building it in 1938 but it did not produce oil until 1940 and reached full production only in 1943. To achieve a surprise the Lancasters took a roundabout route and in all flew about 2000 miles. The sky was clear, although there was a ground haze. Flak was often intense but no fighters appeared to reach the target in time to c"unter the attack. Three of our bombers arc missing. Large volumes of black oily smoke were rising from the synthetic oil plant at Politz when reconnaissance aircraft were over the target 12 hours after last night's attack.