SMASHING BLOWS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 June 1941, Page 5

SMASHING BLOWS

STRUCK BY BRITISH BOMBERS HEAVY ATTACKS ON BREST & BREMEN. LOSSES WELL AGAINST NAZIS IN DAY FIGHTING. LONDON, June 19. In last night’s heavy raid on. the German naval base oL‘ Brest six big bombs were seen to burst across the docks, where the two German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and a cruiser of the Ilipper class are still lying. Largo fires were started at Bremen, which was also heavily bombed, in spite of difficult weather conditions. In Tuesday’s daylight operations it is now known that 16 Messerschmitts were destroyed. Britain lost 10 planes. In yesterday’s raids nine enemy planes were shot down and we lost four. Up to a late hour this evening the Air Ministry and Ministry of Home Security had no news of any air activity over this country today.

GROWING POWER EXPANSION OF BRITISH STRENGTH. LONDON, June 19. The present weight of the Royal Air Force attacks on Germany and German-occupied territories is equal to that of any attacks against Britain, because the new Britishbuilt bombers carry many times the loads of the Luftwaffe bombers, says the “Daily Mail's” aeronautical correspondent. The Bomber Command will be in a position before August to send as many planes to Germany on any night as the Luftwaffe sends to Britain. The numbers of our bombers will then continue steadily to increase. Tire night operational strength of the R.A.F. in numbers and weight of attack will actually be greater than the Luftwaffe before October when the long nights return. The greatest number of German bombers ever to raid Britain in one night is believed to be 500. A gratifying feature of this week's R.A.F. offensive has been the relatively small losses in proportion to the many additional bombers used. The German bomber strength has been challenged seriously for lhe first time.