ACCURACY OF R.A.F.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 56, 7 March 1942, Page 5

ACCURACY OF R.A.F.

RENAULT WORKS RAID EXTENSIVE DAMAGE DONE WHAT PHOTOGRAPHS SHOW (Recd. 5.20 p.m.) Rugby, March 5. The accuracy of the R.A.F. bombing of the Renault works at Billanco, near Pans, was established beyond t all doubt by night photograhs and by 2 Wednesday’s daylight reconnaissance. - In these photographs, taken during t the bombing, much of the works is - obscured by the top of the engines j and the confusion of smoke, but daye light photographs taken some hours r later show fires still burning. The ; smoke has cleared away and a great □ stretch of damage is plain to view. It e is evenly distributed over the whole . area of the works. The only two sections which seem to have escaped the crippling attack i are the tyre-manufac.uring shop, ; which was not in the target areas, > and the Diesel engine assembly shop, > at the extreme tip of the island. Two . of the most vital sections —the power station and the sequin tank assembly shop—have been very badly knocked about, and other sections which appear badly damaged are the engine t shops, rolling mills, chemical products . department, Keller tank assembly [ shops, the western tank assembly shops, the main gasometer, the metal stores department, the aircraft depot, the administrative offices, the modelling department, and various repair shops and foundries. The power station shows a heavily-damaged roof and it is probable that the interior suffered extensively. The north-east part of one of the tanks assembly shops appears to be almost entirely * destroyed by fire, and when the original photographs are closely examined wrecked tanks can be seen inside the building through a hole caused by a direct hit. It is believed that this assembly shop was producing 27 tanks a week. One photograph shows great destruction in the area in which the administrative offices, engine shops and components workshop are concentrated, and here fires were still burning when the daylight reconnaissance was made. In other photoghaphs collapsed roofs have exposed destroyed assembly lines. The fact that many bombs would naturally not explode until they had pierced the roofs and walls of the buildings makes it probable that the damage to stocks and machinery was even greater than is seen in the photograps. In an attack on a target almost totally surrounded by residential buildings it is unfortunately unavoidable that such buildings will also suffer damage. There was certainly some damage outside the Renault works—mostly occasioned by blast—but having regard to the scale of the attack this damage is astonishingly slight and provides fine testimony to the care and accuracy of the pilots. The daylight photographs were ' taken by a reconnaissance aircraft of the Coastal Command, which came ’ down as low as 400 feet over the city. It took off and landed in exceptionally bad weather and flew through German fighter defence. —8.0.W. MILLIONS OF GERMANS TIED DOWN HOW R.A.F. AFFECTS THEM ' (Recd. 8.15 p.m.) London, March 5. 1 R.A.F. bombers operating from England tie down three million Germans, said an R.A.F. officer, Group-Captain 1 Helmore, in a broadcast. One million ' skilled men who might be lighting in ' Russia are employed at anti-aircraft ■ defence 1 ., searchlights and balloons. ‘ Probabl; a further two million are ’ diverted from other war efforts to ■ A.R.P. work and also for fire-fighting ■ services, observer corps, night fighters ’ command and radio location. THE RAID ON PARIS HEAVIEST YET BY R.A.F. London, March 4. Berlin radio, quoting the Wilhelmstrasse spokesman, said that the British two-hour raid on Paris was the heaviest and most successful mass bombing raid the R.A.F. has carried out since the outbreak of war. Paris radio stated that according to the latest reports at least 1500 persons were killed and several hundred injured. Whole streets and complete districts were razed.