BIG R.A.F. RAIDS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 65, 19 March 1943, Page 5

BIG R.A.F. RAIDS

TEN THOUSAND TONS UF BOMBS A MONTH FOUR HUNDRED PLANES OVER ESSEN Recd. 6 p.m. Rugby, March 17. Bomber Command has been out on 38 nights out of 45 since the beginning of February. In these nights 7000 sorties were made. In the same period Bomber Command operated on 34 days. Ten thousand tons of bombs were dropped in February, including 1200 of the 4000-pound bombs, while the loss rate for all aircraft in all forms or operations was lower than for a considerable number of months.

An R.A.F. commentator to-day pointed out that a big R.A.F. raid required as much preliminary thought and planning as an operation like the Dieppe raid. Over 100 aerodromes might have to contribute aircraft to the stream arriving at a target hundreds of miles away to a schedule of seconds In both the recent raids on Essen over 400 aircraft participated, involving the use of 3000 men. The high explosive power used by the attacking force equalled the shell power oi 250,000 field artillery shells. The Ruhr was now defended by at least 1000 heavy guns, Essen alone having 350 guns, while for every heavy gun there were at least two light ones The Ruhr was also defended by over 500 searchlights and several hundred fighters, and the Germans had provided far more men to man the defensive guns in the Ruhr than all the Germans in Tunisia. It therefore was no easy passage for the attacking force to storm one of the heaviest defended fortresses in Europe. R.A.F. Mosquito bombers flew 80G miles, 500 over enemy territory, to attack the railway workshop at Paderborn, in western Germany. The pilots reported that their bombs exploded right on the workshops, and smoke rose to 3000 or 4000 feet. One Mosquito is missing. The attack was made at 6.30 p.m. Berlin radio reports a raid on Grimsby by heavy German bombers, high explosive and incendiary bombs being dropped, and many fires started. The radio claims that the Luftwaffe on Sunday night raided Sunderland, where many direct hits were scored on snipouilaing yards and docks. — 8.0.W.