MUCH DAMAGE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 150, 28 June 1943, Page 5

MUCH DAMAGE

SALONIKA AERODROME i RAID BY HEAVY BOMBERS ' Recd. 6 p.m. London, June 2/ I A Cairo air communique states that ' Cmted States heavy bombers yesterday attacked Sedes aerodrome, at Salonika, in daylight, and set tire to three hangars, hit buildings and dispersal areas, and started oil fires. They destroyed at least three aircraft on the ground. None of the planes is missing. The main objective of the raid I against Sedes was to wipe out the air I training centre, which the Germans have been using as their main supply 'case in the Mediterranean, says the Cairo correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain. They have strongly built up and enlarged the air facilities in their area, and at i least live aerodromes are operating, including a seaplane station. Sedes is described as a tirst-class air base k and is the largest and most important of these bases. The raid involved a round trip of IiOO miles. The destruction was so extensive that the field is likely to be unserviceable for a long time. Pilots reported wide destruction to hangars, repair shops, barracks, and administration buddings. The attack apparently i caught the enemy unawares Although the area was regarded as ' being heavily defended, it being the keypoint of Rommel’s new “Siegfried i Line’’ in south-eastern Europe, the I ground defence was extremely light, and no enemy fighters went up. Thousands of pamphlets bearing an ; encouraging message to the Greeks were -dropped by the American planes, i Reuter s Cairo correspondent says: I “Roaring over the target in two ' waves, the Liberators blanketed the I aerodrome with direct hits. Three I large hangars were blown up. A • string of bombs also fell over the dis- ! persal areas, which were so covered ! with dense smoke that the pilots were able to see only three planes destroyed. It is known that there was a concentration of enemy planes at Sedes, and therefore it is possible that a great many others were destroyed. The Columbia broadcasting system’s Algiers correspondent reports that about 300 planes participated in a raid against Sardinia yesterday. It was an all-American show, while Marauders plastered railways and Lightnings had a spectacular running fight with large formations of Messerschmitts, 20 of which were destroyed. Nine of I our planes are missing. Other bombers attacked Sicily. GRIM SATISFACTION SPREADS THROUGH BRITAIN Recd. 6 p.m. London, June 26. “A mood of grim satisfaction spreads through the nation as the damage wrought by these air boinbardments is appreciated,” says the Daily Express in an editorial. “Our satisfaction contains the joy of revenue; it is not R.A.F. policy but it is with the people. We have suffered cruelly and will still suffer from bombing and it would be unnatural not to see in the Ruhr agony an element of just retribution on the arrogant Germans who launched this air war on the weak and who squeal now when they get it back many times.” The Allied air offensive is so devastating that the German housing director, Dr. Ley, has ordered the evacuation from western Germany of ail superfluous population. The order includes women and children, veteran workers, invalids, the aged and infirm. The aviation correspondent of the Daily Express estimates that the latest raid on Elberfeld brought Bomber Commands total weight of bombs dropped on the Ruhr since the great experimental battie started three and a-half months ago to 25,000 to 30,000 tens. The R.A.F. has lost 532 bombers and more than 3000 air personnel, many of whom must be prisoners, but the results have already exceeded expectations. Broadcasting from Paris radio, Jean Paquis declared: "The battle of the Ruhr has become a second front. The Allied raids on western Europe,, particularly on the Ruhr, have become so violent that they are no longei extensive propaganda but stark , reality. The Allies at present speak; less about invasion and it may be pre- i sumeci that a landing has been called off for some time. The Allies intend that their constant bombing shall force Germany and Italy to submit, but the European fortress is very different from Pantellaria.’’