AIR RAIDS ON BERLIN

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21202, 27 August 1940, Page 5

AIR RAIDS ON BERLIN

DROPPING OF INCENDIARY BOMBS FLIGHTS OVER HITLER’S CHANCELLERY HEAVY EXPLOSIONS BRITISH FLIERS’ SUCCESS (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) BERLIN, August 26 An air raid alarm was sounded in Berlin shortly after midnight. At least 10 heavy explosions occurred north-west of the city in the first 10 minutes after the alarm. Reverberations were felt in the centre of the city. Very heavy anti-aircraft fire broke out suddenly at 2.40 a.m., when at least two aeroplanes were heard over the city.

Successive waves of raiders meanwhile caused the resumption of what seemed to be tbe simultaneous firing of every antiaircraft gun in the Berlin area. All transport was stopped and thousands of people were sent to air-raid shelters. Raiders frequently flew directly over Hitler’s Chancellery. The sound of heavy bombs falling was clearly audible in the centre of the city. Searchlights swept the skies, but failed to pick up any raiders. Machine-guns rattled deafeningly. The explosions are believed to have been due to bombs which fell 24 miles from the centre of the city. The “all clear” was sounded after 80 minutes. Informed German circles admit that British aeroplanes flew over the city in at least four waves and dropped incendiary bombs on northern Berlin suburbs, destroying a hut, hut causing no casualties. No bombs fell in Berlin proper. An American correspondent in Berlin says the raid lasted three hours. The raiders circled in dense clouds a few hundred feet over the city. A considerable number of leaflets was found. Raiders covered Prussia and Saxony extensively, and alarms were sounded in many cities, including Leipzig, where the fair opens today.