BRITISH RAIDS

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21243, 14 October 1940, Page 8

BRITISH RAIDS

I DAMAGE ON CONTINENT DISCONTENT IN BERLIN MISLED BY LEADERS j (Official Wireless) (Received Oct. 14, 3.15 p.m.) RUGBY, Oct. 13 j The Wintershall works at Jer- ! ringen, two miles west of Hamm, ; and two important smelting plants j at Bitterfeld were heavily attacked : by separate striking forces of the ! Royal Air Force. Blinding white flashes lit up the ; Wintershall works, following the exj plosion of incendiary bombs. The railway yards at Cologne and | Hamm were twice attacked by ! medium and heavy bombers. Two large factories at Hamm were j straddled by high explosive bombs I and were seen to burst in the centre •of a group of searchlights. | Other communication targets ini eluded a highway bridge at Bremen, : a bridge over the river near Han- ! over, and the old Dortmund-Emms i aqueduct to the north of Munster. 1 A stick of high explosive bombs burst across the landing grounds at Hangelar, near Cologne. Aerodrome buildings at Rotterdam were struck, a flare path at Kasselwaldau was straddled, and hits j were scored on an air base near : Munstei*. Many Berliners are feeling highly I disgruntled at the cynical manner in which they have been misled by the Nazi leaders, and according to neui tval reports they are not any better disposed as a result of noticing how high party officials have found the moment a convenient one to depart for what is described as ‘“autumnal holidays” in Upper Bavaria. Krupps Works Battered The raid on Berlin was only a small part of the Bomber Command’s operations on Saturday night. A total of forty separate objectives was attacked, according to a later Air Ministry bulletin, including heavy attacks on the Krupps works at Essen, three aluminium factories j in Germany, and Channel ports from Ostend to Le Havre. Railway centres, aerodromes, and industrial works were also bombed. The attack on the Krupps armament factory began about 8.30 p.m. and lasted nearly two hours. The works and buildings, which cover many acres, were repeatedly hit by high explosive bombs, including several of the heaviest calibre yet carried- into Germany by the Royal Air Force. Parachute flares were used to light up the vast target. “The factory seemed to be working at full pressure when we arrived,” said the navigator of one aircraft. “ and by the light of our flares we got an impression of miles of sheds of all sizes and a huge factory chimney belching columns of smoke. We did a couple of runs over the works j to pick up our particular target—the ; machine shop—and then came in | attain and let eo our bombs. As j near as we could tell we were either right on the top of the shop or quite 1 close to it.” BRITAIN BOMBED EIGHT RAIDERS DOWNED BUS PASSENGERS KILLED (United Press Assn—Flee. Tel. Copvritrhti LONDON, Oct. 12 Night raiders bombed 35 London districts up to 1.30 a.m. on Saturday. Eight enemy machines were destroyed up to midnight. Nine British fighters were lost, but six of the pilots are safe. A number of people travelling in a suburban omnibus were killed or j injured when the bus was tossed i across the road into a shop window. Two other buses close behind were badly damaged. A second bomb wrecked a row of shops near by. Daylight found rescue squads still searching for victims under the debris. It was a cold breakfast for many Londoners as a result of the bursting of gas.and water mains. For the second night in succession German bombers were over London in smaller numbers on Saturday night. Peace reigned after midnight. The Midlands shared . the brunt of the attack with London, while two places in the south-west and points in the east also were bombed. An underground railway station in the London area was hit. but casualties were fewer than was at first feared, the actual number not being heavy. A town in the Midlands experienced the severest raid of the war and there were some casualties FREE FRENCHMEN MESSAGE TO MR CHURCHILL PROSECUTION OF WAR (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, Oct. 12 The leader of the Free French forces. General de Gaulle, has telegraphed to Mr Churchill from Duala, French Cameroons. as follows: “From French soil over which the enemy has no control I send you and j the valiant peoples of the British ! Empire an expression of complete I confidence and faithful friendship from 14.000,000 Frenchmen or French subjects already bound to me for the prosecution of the war by the side of the Allies until final victory.” Mr Churchill has replied: "I send my best wishes to you and all other Frenchmen who are resolved to fight on with us. We shall stand resolutely together until all obstacle? have been overcome and we share in the triumph of our cause.” It is reported that the French community in South Africa has unanimously decided to support General de Gaulle and that an organisation has been formed to collect funds and send men to join the Free French forces.