INVASION BASES BECOME AN INFERNO.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 221, 17 September 1940, Page 7

INVASION BASES BECOME AN INFERNO.

SUNDAY'S RAIDS. R.A.F. Relays Keep Up Four-Hour Bombardment. British Official Wireless. (Reed. 2 pjn.) RUGBY, Sept. 16. The invasion bases on the Dutch, Belgian and French coast were again the chief objectives of Sunday night's raids by bomber squadrons of the Royal Air Force. The night's heaviest attack was directed against the docks at Antwerp, where great fleets of barges and many ships had been accumulated during recent weeks. In a raid which began half an hour before midnight and was kept up for close on three hours many tons of high explosives and hundreds of incendiary bombs were unloaded" on docks and shipping by relays of heavy bombers. Bright moonlight in the early, stages of the attack clearly revealed many barges moored in tfie dock basin. Barges which were struck and set ablate exploded in flashes of flames which lit the whole dock. A goods yard caught fire and buildings were wrecked. A trail of fire, following a series of explosions, spread rapidly along the quayside, • engulfing warehouses and other buildings in its course. One tremendous flash, seen 20 miles away, was caused by a violent explosion which broke out in No. 4 dock. Here a fire was still raging more than two hours later. In the raid on Antwerp by 1.30 a.m. one of the main wharves was a mass of flames and other growing fires could be teen at all parts of the docks. Surrounding woods were set on fire and emplacements left encircled by fire which was visible many miles out to sea. Successful attacks on enemy shipping were a feature of the night's operations. Enemy Cruiser Hit. An enemy cruiser was sighted off Tei - schelling Island just before midnight and was hit by a high explosive bomb from a heavy bomber which at once came under intense fire from the warship. The bombei- had the leading edge of its starboard wing and part of its tail unit shot away, the landing wheel punctured and many bullet holes in the wings, but despite the damage it was brought eafely to its base. A supply ship of about 7000 tons was attacked by another heavy bomber off the German coast and left in a sinking condition after several direct hits had been scored on it. A 6000-ton oil tanker

was seen steaming westward without lights and was also intercepted and attacked with bombs and machine-gun fire from a height of only 500 ft. Two direct hits were scored, one on the aftef part of the vessel and the other amidships. Other Ports Attacked. At Ostend, shipping and docks were subjected to a series of intermittent raids by heavy and medium bombers over a period of four hours. In the first attack, launched shortly after midnight, a line of bombs burst across the docks and the outer harbour. A second stick fell at one end of a basin and struck What appeared to be a large transport vessel, which immediately caught fire. Following attackers straddled the basin and a shipping wharf with a line of high explosive bombs and started a number of fires, which Jater, merging into one great 'blaze, lit up the clouds 5000 ft above the town. Other bombs a used heavy explosions, which were fen by one aircraft while it was still 15 miles from the target. The attacks on Boulogne were delivered by a force of medium bombers. The visibility in the moonlight was good, and, making full use of available cloud, bomber pilots attacked their targets by diving through a gap and climbing quickly back into the cloud cover after dropping their bombs. Repeated hits were scored alongside two of the main basins on shipping, on a jetty formerly u<sed by cross-Channel steamers, and on the half of the mole. • At Dunkirk extensive damage was caused by medium bombers, which scored direct hits on the docks and harbour equipment. In the raid on Calais and Flushing, bombers' crews reported frequent hits on the docks and quayside, and -many outbreaks of fire on ships along thd quay. Calais is believed to have been set on lire, and a fire which broke out on the edge of the west basin was still burning Strongly 30 minutes later. R.A.F. LOSSES. Intensive Night Bombing Raids. LOWER THAN EXPECTED. (Reed. 2 p.m.) RUGBY, Sept. 16. It can be authoritatively stated that losses sustained by Royal Air Force bombers in the intensive night raids upon vital military objectives in Germany and German-occupied territories have been at much lower rates .than those responsible for the long-term planning of • British air operations thought it prudent to allow for. The rate for the whole of the first year of the war is considerably below what had been anticipated, but even in the last few months while blow after blow has been struck at German oil resources and vital communications, and latterly at invasion bases across the Channel, the rate of loss has still been mijch below that for which provision was originally made.