Crushing Attack On Vital U-Boat Base

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 176, 28 July 1942, Page 5

Crushing Attack On Vital U-Boat Base

HAMBURG POUNDED

Hundreds Of Incendiaries And 40001b Bombs Dropped

(U.P.A. and British Official Wireless.— Rec. noon.) J. D. _ LONDON, July 27. he R.A.F. raid on Hamburg last night was the biezest vet xLf y "u" d y ,K" c^i in H\:t4 hr .«j k °Sa b cT u L" r a " residential 9 areas. "' any buildinß • «P«ci.l"ta a nr j A p ri V 9h offici a! Wire l e ss report states that the weather was cessfulTwTnty?in7 P Portb ort8 b n atC a " ack WaS most BUC " cesstui. I wenty-nine bombers are missing. Aerodromes in the Low Countries were also bombed, and Coastal Command aircraft without loss attacked enemy shipping off the Frisian Islands. . , ~ e °: t "l e outstandingly successful attacks of the whole war , T' Ch j f ° f 1>« Bombe, Command. 3e„„W !,L r~ g ' ea - ra , on Hamburg. The importance of the city to the Cjermans is made apparent by the defence system, which is stated by experts to be the best in Germany at present. The full moon, states the Air Ministry news service, is the first since »P"ng when the nights have been long enough to bring Hamburg within range of a heavy raid. Last night's destructive attack came as the climax of a week's heavy bombing. Crew* Made Most of Moonlight Earlier raids, with Duisburg as the main target, were in poor weather, but last night there was no cloud at all, and crews were able to make the most of the moonlight. After reading the reports on the raid from all bomber groups. Sir Arthur Harris sent a message to the crews congratulating them on the magnificent effort against Hamburg, and stating that the work of the crews during the past week would long be remembered by Gerrriany. Ihe losses for the week's raiding against such welldefended areas have not been heavy when they are considered as a whole. Under 5 per cent of the total number employed are missing. The attack on Hamburg began just before 1 a.m., when the first wave of heavy and medium bombers, loaded with the maximum of incendiaries, came in. The second wave also dropped nc te n n n Ce f ? han high e *Pl°s'ves, with the result that over l ij ' ncenc " ar ies were dropped in 35 minutes and much of the old town was on fire. There were fires all round Aussen Alster Lake and many in the dock area. Pillars of black smoke rose, but as they did not drift over the town the target was clear for the last wave which was fully loaded with high explosives, including 40001b bombs. Everything was so clear that all the targets were selected within a quarter of an hour. The fires continued to spread, and the I ist crews to leave saw them burning long after they left the ' ■ Thirty Enemy Aircraft Over Britain About 30 enemy aircraft came inland over Britain early this r.0.-ning, flying singly and taking advantage of low cloud, says 1 if'jh Official Wireless. Bombs were dropped at widely separated areas, and casualties and damage have been reported from several places, but nowhere are they thought likely to be serious. One raider in south-west England directly hit a factory and also a club, where a search is continuing for two women. The same raider afterwards machine-gunned a railway station. Two hit-and-run raiders released high explosive bombs over two West Midland towns. Streets were machine-gunned. Another raider over a south-west England town dropped high explosives and machine-gunned streets, causing damage in a residential quarter.