PORT GUTTED

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 44, 15 November 1940, Page 7

PORT GUTTED

R.A.F. Damage At Durazzo LONDON, November 13. It is stated authoritatively that tlm damage done by the R.A.F. to the Albanian port of Durazzo is so severe that it will be at least a fortnight before ships are able to dock there. Durazzo was recently modernized at a cost of hundreds of thousands of pounds. It has now been gutted. "It was the best raid we have had since the outbreak of the war,’’ said the leader of the R.A.F. raid on Durazzo. "The fuel depot on which a salvo of bombs exploded lit up the whole town. I came tn after the tire had been started and dropped all my bombs in the burning area, completing the destruction." Three fires which started on a jetty later merged into one. British pilots saw the fires still burning when they were 100 miles on their homeward flight. In a night raid on Valona all the bombs were observed to fall in the target area and what was probably an ammunition dump was seen to blow up. The dock area at Valona was again attacked yesterday, salvoes ot bombs falling on jetlies and also u' the centre of a large building. Another Raid on Bari. The R.A.F. headquarters in Greece announce that R.A.F. planes attacked Bari, an Italian port in the Adriatic, and Albanian ports through which the Italians must keep their army supplied. At Bari direct hits were made on an oil refinery, where heavy tires were started. In Albania .attacks were made on Valona and Durazzo. An ammunition dump in Valona was hit and huge tires were caused. Aerodromes were also damaged. South-west of Valona a big ship was bombed. Commenting on Axis propaganda that British help to Greece would be insignificant and provoke suspicion and disappointment, a leading Greek newspaper says that Greece never expected to have to depend entirely on British assistance. Only when hostilities had begun had Greece asked for British assistance, as she knew that on many occasions Britain had interested herself in the safety of. small nations. She had given a guarantee to Greece, and, unlike Italy, Great Britain never dishonoured her signature.