AIRCRAFT FACTORY TARGETS

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 16, 14 October 1943, Page 5

AIRCRAFT FACTORY TARGETS

German Plight In The Air

LONDON, October 12. The night bombing of the 'Ruhr and also Kassel and other German cities has contributed to the enemy’s prese.nt very serious plight in the air not only by augmenting the day raids on. aircraft factory targets but by considerably shattering the general production of all the equipment needed for making modern aircraft efficient. The United States Air Force and the R.A.F. in the last three months have made 17 devastating attacks on aircraft factories and aircraft component factories, 11 of which are in Germany. A correspondent has estimated that the United States Air Force and the R.A.F. in the first 10 days of October dropped a record of well over 10,000 tons of bombs, outstripping all previous totals.

A German uews agency commentator said yesterday that the German High Command had been unable to control the air over Germany. Berlin radio admitted that the German liner Stuttgart was set on fire and severely damaged in the Fortress raid on Gdynia on Saturday. The radio asserted that the liner was clearly marked as a hospital ship. Casualties were caused among the wounded on board. The Germans claim that 206 enemy bombers have been brought down in the last three days, largely because the German fighters have been armed with a new cannon, one hit from which blows the bomber to pieces. The Germans allege that the Americans exaggerate the German fighter losses, and assert that the Americans claim that an opponent is shot down when he only took evasive action.