R.A.F. MEN FIND THEIR TARGETS

Evening Star, Issue 23683, 17 September 1940, Page 7

R.A.F. MEN FIND THEIR TARGETS

FULL USE MADE OF GROUND CONDITIONS (British Official Wireless.) Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright , RUGBY, September 16. (Received September 17, at 1.12 p.m.) Invasion bases on the Dutch, Belgian, and French coasts were again the chief objectives of Sunday night’s raids by bomber squadrons of the 11.A.F. The night’s heaviest attack was directed against the docks at Antwerp, where great fleets of barges and many ships have been accumulated during recent weeks. In the raid, which began half, an hour before midnight, and w'as kept up for close on three hours, many tons of high explosives and hundreds of incendiary bombs were unloaded on the docks and shipping by relays of heavy bombers. Bright moonlight in the early stages of the attack clearly revealed many barges moored in the dock basin. Barges which were struck and set ablaze 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. By 1.30 a.m. one of the main wharves was a mass of flames. Other growing fires could be seen in all parts of the docks. 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 in the outer harbour. A. second stick, falling on one end of a basin, struck what appeared to be a large transport vessel, which immediately caught fire. The following attackers straddled the basin and a shipping wharf with a line of high explosive bombs, and started a number of fires, which, later merging into one great blaze, lit up the clouds 5,000 ft above the town. Other bombs caused heavy explosions which were seen by one aircraft while it was still 15 miles from its 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 the available cloud, the bomber pilots attacked their targets by diving through the gap and climbing quickly back into the cloud cover. After dropping their bombs repeated hits were scored alongside two of the main basins oh shipping and on the jetty formerly used by cross-Chan-nel steamers and on the southern half of the mole. At Dunkirk extensive damage was caused by medium bombers, which scored, direct hits on the docks and harbour equipment. One tremendous flash, seen 20 miles away, was caused by a violent explosion which broke out on No. 4 dock. Here the fire was still raging more than two hours later. In the raid on Calais and Flushing bombers’ crews reported frequent hits on docks and the. quayside, and many outbreaks of fire. Ships along the quay at Calais are believed to have been set on fire, and a white fire which broke out on the edge of the west basin was still burning strongly 30 minutes later. ATTACK ON BERLIN. Berlin was again visited early on Monday morning by a harassing force which bombed military objectives to the north-west of the city, the Templehoff airport, and also attacked a power station which was damaged in a previous raid. The raiders, whose visit gave Berliners their first two alarms in one night, met anti-aircraft fire, but none of the aircraft was hit. In the course of attacks on German rail centres, other heavy bomber forces raided Osnabruck, where six heavy-calibre bombs were seen to burst across a goods yard, and Soest, where a heavy explosion occurred in the railway yards some time after bombs were seen to strike the target. At Krefeld fires were started in a goods train standing in the yard, which was hit. Six buildings collapsed when six bombs fell across them at Hamm, which has been described as the nerve centre of the German rail transport. A fire started in the sidings could be seen 20 miles away. During the attack on long-range gun emplacements at Cap Gris Nez, near Calais, searchlights adjacent to the guns were bombed and extinguished. The surrounding woods were set on five and tho gun emplacements left encircled by fire, which was visible many miles out to soa. ATTACKS ON SHIPPING. Successful attacks on enemy shipping were a feature of the night’s operations. An enemy cruiser sighted off Terschelling Island just before midnight was hit by a high-explosive bomb from a heavy bomber, which at once came under intense fire from the warship. The bomber had the leading edge of its starboard wing and parts of its tail unit shot away, a landing wheel punctured and many bullet holes in the wings, but despite the damage it was brought safely to its base. A supply ship of about 7,000 tons was attacked by another heavy bomber off the German coast and left in a sinking condition after several direct hits were scored on it.

A 6,000-ton oil tanker seen steaming westward without lights was also intercepted and attacked with bombs and machine-gun fire from n height of only OtMU't. Two direct bits were scored, one on the after part of the vessel and the other amidships.