FIERCE OFFENSIVE

Evening Star, Issue 23701, 8 October 1940, Page 7

FIERCE OFFENSIVE

BRITISH BOMBING OPERATIONS DIRECT HIT ON SUPPLY SHIP INVASION CONCENTRATIONS BLASTED (British Official Wireless.) Press Association —By Telegraph —Copyright RUGBY, October 7. (Received October 8, at 10.05 a.in.) An Air Ministry communique states: Yesterday aircraft of the Bomber Command carried out daylight attacks on Ostend, Calais, and Boulogne. Shipping and barge concentrations at Harlingen, Stavoren, Enkhuizen, Dordaokht, and Den Helder were bombed. At Den Helder a direct hit was registered on a supply The aerodrome at Diepholz, in Western Germany, was also attacked, In the course of these operations a Blenheim bomber engaged and shot down an enemy lighter. None of our aircraft was lost. A Hudson aircraft of the Coastal Command attacked two armed merchant vessels off the Dutch coast yesterday morning. The ships put up an intensii e protective barrage. While diving to the attack one of the Hudsons was hit and set on fire. Nevertheless, the pilot, with great gallantry, pressed home the attack. His flaming aircraft eventually turned over and plunged headlong into the sea. BARGES AND SHIPPING ATTACKED MANY DIRECT HITS (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, October 7. (Received October 8, at 11.35 a.m.) In a series of daylight raids, beginning soon after dawn on Sunday and continuing until late in the afternoon, our bombers attacked coastal objectives and enemy shipping over an area extending from Harlingen in the north to Boulogne in the south-west. Weather conditions were consistently bad, with low cloud and heavy rain restricting visibility. One early morning raider approaching Calais under the cover of clouds attacked concentration barges lying in one of the main basins Two heavy-calibre bombs aimed from a low level exploded among a group of 50 barges. Another bomb hit a jetty, and a fourth struck a large warehouse beside the Carnot basin; Almost immediately after this attack the bomber was itself engaged by a formation of 12 Messerschmitt 109 fighters. The British rear gunner in the ensuing running fight shot one of the Messerschmitts down in flames and held off the rest of the formation until the bomber gained cover in a cloud. Barges and shipping at Boulogne and Ostend were also attacked. One raider crossing over Holland bombed the aerodrome at Diepholz, 30 miles south-west of Bremen. Two high-explo-sive bombs were seen to burst on the tarmac immediately in front of a line of hangars. Other aircraft ranging over the Dutch coast bombed a number of supply ships lying alongside the quay at Horlisteu, and barges in the River Maas, and attacked shipping in the Zuider Zee ports of Stavoren and Enkhuigen, scoring hits on the Est Quay and north of the harbour, Here a number of small ships were hit and fires started.

Supply ships in the Dutch harbour ofi' the Den Holder terminus oi' the Great North Holland Canal were attacked in the afternoon in face of heavy anti-aircraft fire. Four bombs struck the harbour works, causing a violent explosion and a cloud of red sparks. One 800-ton ship making towards the harbour was also bombed from a low level in a shallow dive attack. A direct hit was scored on the stern of a ship, which was left enveloped in a cloud of steam and smoke. It disappeared when the aircraft returned to the scene a lew minutes later.