RAID ON FORTH

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20071, 18 October 1939, Page 5

RAID ON FORTH

PLANES OVER BRIDGE SPEED DEMONSTRATION BRITISH SUPERIORITY GERMAN’S STATEMENT (R'ecd. Oct. 18, 9 a.m.) LONDON, Oct. 17. It is officially stated that two naval officers and 13 men were killed and 12 men seriously injured in the raid by German bombing planes on the Firth of Forth on Monday afternoon. Further reports from Edinburgh state that the city received the first intimation of the raids when it heard heavy anti-aircraft firing on both sides of the Forth. Heavy explosions on the Fife side of the Forth were heard later and splinters from anti-aircraft shells fell in numerous Fife towns. The Edinburgh correspondent of The Times says that citizens showed interest and not fear when the bark of anti-aircraft guns and bursts of machine-gun fire broke into their after-luncheon meditations. They were at first puzzled over the silence of the sirens, but were reassured to see the Royal Air Force fighters hotly pursuing the Germans. City Not Endangered It was later explained that the sirens were not sounded because the city was not endangered, as the raiders were' attacking other targets. Householders standing in groups were not excited when planes bearing the Swastika skimmed the roof-tops. Groups gathered on the hou’Se-tops to watch the spectacle through binoculars, and were delighted to see the Germans out-manoeuvred at every turn. Eye-witnesses describe the German attempts to bomb the Forth bridge. They were driven off by heavy fire, but returned time and again. The bombs caused huge waterspouts, but no damage was done. A train passenger said at Dalmeny: “We were told that’an air raid was in progress. It was left to our discretion whether we would continue the journey across the Forth bridge. Most of us decided to continue. As the train travelled slowly across the bridge, two planes appeared to dive over us, dropping bombs near the bridge. "One of the German planes went

down, smoking, into the sea. Fishermen went out in a small boat anc rescued three of the four members of the crew before the plane sank.” Spectators helped the Germans ashore. Two were seriously injured One of the German pilots said: "We had no chance to get away from the British plane. It was much too fast for "us.” A Berlin communique stated that the German bombers successfully attacked British warships in the Firth of Forth. The communique claimed that two British cruisers were hit. The attack was carried out in the face of heavy British anti-aircraft fire. Two British chaser planes were shot down and two German planes were missing.