RAID BY R.A.F. GIANTS

Marlborough Express, Volume LXXVI, Issue 246, 19 October 1942, Page 5

RAID BY R.A.F. GIANTS

HEAVIEST DAYLIGHT ATTACK FRENCH ARMS WORKS BLASTED. P.A. Cable. LONDON, Oct. 18. Only one out of a force of 94 Lancesters was lost when these heavy bombers of the R.A.F. yesterday carried out the biggest daylight attack of the war on the vast Schneider-Creusot works — the French equivalent of Krupps' of Essen — at le Creusot, 170 miles south-east of Paris, and 70 miles north-east of Vichy. The bombers fiew without escort to the target over 300 miles of Germanoccupied territory, yet the raid was not only the biggest, but also the least costly. The bombers went over the target singly from 6 p.m., with perfect timing. The Air Ministry reveals that the first squadron over the target was led by Wing Commander L. C. Slee. All the bombing was completed within seven minutes and in that time a great weight of bombs was dropped. Many fires broke out, and shortly after the attack there was a large explosion. One formation bombed an electrical transformer station nearby which supplies power to the Schneider works. The only aircraft missing of the 94 planes engaged in the operation was lost in this attack. One Lancaster was attacked by three Arando floa't-planes and shot two of them down into the sea. The fact that the whole raid was completed in seven minutes means that one bomb-load was let go every 41 seconds. Lancasters can carry eight tons of bombs, so it is possible —though not officially stated— that the works received a total weight of 752 tons of bombs. HEDGE-HOPPING ACROSS FRANCE. Further describing the raid, the Air Ministry News Service says the rnajoritjf of the great force of Lancasters hedge-hopped across France and climbed to attack. The main target was bombed from between jr jwt & f jr * jmr jr

4000 to 6000 feet. A small force was detached to bomb the transformer works, which it did from 500 feet with great effect. The only bomber lost was seen to crash here beside the target. Little anti- aircraft fire was encountered. The Le Creusot arms works cover 287 acres and are the largest and most important of the international Schneider cartel, They had been making German-patt-ern guns of very heavy -calibre and also locomotives, machine tools, and armour-plate. The Germans during the Battle of France avoided bombing the works. The Air Ministry says that Le Creusot has no features or landmarks for night navigation, and the town is small and congested, so a night attack would have inflicted great losses on the French civilian population. The Air Ministry states that yesterday afternoon Mustangs of the Army Co- operation Command &t-ta-cked goods trains and other targets in Holland, and Spitfires of the Fighter Command attacked objectives in northern France. All our planes returned. Hudson aircraft of the Coastal Command without loss attacked shipping off the French coast on Friday night. A ship was bit, and this morning was seen to bs wrecked and e ground. The attacking aircraft belonged to a Netherland s air service squadron. Flying over the Channel yesterday afternoon, two New Zealand pilots of the Fighter Command saw bombs drop on the south--east coast. A few rnoments later they spotted two Focke-Wulfs racing for horne low down over the sea, and they concemtrated on one and shot it down in the Channel after a ten-mile pursuit. An enemy bomber was destroyed by our fighters off the French coast to-day.