RIDDLED WITH SHOTS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 139, 13 May 1940, Page 9

RIDDLED WITH SHOTS

NAZI TROOP-CARRIERS. R.A.F. ACHIEVEMENT. (United Press Association —By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) (British Official Wireless.)' RUGBY, May 11. A useful achievement b.y the Home Commands of the R.A.F. yesterday evening was the destruction of nine German troop-carrying aircraft on the coast of Holland. Seven of these were destroyed by long-range fighters and two by bombs. TheTeader of the six fighters described how tliev dived from 5000 feet to 50 feet and' riddled the troop-carriers with 18,000 rounds of machine-gun ammunition. t When the bombers with escorting fighters approached the point where the troop-carriers had been reported, three Messerschmitt 110 fighters were sighted. Below them on the beach, eight miles north of The Hague, they saw . nine Junkers 52 troop-carrying aircraft. After the bombers had hit and set two on fire, the fighters for lll ', ed a line astern for a ground straffing attack. One after another they dived vertically from 5000 feet, flattening out over the beach. “After the bombers had finished, said the flight-lieutenant who led the fighters, “we noticed two of the enemy aircraft were on fire. Down we went one after another, front guns blazing at the other enemy aircraft. The Germans replied with machine-gun fire from the ground. The result of our attacks was that out of the seven remaining aircraft we destroyed four more and three were also riddled withour bullets. After we had finished straffing them there was practically no response from the German machines. One of our fighters made a forced landing on the sands. We did not leave it till we were satisfied that the pilot and the other members of the crew were uninjured.” DEVASTATING ATTACKS.

Press Association messages describe the activities as follow: Royal Air Force bombers attacked 50 troopcarrying aeroplanes which were dispersed along the Waalhaven aerodrome, scoring numerous direct hits. The R.A.F. also made a devastating attack with salvoes of high-explosive bombs oil 10 troop-carrying 'planes which had disembarked troops on the beach near The Hague. One salvo lifted a great three-engined machine bodily off the ground and it fell back in flames. Two others could he seen halfsubmerged in the water and two more were aflame. The remainder were riddled with bullets and bomb splinters. A Netherlands communique states that more than 100 German ’planes have been shot down over Holland since the German invasion began. In addition, 14 undamaged German ’planes fell into Dutch hands at a Dutch airport which had been recaptured from the Germans. All the airports temporarily occupied by the Germans have been retaken, with one exception. The R.A.F. has also scored successes over Dutch territory. When the R.A.F. machines arrived , over the Rotterdam airport the han- , gars were already ablaze. Presumably they had been set on fire by the Dutch before they left. Large numbers of German aircraft, including 50 troopcarriers, were dispersed along the sides of the aerodrome, and the British bombers scored hit after hit. In one dive-bombing attack aloue, four enemy machines were destroyed. There was practically no opposition from the ground, but German fighters were active and a number of fights took place. GERMAN RAIDERS. German air raiders attacking in the zone of the advanced striking force of the R.A.F. in France came in clearly marked waves and were composed of various types of German reconnaissance and bomber aircraft — Dorniers 217 and 215, Heinkels 111, and Junkers- 88" s (states tlie Press Association). They made for selected targets, flying over the frontier at a great height. In one town a bomb demolished a small house adjacent to a hospital. Another bomb fell in a village, damaging two cottages. At every point the enemy came under intense antiaircraft fire from British and French gunners. It is estimated that German raids throughout France during the day caused 40 deaths. The British Air Ministry denies bombing Freiburg (as alleged by the Germans on Saturday). The Berlin radio says Allied ’planes bombed Essen and two other German towns. “Let Britain beware,” said the radio. “German bombs always hit their mark and Germany’s patience is exhausted;”

A Paris message states that Lyons was again raided this,, afternoon, the attack lasting for over an hour. There were no French casualties. Ail official announcement says that 148 civilians, including women and children, were killed and were wounded in the air raids in Trance yesterday. The casualty list as a result of the German bombings in France are incomplete. but the latest tally gives 16 killed and 30 injured at Nancy; 10 killed and 30 injured at VillcrsCoterets; 2 killed and 5 injured at Brnay; a Polish family wiped out at Lens; 3 killed and 4 injured at Abbeville ; one woman killed and two injured when 20 bombs were dropped in the courtyard of a village hospital in Northern France; 3 killed and .11 injured at Lille; and 12 killed at Lyons. Other places where casualties are reported are Bethune, Hazebrouck, Calais, Dunkerque, Doullens, Albert, Colmar. Pontoise, Luxeuil, Longwy, and Metz. The Brussels radio broadcast the Allied national anthems and soldiers’ songs all night long on Saturday interspersed with* reports of the sighting of German bombers, including a batch of 30. Another report stated that nine were, flying over Malines to Louvain. The announcer at =7 a.m. announced that ten were over Brussels, after which the station shut down.