MANY DIRECT HITS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 250, 19 September 1940, Page 9

MANY DIRECT HITS

CHANNEL PORTS BOMBED. SHIPPING ATTACKED. (United Press Association.—Copyright.) (British. Official Wireless.) (Rec. 10 a.m.) RUGBY, Sept. 18. Medium bombers of the R.A.F. were again over Zeebrugge and Ostend yesterday afternoon, states an Air Ministry bulletin. Direct bits were made on the harbour installations at Ostend, and at Zeebrugge ships were bombed. One aircraft attacked four barges off the coast, and direct hits on two of them were claimed. Another raider bombed a convoy which was sighted off The Hague. The new aerodrome at Jmuiden was also attacked; At Zeebrugge, where a concentration of barges was bombed, two Mcsserschmitt 109’s engaged our aircraft, but both made off after an exchange of fire.

A steady and , increasing pressure on the German-held Channel ports is being exerted by the Bomber Command of the R.A.F., which las.t night sent one of the largest forces of British bombers so far used in the war to continue the relentless “forestalling offensive” which for nearly a fortnight now has been going on against the German invasion plan.

While the potential invasion spearhead —the French, Belgian and Dutch Channel coasts, barges, docks, harbours and gun emplacements—was receiving yet another terrific onslaught other forces of R.A.F. bombers flew north-east to pound the right wing of the enemy’s line in Hamburg, and to add further to the destruction in those strategic railway yards and junctions on Germany’s -western frontier which have already taken so much punishment. FIRES AT CALAIS. At Calais a fire about a quarter of a mile long was left raging on the west side of the basin of Carnot, and a medley of lesser fires broke out near the south-west corner of another basin and down the railway lines. A later salvo of bombs on the east side of the basin of Carnot caused an immediate explosion, followed by about sixty others. The tidal lock wa6 straddled and heavily hit, and a line of bombs left a track of flames between the canal and the south-east corner of the basin of Carnot. About 10 o’clock there was a heavy explosion on the dockside, and bombs were seen bursting about the lock gates. The sides of the basin at De liouest were also hit. BIG GUNS HIT. Big gun emplacements in the region of Floringzelles, Harinzelles and Franzelles, near Cape Gris Nez, were definitely identified by the raiders m the brilliant moonlight and heavily attacked. Many of the pilots saw the bombs exploding well within the target area. Large numbers of fires were also started at Dunkirk, at least six docks being hit. Boulogne had another tremendous attack, and ono sortie just after mjdnight was particularly successful. Attacking through broken clouds, the aircraft released a quantity of bombo, which fell on barges and other ships in the harbour, the flames blazing up from the burning barges and warehouses showing twenty miles out to sea about 3 o’clock this morning. ZEEBRUGGE BATTERED.

Zeebrugge was fiercely attacked. Sticks of high-explosives fell on the dock basin and across the harbour entrance, along the % entrance to the Channel, over the inner harbour, on the north basin, across the famous mole, and on a group of five cargo boats. At Ostend the outer and inner harbours, the main docks, and the south side of the basin at Deehouage were all" lht, and a group of about 30 barges were bombed. Another wave of attackers hit the east end of the main docks and tlie basin at Dechasse, the timber wharves, mole, north lock gates, and railway station. A big barge concentration in the harbour of Terneuzen, south-east of Flushing, was spotted, and qne of the raiders, having lurked, in the clouds for nearly an hour awaiting the right moment, hurtled down in dive attacks. His bombs fell right across the barges and there was a series of explosions, then spreading flames, and as lie climbed to 10,000ft' a last tremendous explo--61 Other shallow dive attacks resulted in hits along the sides of the entrance channel and among the barges moored to the banks of the Ghent Canal. The crackle of minor explosions followed when barges crowded together at the canal junction near the locks were hit by other sticks of heavy bombs and incendiaries. . , The Antwerp docks again took heavv punishment, and incendiaries started great fires on the quays, while shipping lying in the Scheldt and in the riverside dock was repeatedly hit. EFFECTIVE DIVE ATTACKS. Flying suddenly out of the clouds, bomber after bomber dropped its salvoes on the port and ships, and then disappeared again into the clouds. While the guns thundered below one bomber scored six direct hits on ships moored at the town quay over Flushing. The bomb aimer, who dropped a stick of high-explosives, could not see the bursts, but remarked significantly that after the attack the barge concentration was seen to have opened up and altered its shape Here, too, pilots waited in the clouds for some time until the right moment arrived and then made dive attacks, straddling the ships and docks with bombs. One pilot bombed a* string ol four ships off the coast as well as barges in the outer harbour. Fires were seen in the docks at Hamburg after they had been bombed early to-day. Other objectives of the night’s operations included the railway yards at Krefeld, Ham, Osnabruck, Soest, and Brussels. The yards a.t Stockum (north-east of Cologne) were also attacked, as were the aerodromes at Midluni and Wescnnunde. It is thought that one of two large ships sunk by an R.A.F. bomber in Cherbourg harbour last night when a number of ships Were attacked was a destroyer. The other ship known to have "been sunk is estimated to have had a displacement of 5000 tons. Much other damage was caused in the raid, and when it ended there was a ring of flames round the harbour from the burning building and vessels. R.A.F. bombers bad carried out daylight attacks on Ostend, on shipping at Zeebrugge, on a convoy and barges off the Dutch coast and the aerodrome at Ijmiiiden. From all these operations two' bombers have not reported to their base.-