MASS OR FLAMES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 250, 19 September 1940, Page 10

MASS OR FLAMES

NAZI INVASION BASES. PILOTS’ VIVID ACCOUNTS. (United Press Association —Copyright.) (Rec. 1.35 p.m.) RUGBY, Sept. 18. R.A.F. pilots who took part up the attack on the invasion ports on Tuesday night describe flying conditions as perfect. There was bright moonlight with no cloud over the enemyls coastline and the British pilots could clearly make out the docks and railways along the quaysides. One British pilot said: “We got hardly any opposition at all. There were a few searchlights, but nothing to worry about. It was just like bombing on practice raids. I should sav there were .dozens of fires burning at Ostend when we got there. It was as light as day. We ran inland, turned round and ran up on the railway sidings. Our first stick of bombs started seven or eight fires. It looked _ as though we had hit an ammunition train for explosions broke out —all sorts of colours, white, red and yellow. Then as we turned to make a second, run up there a terrific upheaval of stuff came up like a gigantic mushroom, thin at the bottom and spreading right out at the top. We were flying at 5000 ft and the force of the explosion threw us. up about 50tt.

TOWN CAREFULLY AVOIDED. “In some parts of the dock areas one couldn’t see anything. They were just a mass of flames obliterating the ground. Two of my crew live in bouth London and they had thenhomes destroyed, and so you can imagine they were feeling pretty happy about, this show of ours.

After the second attack, when more fires were started, this aircraft circled round for another five or six minutes to have a look. “One thing struck me particularly,” the pilot remarked. “The town itself, barring a few houses on the edge of the railway yard, appeared to be untouched. At any rate there were no fires or any other indieation of it having been bombed. Ihe -fires were all on the dockside. Another officer in the same squadron said: “We had seen the explosions from the enemy’s coastline about live minutes after leaving our own coast and they continued intermittently most of the way out. We went straight into Ostend from the sea. As we were running up I could see 'the fires and explosions still going on. Having got rid of my first lot of bombs, 1 went out to sea again, then came back and did precisely the same thing all over again.” LATER RAIDS MADE.

According to agency reports the invasion bases on the D rench and Bel-o-ian' coasts appeared to t>s heavily attacked again by the R.A.F. on the night of Wednesday-Ihursday. A suecession of flashes, almost continuous at times, could be seen from the lEnglish coast. Keports state # that the tacks met with fierce anti-aircraft lire.