ENEMY BASES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 253, 23 September 1940, Page 2

ENEMY BASES

AGAIN HAMMERED. TRAIL OF DESTRUCTION. (United Press Association— Copyright.) LONDON, Sept. 21. The R.A.F. to-night continued hammering the German invasion ports. Watchers on the English cliffs saw bursts of flames from Calais to Dunkirk. Continuous gun Hashes, shell bursts and searchlight activity indicated that the Germans were resisting vigorously.

An Air Ministry communique issued at 5 p.m. states: “On night strong forces of K.A.i. bombers again attacked the eneniy- . occupied ports of Antwerp, Zeebrugge, Ostend, Flushing, Dunkirk, Calais and Boulogne. Further damage was done to military stores, barge concentrations and shipping. “Other forces of bombers again visited the distribution centres and goods yards at Mannheim, Ehrang, Ivrefeld, Hamm, Soest, Osnabruck and Brussels. The Dorttnuiid-Ems. Canal rail-communications near Maastricht and several enemy aerodromes were also heavily bombed. “Aircraft of the Coastal Command carried out bombing attacks on two enemy supply ships, which were hit and severely damaged. Two of our aircraft have not reported to their base.” DOCKS WRECKED. Later information of the raids mentioned in the. above communique show that the Dortmund-Ems aqueduct was bombed for ilie second night in succession, and other successful attacks were made on rail communication centres and aerodromes over a wide area of enemy territory. At Dunkirk the port, already heavily damaged in the previous night’s attacks, was subjected to three separate raids, each of about one hour’s duration. In the,first, which began, at 8.30 p.m. direct hits were scored in several dock basins. A searchlight was put. out by machine-gun fire, and large fires which broke out after the bombing could still be seen when the attacking aircraft were well out to sea on the homeward journey. In the second attack a stick of bombs exploded across a fleet of 50 barges, which were seen lying at one basin. Other sticks straddled the main basin and burst near the sides of the approach to the channel; The third raid took place’ in the early hours of Saturday morning, and was directed mainly against a concentration of 50 ships moored in No. 2 and No. 3 docks. Attacking through gaps in the clouds, the raiders laid bombs across the basins : and the adjoining canal in which more ships were lying and started a number of large fires on the quaysides. ' At Calais a cloudbank - across/ the harbour at 3000 ft. hampered the attack and one. pilot spoilt an hour and a half,in the vicinity of 1 the target awaiting an opportunity to bomb. Earjier attackers, taking advantage of occasional 'gaps in the clouds, scored hits on the dock sides and one side of the entrance channel. Shortly before midnight a fine of fires was seen burning strongly along the jetty between the tidal harbour and the east basiu. BOMBS ON SHIPS.

Barges and skipping in tne Boulogne bar Dour were repeateuiy attacked in a series of sorties vvnien began at 11 p.m. on Friday and ended at 4.30 a.in. eii. Saturday. Bombs burst on the southern arm of the . entrance of tne channel, along the harbour wall and among a fleet of barges in a basin. Otner aircrart scored nits on the quaysides to the east of the Lou bet basin and near the main harnour, explosions of bombs being followed by nres. A number of ships at anchor in the outer harbour were also attacked, but low cloud and rain prevented observation of the results.

At Ostend an attack on. the harbour was carried out in the face of intense anti-aircraft and machine-gun lire, and a balloon barrage which was dying at a great height above the docks. Bombing in shallow dives which at times brought them to within 1500 ft of the ground, the raiders scored hits on the docks, wharves, and lock gates, and straddled the outer harbour the main west dock and the large dock north of Bassin de ChasseV Several large fires were started along the dockside buildings, and a direct 'hit is believed to have been scored on a large supply ship on which a stick of bombs was dropped from a low level. TRAIN BLOWN UP.

A supply train travelling toward Munster was attacked from 800Jt and hit by two heavy calibre bombs, one of which exploded in front of the train and the other to the rear. Fragments of this train shot up as high, m the sir as the attacking aircraft. .Among t'he many aerodromes attacked was the seaplane base on the island of Texel, wnich was heavily bombed, and the former civil airport of Jersey was also raided.. A large 'factory near Maastricht, strongly defended by both light and heavy antiaircraft batteries, was bombed and set ablaze, the fire being .visible 50 miles away. The heavy bomber responsible for this successful atack was hit many times in the wings and fuselage, but no vital part was damaged and the aircraft was brought safely 'home. PILOTS’ ACCOUNTS.

Moonlight aided British raiders in their attack on Flushing during Friday night’s raids (states the British Official' Wireless).

A squadron-leader who took part in the attack stated that even trom a considerable height he could plainly see the docks and everything in them. “We came up by the water-way at a pretty good 'height, put the hose of the machine down and made a dive attack, he said. “Searchlights picked us up and guns kept on at us till vye turned off. Our bombs fell right across some warehouses on the dockside, and, though I was too busy weaving in and out to see very much, my second pilot, who had a good look round, told me we started three small fires and a large one, which may have been a petrol dump. The captain of another aircraft, who came along a bit later, said he found our .fires still going and stoked them up with a Jew more bombs.”

A pilot-officer, who followed the squadron-leader into the attack, said ■ “We were just getting into position for a run in when we saw him'dive down. We saw his bombs burst and four fires start. We then went out to sea a little way, and . turned and dived in after him. • ' • ..... .

One of the pilots who bombed Ostencl a New Zealander, who was recently awarded the D.F.C.. was confident in having damaged a large supply s bi p in the harbour. J H

Two Hudsons of the Coastal Coromand scored direct hits on two enemv snips off the Dutch coast during Friday. night. Thev had completed patrols and, finding they had plenty of petrol in reserve, searched Dutch coastal waters for possible targets CONVOYS STRUCK. One aircraft found a destroyer near Ameland (Holland). It was barely vis-

ible, even in /the moonlight, and the pilot had difficulty in keeping' it in sight as he prepared to dive-bomb. One salvo was seen to fall 20 yards on the warship’s beam.. The pilot next found a convoy sheltering in the lee of a Dutch island. Selecting a vessel between 6000 ‘and 8000 tons for a target, he made a dive attack with explosive and incendiary bombs. Part of the salvo hit the ship and burst-behind the bridge. “The explosion blew us ..upward,” said t'he pilot. “Heavy anti-aircraft fire opened from the shore, but our chief danger was from flying bits of burning debris from the ship. I went down to the water to avoid the enemy’s fire. From a long way off we could see the glow from the ship. “A second Hudson attacked a ship just visible under the low moon as a long, narrow outline on the water. There was a huge flash as the bombs 'hit the solid target,” said the pilot. “A big explosion followed four seconds later. We were at 500 ft and going away fast, but' inside the aircraft, we could hear the thud of the explosion, and its force threw us forward. The last we saw was’ a shower of burning debris.”

DODGING THE BOMBS.

LONDON ARRANGEMENTS,

(British Official Wireless.) RUGBY;} Sept. 21. Wide measures are being adopted by the Ministry of Home Security and the local authorities to lessen the inconvenience caused by random bombing- ...

From Monday post offices will remain open after the public sirens are sounded till the' second warning indicating imminent danger is received. It is generally expected that compensation for essential clothing and furniture lost by raid victims will now be paid in full, the previous limits of £3O for clothing and £SO for furniture being removed. Chief measures, however, are understood to' concern the adaptation of daytime shelters for night use by the provision of shelter marshals, sanitary arrangements and possible. sleeping facilities. Many basements not already requisitioned will be equipped for “round the clock” use, as well as those already adapted for daytime only. Plans for transporting 'people from the more vulnerable areas where shelter provisions are insufficient' are understood to include the division of night evacuation areas into groups of streets, each group having allotted shelters in another area. From each group private coaches and buses will leave at a fixed time in .the evening and return the people to their homes in the morning. Experiments, however, will first have to be made. Good-humoured philosophy, states the Daily Mail, is the rule everywhere in the tube stations, where many people now take food and bedding in the evenings. “Don’t forget to put your shoes outside the door,” a porter told a Tyoman making elaborate preparations for- the night. The use of tube stations as shelters is-expected to he restricted to those without alternative accommodation.