NO RESPITE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24405, 17 September 1940, Page 7

NO RESPITE

NAZI-OCCUPIED AREAS i ANOTHER HAMMERING GERMANS HIDE TRUTH NO TOURS OF INSPECTION (British Official Wireless) (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) RUGBY, Sept. 15. (Received Sept. 16, at 7-30 p.m.) The Times publishes a report from Berlin stating that foreign correspondents have been informed that tours of inspection of bombed areas have ceased, and any correspondent who attempts without authority to visit these areas or who sends out reports differing from the official accounts, will be instantly expelled from Germany. No correspondent can send out accounts of air raids before the official story has been despatched. The public are also prohibited from visiting bombed areas. Enemy shipping and barge concentrations in the Channel ports and many supply depots and rail communications in Germany were' again heavily bombed last night by the R.A.F. Large forces of bombers ranged over Germany, France, Belgium and Holland, systematically seeking out and breaking up the German High Command’s invasion machine. Flying through appalling weather —aircraft were struck by lightning, radio aerials were burnt off in a violent electric storm, and many machines iced up—the raiders struck heavily at the invasion’s front line in the Channel ports of Holland, France and Belgium, and attacked bases, railv/ay junctions and transport centres in Germany, whence come its reserves and supplies. Antwerp Suffers Severely One of the night’s most devastating onslaughts was made on Antwerp, and havoc was caused in the vast network of docks, warehouses and petrol sheds on the banks of the

Scheldt and on shipping lying in the stream, as large forces of bombers dropped nearly 40 tons of high explosive bombs and over 1000 incendiaries in an attack lasting from II o’clock until 1.30 a.m. on Sunday. Calais Among the Targets The port, shipping, long range guns, anti-aircraft batteries, and searchlight concentrations at and around Calais were all bombed heavily from half past 8 until nearly 11 o’clock. While some the raiders attacked the harbour and shipping concentrations inside it, others sought out big guns nearby and started fires in «hese target areas. A huge fire was begun after one aircraft had attacked barges in Calais harbour, and another pilot, flying through cloud into moonlight, clearly saw and bombed various basins. Bombs burst on wharf buildings and barges in No. 6 dock, which suffered particularly severe damage. Bombs Burst on Barges One pilot reported that some minutes after he had dropped high explosives among barges there was a big explosion from the middle dock and flames shot upwards. Another said: “ I could actually see my bombs burst right on a concentration of barges on the east side of No. 6 dock. The last two scored a direct hit on a 5000-ton merchant ship at the north end of the dock and clouds of dense smoke began to come out of her. No. 6 dock was filled with barges, and I estimate that there were about 300 of them.” One of the aircraft was held in the blinding glare of 10 searchlights. It was hit in several places and there was intense tracer fire. All the same the pilot made his attack and hit the north end of Carnot basin. Large numbers of barges were found in Ostend harbour, where the defences had been considerably strengthened during the oast week. Many barges were in the outer harbour, the main west dock, and basin No. 1. and these 1 were all bombed, ■