SEVERE BOMBING

Taranaki Daily News, 12 September 1940, Page 7

SEVERE BOMBING

By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.

BLOW AT HEART OF CITY MUCH DAMAGE CLAIMED

Received 1.5 a.m. . London> September 11. BERLIN last night had what is believed to have been its most intense air raid. The British Air Ministry announced this morning that a heavy attack was made on the Potsdam railway station in the heart of the city. Bombs were seen falling in the centre of Berlin during an air raid alarm which lasted from 11.55 p.m. until 1.47 a.m., says the correspondent of the British United Prcss. It is believed the raid was the most intense Berlin has yet undergone. One bomb crashed through a house next to the United States Embassy, only 100 yards from the Wilhelmplatz. An incendiary bomb fell near the United States Embassy and two others in the middle of Unter Den Linden, immediately in front of the Brandenburg Gate. The embassy was not damaged. The first bomb lit up the famous gate like daylight, windows of nearby offices rattled, and blue smoke rolled up from Unter Den Linden. A high explosive bomb fell 100 yards from the former French Embassy, sending plumes of smoke and sparks 75 yards. Raiders circled over the centre of the capital at a low altitude for at least 30 minutes and dropped six parachute flares. The Berlin correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain, adds that the Reichstag was struck by an incendiary bomb. "Bombs struck the Ajrt Academy in the heart of the city, the premises of the German Engineers' Union, Hedwigs Hospital and residential and business property," says a German official communique.

"The Potsdam station, in the heart of Berlin, was repeatedly hit by heavy bombs and several hundred incendiary bombs when Royal Air Force bombers again raided Berlin last night," said an Air Ministry communique this morning. "The Potsdam station is one of Germany's main termini, handling traffic for Magdeburg and south-west Germany. Typical of Royal Air Force raids, a large force of bombers delivered an attack with precision. Although there was a ground haze the pilots located the station and began the attack at 11.45 p.m. The pilots of all machines engaged claimed direct hits on the station and the yards. The aircraft made glide attacks and dropped high explosive bombs on the target. As showers of incendiary bombs followed the heavy bombs fires broke out. One particularly large fire and several smaller fires were observed. As soon as they had finished the attack the pilots left for home." Damage to central Berlin was so obvious that the official news agency was forced to issue an account, though it gave no news of any military objectives hit. Neutral correspondents were not permitted to cable news of damage to military objectives. All they were permitted to announce was the damage the Germans claimed had been done. Many Fires Started. This was that many fires had been started and much damage done to Government buildings, business and residential quarters. hospitals and hotels. Art works were destroyed, the Germans said, and Government buildings were the particular targets of the raiders. In several places walls of buildings were pushed in and they were in danger of colIrpse, so that whole streets had to. be evacuated. Five persons were stated to be killed and several injured. Second Successive Night. Last night's was the second successive raid on Berlin. The previous night's alarm lasted 45 minutes, according to messages from the capital, which stated that bombs damaged a number of apartment houses in the northern districts. The raiders did not reach the centre of the city. British bombers also attacked Westermuende at the mouth of the river Weser. Anti-aircraft fire drove back some of the planes before they reached their objectives. Others were so dazzled by searchlights that they dropped their bombs in open country. t , The German news agency admitted that bombs fell in the Moabit district and in north Berlin, where incendiaries struck houses in a main street and set fire to roofs. A building and a house were destroyed. The objective at Berlin was the important Newkoln gasworks in the suburbs. said the British Air Ministry. Bombs were seen to burst on this target and heavy explosions occurred in the course of the attack, which began about midnight and was carried out in the face of intense anti-aircraft fire. High explosive bombs damaged some of the Fuehrer's own handiwork, according to the German statement. Bombs tore up the east-west axis through the city, the great Avenue of Splendour that Herr Hitler planned by drawing a straight line across Berlin. Others hit the Richstag, the Brendenburg Gate, Berlin's equivalent of London 's Marble Arch, the Tiergarten and public buildings. The raid apparently gave German propaganda a severe shaking. The communique, which announced that only nonmilitary objectives were hit, ended on almost a wistful note. "Germany did not want the war," it said. "England has got the war she wanted. England is feeling the might of the German sword."