BLOW FOR BLOW

Taranaki Daily News, 12 September 1940, Page 7

BLOW FOR BLOW

By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. British Official Wireless.

GERMANY HAMMERED WIDEST BRITISH RAIDS BOMBERS WREAK HAVOC

Rugby, Sept. 10. "Our bombers on Monday night continued their attacks on military objectives in Germany and enemyoccupied Holland, Belgium and France," states an Air Ministry communique. "Among the ttrgets attacked were lighting installations at Berlin, shipyards at Bremen and Hamburg, docks at Kiel, Wilhelms!haven and Weimar, goods yards at Krefeld and Brussels, factories at Essen and Barnstort, rail communications and several enemy aerodromes. "Other bomber forces attacked shipping and barge concentrations at Ostend, Calais and Boulogne, and gun emplacements at Cap Gris Nez. Three aircraft did not return." The night's heaviest attack was directed against the naval dockyards at Hamburg, where tons of high explosives and many incendiary bombs were dropped in the course of a half-hour of almost continuous bombing. Tha docks, already severely damaged in the previous night's raid, were repeatedly straddled by sticks of heavy calibre bombs. Fires that broke out in the target area were still visible long after the raiders had left. Great Fires at Bremen. At Bremen more great fires were started as- repeated hits were registered on docks and shipbuilding yards. Direct hits were also scored on the navil station at Wilhelmshaven, where heavy bombs were clearly seen to burst on one end of the naval barracks. Another line of bombs which overshot the main dockyards burst across a minesweepei depot arid straddled a pontoon harbour. A raid in the early hours of the morninj on good yards at Brussels lasted over an hour. Bombs fell across the south end of the yard, causing an immediate outbreak of fire, followed 10 minutes later by a terriflc explosion. A few minutes iater another direct hit was scored on a target, causing a second violent explosion and a fierce outbreak of fire visible forty miles away and which was still burning strongly when the last raider left. , . Other night raiding forces attacked the docks at Weimar, a blast furnace and railway sidings at Essen, and aerodromes at Diepholz, Hoya, Celle, Cuxhaven and Schipol. Important railway junctions at Hanover, Celle, Bafnstorf and Krefeld were bombed in two separate groups. Fires at Celle caused a series of heavy explosions. Concentrations of shipping at Ostend were heavily attacked for the third successive night. Fires and explosions were seen at all parts of the harbour and one raider which arrived soon after the com- | mencement of the attack reported that ! flames had been visible for many miles | before the Belgian coast was reached. I Other bomber forces raided Boulogne ■ harbour, where several large explosions I were seen in the dock area. | , At Calais barges in the harbour were I bombed for over an hour by aircraft which attacked in a series of steep and shallow dives.