INVASION BASES

Taranaki Daily News, 23 September 1940, Page 7

INVASION BASES

By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.

terrific hammering great spectacle seen

Received 1.10 a.m. London, September 22. \yATCHERS on the south coast of England saw one of the most thrilling spectacles of the wai' last night when the Royal Air Force gave enemy invasion bases the greatest pounding they had ever had. Dover weather was perfect for an invasion attempt, with a fresh south-west breeze, a cairn sea and a slight mist, but it was not Herr Hitler's barges that crossed the Channel, but British bombers, which wrought havoc among the barge concentrations. For miles the enemy-held co;tstline was lit up by a succession of parachute flares, star shells, "flaming onions, the flashes of guns and the explosion of bombs, which brilliantly illuminated thq Channel. Burning buildings added to the spectacle along miles of the opposite coast, and the reflection on the sea stretched to Kent. Crowds stood on the English foreshore to watch the display. To them it' seemed the most terrific pounding of the war. ^ Particular attention was given by the raiders to Dunkirk, Calais and Boulogne, and at the last-named port the attack was exceptionally strong, but there was no port or inlet along the coast that did not receive a visit during the night.

"Strong forces of Royal Air Force bombers again attacked the enemy occupied ports of Antwerp, Zeebrugge, Ostend, Flushing, Dunkirk, Calais and Boulogne last night," said an Air Ministry communique yesterday. "Further damage was done to military stores, barge concentrations and shipping. Other forces of bombers again t visited distribution centres and goodsyards at Mannheim, Ehrang, Krefeld, Hamm, Soest, Osnabruck and Brussels. The Dortmund-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." Later information of the raids mentioned in the above communique shows that the Dortmund-Ems aqueduct was bombed for the second night in succession, and other successful attacks were made on rail communication centres and aerodromes over a wide area of enemy territory. Three Raids on Dunkirk. 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 machinegun 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 in one basin. Other sticks straddled the main basin and burst near the sides of an approach channel. The third raid took place in the early hours of this morning and was directed against a concentration of about 50 ships moored in No. 2 and 3 docks. Attacking through gaps in the clouds, the raiders laid bombs across the basins and adjoining canal, in which more ships were lying, and started a number of large fires on the quaysides. Hampered by Clouds. At Calais a cloudbank across the harbour at 3000 feet hampered the attack, and one pilot spent an hour and a-half in the vicinity of the target awaiting an opportunity to bomb. Earlier attackers, taking advantage of occasional gaps in the clouds, scored hits on docksides and one side of the entrance channel. Shortly before midnight a line of fires was been burning strongly along the jetty between the tidal harbour and the east basin. , Barges and shipping in the Boulogne harbour were repeatedly attucked in a series of sorties which began at 11 p.m. yesterday and ended at 4.30 a.m. to-day. Bombs burst on the southern arm of the entrance channel, along the, harbour wall and among a fleet of barges in a basin. Other aircraft scored hits on quaysides to the east of Loubet basin and near the main harbour, the explosions of bombs being followed by fires. A number of ships at anchor in the outer harbour were also attacked, but low cloud and rain prevented observation of the results. Intense Fire Faced. At Ostend an attack on the harbour was carried out in face of intense antiaircrait and machine-gun fire and a balloon barrage which was flying at a great height above the docks. Bombing in shallow dives, which at times brought them to within 1500 ffet of the ground, the raiders scored hits on docks, wharves and lock gates and straddled the outer harbour, the main west dock and a large dock north of the Bassin de Chasse. Several large fires started along the dockside buildings, and a direct hit was believed to have been scored on a large supply ship, on which a stick of bombs was dropped from a low level. Railway yards at Hamm, Ehrang. Krefeld, Mannheim and Soest were also bombed. and a supply train travelling towards Munster, attacked from 800 feet, was hit by two heavy calibre bombs. one of which exploded on the front of the train and the other to the rear. Fragments of this train shot up as high in the air as the attacking aircraft. Amongst many aerodromes attacked was a seaplane base on the island of Texel, which 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 attack was hit many times in the wings and fuselage. but no vital parts were damaged and the aircraft was brought safely home.