Oil TANKS ABLAZE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 June 1940, Page 6

Oil TANKS ABLAZE

EFFECTIVE WORK OF R.A.F. BOMBERS SCENE OF FLAMING RUIN CREATED. MANY EXPLOSIONS CAUSED ON RAILWAY. (British Official Wireless.) ' (Received This Day, 10.58 a.m.) RUGBY, June 9. The Air Ministry announces: — "Throughout Saturday R.A.F. medium bombers continued their attacks on the enemy’s lines of communication, including road junctions and river crossings behind the fighting fronts. Troop concentrations, columns and armoured fighting vehicles were also sought out and bombed. Two of our aircraft are missing.

These operations were continued during the night. The northern entrances to Amiens and key points in the Abbeville area were attacked by heavy bombers. Ammunition dumps concealed in the wooded areas of the Ardennes were blown up. Other formations of heavy bombers made night attacks on military objectives over a wide area, ranging from the Ardennes north-eastward ■to Rhenish Prussia and the Ruhr.

“Bombing and machine-gun attacks were made by Coastal Command aircraft on oil storage tanks at Ghent during the night. Extensive damage was done and many fires were started. All the aircraft engaged in the night operations returned.

“Ten enemy aircraft, including seven bombers, were shot down by our fighters yesterday. Two of ours are missing.” The Air Ministry news service states that eight R.A.F. Hurricanes, on patrol over the fighting zone in France, yesterday met a formation of twenty Heinkel 111 bombers and shot down six. Ten Messerschmitt 109 fighters escorting the enemy bombers were unable to give them effective protection against the Hurricane’s attack. One of the Messerschmitts was also shot down. Two Hurricanes are missing.

Scores of heavy bombs were dropped last night on oil depots in enemy-oc-cupied territory at Ghent with effective results. The raid was carried out by Coastal Command medium bombers, all of which returned without damage. One cluster of oil ttfhks ’was already blazing fiercely when the second wave of bombers arrived. They placed their bombs, therefore, on other oil reservoirs silhouetted by the flames. These too were set alight. When following aircraft found that their targets had been fired already, they aimed bombs so as to widen the burning" areas—every time with success. So widespread and high were the flames rising from the oil tanks that "one pilot, in the last stage of the attack, thought it would be a waste of bombs to drop any more in the "cauldron. The glare of the flames revealed five railway lines, two of which were filled i with covered wagons. The pilot was able to obtain very precise results or. this unexpected target. As the wagons blew up, there was a succession of great explosions. There were also explosions, followed by eruptions of black smoke, when another aircraft made four hits on a further section of large oil containers. The pilot of another aircraft released all his bombs in a single salvo and set at least two more oil tanks alight. Then he came down low and pierced other tanks with bullets from a ma-chine-gun. The escaping fuel was set on fire by tracer bullets and added to the scene of flaming ruin.