HEAVY DAMAGE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 August 1940, Page 5

HEAVY DAMAGE

REPORTED BY THE AIR MINISTRY TO FACTORIES IN MILAN & TURIN. DETAILS OF ITALIAN CASUALTIES. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 9.40 a.m.) RUGBY, August 14. An Air Ministry communique states: “A large force of R.A.F. bombers successfully attacked military objectives in Northern Italy last night. Preliminary reports indicate that heavy damage was done to aircraft factories in Milan and Turin. “All our bombers returned safely, except one, which made a forced landing on the sea near our coast, the crew being rescued.” According to a London message a communique issued in Rome stated: — “British planes bombed Milan at 1 o'clock this morning, killing 12 civilians and wounding 44. Thirty explosive and incendiary bombs were drop-* ped. Turin and Allesandria and Tortona were also bombed. At Turin one person was killed and eight wounded, and at Allesandria nine were killed, of whom three were firemen doing first-aid work.”

Berne reports that a Swiss Army communique stated that 30 foreign planes flew over Swiss Territory shortly before midnight. They crossed the Jura district between Geneva and Porrentruy and took a southerly course, presumably for the northern industrial centres of Italy. A second alarm occurred when the planes returned.