IN GERMAN AIR ATTACKS ON BRITAIN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 August 1940, Page 5

IN GERMAN AIR ATTACKS ON BRITAIN

Following on Loss of 144 Planes on Sunday

BRITISH BOMBERS CONGRATULATED BY MR CHURCHILL

HARD BLOWS DEALT AGAINST GERMANY AND ITALY

It is announced that the number of German aircraft destroyed in Sunday’s raids on Britain was 144, a Daventry broadcast states. Against this, 22 British fighters were lost, but 12 of the pilots are safe. This brings the total of German aircraft destroyed in the last seven days to 571. About threequarters of this number were bombers. German raids on England yesterday were on a smaller scale, only intermittent attacks being reported. Official returns show that four German bombers were destroyed by British fighters. Several R.A.F. aerodromes were attacked and there were a number of casualties.

The Prime Minister, Mi- Winston Churchill, has sent a message congratulating the R.A.F. on the success of its operations against Germany on Friday night. This was when the R.A.F. attacked an important synthetic oil plant near Leipzig, a benzine refinery, aircraft factories and other works, besides a long list of other important targets. Mr Churchill referred to the hard blows the R.A.F. were dealing against Germany and Italy in day and night operations. The R.A.F. resumed its attacks on Italian objectives on Sunday night, when it again bombed aircraft factories at Milan and Turin. In Germany, aluminium and chemical works were attacked, in which buildings were wrecked by direct hits and left in flames. Enemy aerodromes were also badly damaged. Another attack on Boulogne Harbour was made by Coastal Command aircraft. The attack was pressed home in the face of intense searchlight activity and anti-aircraft gun fire. All the machines returned.