HUGE FIRES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 September 1940, Page 5

HUGE FIRES

STARTED IN BERLIN ATTACK ON LARGE FACTORY. ELECTRICAL WORKS HEAVILY DAMAGED. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, .August 31. An official report dealing with a successful attack last night on a large factory on the outskirts of Berlin by one of the R.A.F. bombers which had been allotted to that target states that it was bombed from west to east and four very large explosions. followed by a continuous series of small ones, were seen. These were accompanied by two huge fires with red flames rising 1500 feet and a dense pall of black smoke.

The whole target was ablaze from end to end, and could be seen five minutes after leaving. At this time another big explosion was seen. An incendiary bomb was seen to fall on the target and numerous blue and green fires were started. Two long factory buildings and towers were seen by the light of explosions, and one building which was on fire was seen to collapse. The Berlin raid lasted nearly three hours from before midnight till 2.30! this morning, and among the military targets receiving direct hits were petrol installations, aircraft factories and aerodromes. Fifteen tons of highexplosive bombs were dropped by one section of the ,raiders and over 750 incendiary bombs. An electrical works and an adjoininfi railway junction sustained considerable damage when bombs were, dropped along the railway and the eastern section of the factory, and explosions were still continuing at the works 10 minutes after the attack was p'ver.

Two sticks of bombs were seen to fall well on the aircraft factory.

Several aircraft - attacked oil stocks elsewhere in the outskirts of the city, and.after locating the target with precision they bombegl it continuously. Two sticks of bombs were dropped by the first aircraft and bursts were seen across the target. Fires in this area guided other pilots, who, after making careful turns over the objective, straddled it with their bombs.

A stick of bombs was also dropped across a factory which make war materials north of Berlin and another close to buildings on one of the city's aerodromes. OIL STORE ABLAZE. A petroleum store was bombed through clouds, which made observations of the results difficult, but after circling round following this attack observers reported a deep red glow illuminating the undersides of the clouds as the aircraft left the scene. Other aircraft operating over another of the city's aerodromes scored direct hits. Fires were seen to break out near aerodrome buildings after one attack, and two large explosions were caused by later bombings. Hits were also observed on a third aerodrome in the Berlin area.

Another section of the raiding force bombed warehouses along the dockside at Hamburg, registering direct hits and causing five large fires, while at Bremen aircraft bombed a goods yard, where bright yellow fires continued to spread for some time after the last bomb had fallen.

Thrilling stories of the raid on Berlin were told by the pilots and their crews when they returned to their base early this morning.

The pilot of one squadron had picked out the street Unter den Linden and, flying high above it, used it as a pointer to reach his target.

HEAVY BARRAGE. The Germans put up a heavy barrage of fire along the route, and over Berlin itself the barrage , was intense. Some of the bombers were unable to locate their objective because of a patch of cloud, and they came down through the cloud in the face of intense fire to make their attacks. This squadron had attacked a large works situated north-west of the city, and the one first to bomb it said, "It was an enormous dark mass.of a building. We dropped a fire and could see the whole place pretty well lit up. We bombed from the north-west to the south-east and saw the bursts of the bombs, but there were no fires started or anything like that.”

Another pilot-officer—a Canadian — said he did not see how it was possible to miss the target, which was so large and well lit up from the reflection of searchlights on the clouds. The aircraft made attacks from below and dead level.

A squadron leader who flew up Unter den Linden said, “There were about five flares which some other fellows had dropped round about, and we could see a great deal of the city almost as bright as day. We ran along one side of Unter den Linden, dropped on to the target, identified that, and dropped our bombs, but we did not see them burst. We were much too busy dodging all the ‘flak,’ turning and twisting as fast as we could and doing pretty well vertical turns at times.

"Once we overdid it a bit and went over a bit too far. and then I couldn’t got back quickly enough. We lost 2000 feet in height that time, which completely fogged them. At any rate, we were left in peace for three or four in inu tes afterward."

In spite of the cloud most of the bombers found either their primary or secondary targets and attacked them.

PLANES HOLED THROUGH WINGS. Another Air Ministry bulletin states: "In Berlin the anti-aircraft fire was intense and accurate. Some of our planes were holed through the wings, and one made a forced landing when nearing the English coast. Three members of its crew baled out, but the other two succeeded in bringing the bomber close to the beach, with apparently very slight damage. Two of the three who parachuted were rescued, and a search continues for the third man. who may have reached land."

Typifying the audacity with which the bombers carried out the raid, two pilots (lying different planes carried on a radio-telephone conversation for several minutes iovcr Berlin last night. The telephonists chatted about, their positions and direction of the target, and had a private race to reach their objectives. Some planes, when finding their vision interrupted by the clouds, descended to an altitude of less than 3000 feet, before bombing.