VITAL TARGET

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 September 1940, Page 5

VITAL TARGET

IMPORTANT ALUMINIUM FACTORY HEAVY CUT IN GERMAN SUPPLIES. BEARING ON PRODUCTION OF AIRCRAFT. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, September 24. According to trustworthy information, the large aluminium works at Lauta, about 100 miles southj east of Berlin, which were attacked t by the R.A.F. on Sunday night, ac--1 count for just under 30 per cent of Germany’s total output of this material, which is vital for the t construction of aircraft. ■ Bauxite, the raw material of aluminium. is in fact one of the few i minerals of which Germany has ample supplies, but the importance of this > target derives from the fact that the Germans are attempting to achieve a large increase in their output of alu- . minium with a view to using it as a [ substitute for other metals of which, i because of the blockade, they are > seriously short, notably copper. The German supply of bauxite may . be ample, but the factory resources • available for converting it into alu- . minium are not. The destruction ■ wrought at Lauta is, therefore, com- . plementary to the exclusion from Ger- . many by the blockade of metals such . as copper. BOMBER CRASHES IN FIGHT OVER BOURNEMOUTH FOUR MEMBERS OF CREW KILLED. ATTACKS ON SOUTH LONDON AND BRISTOL. (Received This Day, 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, September 25. After- air fights over Bournemouth in the afternoon, a German bomber crashed, setting fire to a house. Four of the crew of five were killed. Another bomber was brought down near Swanage. The five members of the crew bailed out and were captured. Bombs fell in K a south London area in today’s raid. It is officially stated that German planes crossed the Dorset coast in daylight and attacked Bristol, bombing the outskirts, doing some damage. A number of people were killed on injured. HEARTOFBERLIN ATTACKED ON TUESDAY NIGHT GREAT FACTORIES BOMBED. IN FACE OF AN INTENSE BARRAGE. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.40 a.m.) RUGBY, September 25. A number of military objectives in the heart of Berlin were singled out and attacked on Tuesday night, when R.A.F. heavy bombers for the second night in succession carried the war into the German capital ,in a raid lasting for 2J hours. “The raid began shortly after 10.30 p.m. says an Air Ministry bulletin, “when the first attacker, evading an intense barrage by the city’s ground defences, located and bombed the great Siemens and Haise factories, which produce a large proportion of the electrical equipment used by the German armed forces. Great fires were seen to break out in the target area after the bombing. Berlin’s electric power transformer and switching station at Uriederichsuelde, supplying most of the city’s industrial current, was attacked at 1 a.m. today. Sticks of high explosive bombs were seen to burst across the plant. A blast furnace in a south-east suburb was struck, causing large fires. Two sticks were dropped across a canal bridge two miles southwest of Berlin's main airport of Templehof. . .. MET BY FIGHTERS AIR RAIDERS ON BRITAIN YESTERDAY TWENTY-THREE DESTROYED. INCLUDING AT LEAST 13 BOMBERS (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 11.3 a.m.) RUGBY, September 25. A further Air Ministry communique, issued at 8.45 p.m., states: “It is now known that 23 enemy aircraft were destroyed today, three by anti-aircraft fire. One of our fighters, previously reported lost, is safe. Our losses, therefore, were four fighter aircraft, the pilots of three of which are safe.” A communique on daylight attacks by the German Air Force today, issued early in the evening states: “Enemy aircraft crossed the Dorset coast today and attacked Bristol. Bombs were dropped near the coast and on the outskirts of Bristol, causing some damage ; and killing and injuring a number of : people. There was also some minor . enemy activity in south-east England, ■ but reports indicate that there was little damage and that casualties were , few. The enemy was engaged by our fighters at all points. Eighteen enemy : aircraft, including at least thirteen ; bombers, were shot down in these operations.” i