BOMBER OF HOMES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 October 1940, Page 5

BOMBER OF HOMES

IMPRESSIONS OF GERMAN PILOT ALMOST UNBEARABLE STRAIN. AGGRAVATED BY GAY MUSIC FROM 8.8. C. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 9.25 a.m.) LONDON, October 2. The Associated Press of Great Britain’s Berlin correspondent has circulated the confessions and impressions of a German pilot who bombed London homes. The pilot, who is a university graduate, when asked what it feels like to drop a high-explosive bomb on a closely crowded suburb, replied: “One musn’t think of one’s task in terms of humans but must consider purely the military command we have got to carry out. The actual discharge of the bomb brings relief from a strain that has become almost unbearable. I mutter: ‘Thank God that’s over,’ as I give the bomb release signal. We are facing death night after night. The searchlights had us pincered ancj we narrowly escaped entanglement in balloon barrages and anti-aircraft fire. “There, is another factor, in letters fi'om our families, to tell of nights spent in raid shelters and to ask when this accursed war is ending. Then, proceeding to London, we switch on the radio and hear the gayest music from the 8.8. C., which makes us mad to think that these English have the nerve to play jolly tunes as though nothing was happening. I drop my bombs and feel that the best way to end the war is to cause as much destruction as possible and I feel relaxed 'when I see a crater or the leap of flames.” ATTACKS REPELLED NINE GERMAN PLANES SHOT DOWN. ONE BRITISH FIGHTER MISSING. (Received This Day. 10.15 a.m.) RUGBY, October 2. Several enemy attacks on SouthEast England have been intercepted and driven off this morning. Nine German planes have been shot down since midnight and one British fighter is missing. AIR MINISTRY REPORT ATTACKS BY STRONG FORCES. ON OBJECTIVES IN BERLIN & ELSEWHERE. (Received This Day, 10.15 a.m.) RUGBY, October 2. An Air Ministry communique states “Last night strong forces of R.A.F. bombers attacked a munition factory in Berlin, electric power stations at Duisburg and Cologne and oil plants at Storkrad, Holten Gelsenkirchen and Cologne.”