FIERCE FIRES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 October 1940, Page 5

FIERCE FIRES

* FOLLOWING ON HEAVY EXPLOSIONS CAUSED BY BRITISH BOMBERS AT FLUSHING. DESTRUCTION AT ZEEBRUGGE AND ELSEWHERE. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.25 a.m.) RUGBY, October 14. “A series of exceedingly heavy explosions resulted from an attack on Flushing harbour last night by Coastal Command Blenheims,” the Air Ministry news service reports. “The main ‘ line railway junction at the mole was ■ one of the chief targets and, following a major explosion, a series of fierce fires was caused where bombs fell. Another great explosion occurred a full minute after one of bur aircraft had unloaded its last bombs. “Other Blenheims attacked Dornburg harbour, north-west of Flushing, and across the mole at Zeebrugge. Here also the explosions were extremely violent and the destruction was increased by scores of incendiary bombs.” ABORTIVE BOMBING SWEDE ON RAID EFFECTS IN LONDON. LONDON, October 14. The London correspondent of a Stockholm newspaper, in reviewing the German raids, says: “After six weeks of attacks from the air London is so little damaged that it still remains the centre of Britain’s war effort. The damage to buildings is less than 1 per cent. “I am more than ever convinced from what I have seen that bombing from the air cannot decide the war unless one side is so superior that the other’s defences can be broken down, and this is not the case with London.” He added that it was possible to take a quarter of an hour’s bus ride anywhere without seeing more than broken and scattered glass. THE SPITFIRE PLANE THAT PROBABLY SAVED BRITAIN. AMERICAN DESIGNER’S PRAISE. LONDON. October 14. A tribute to British plane production is paid by a famous American plane designer. The British Spitfire fighter, he said, with its 25 miles an hour advantage over Germany’s best, probably saved Britain and altered the whole course of the war. The Germans made a mistake, he contended, when they sacrificed design for mass production, as the fighting over Britain had proved. AIR MINISTRY REPORT ATTACKS ON ENEMY NAVAL PORTS. AND MANY INLAND OBJECTIVES. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.15 a.m.) RUGBY, October 14. An Air Ministry communique states: “Attacks were made on naval bases at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven, on oil plants at Gelsenkirchen and Duisberg, on Krupps’ works at Essen, several enemy aerodromes, anti-aircraft batteries and searchlight positions. “The nightly offensive against the Channel ports, from Ostend to Le Havre, was continued. Our of our air-i craft is missing.