HIT & RUN RAIDS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 October 1940, Page 5

HIT & RUN RAIDS

COUNTERED EFFECTIVELY BY R.A.F. ONLY ISOLATED AIRCRAFT GETTING THROUGH. DEFENCE AGAINST NIGHT ATTACKS. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, October 21. Since September 15, when the Luftwaffe suffered a loss of 185 aircraft in daylight mass attacks on Britain, German operations during the day have been confined to a variety of “hit and run” attacks in which bombers have participated in greatly-reduced numbers compared with the accompanying fighters and latterly frequently not at all. Fighters fitted with bombracks have attempted to rush the target, release their load and get away quickly. Some authoritative comment on the success of the R.A.F. in countering the new tactics which its earlier crushing victories had forced upon the enemy high command was made in London on Monday. It was pointed out that even in these new conditions the R.A.F. was maintaining a superiority of nearly two to one, measured in losses of aircraft. What was more important was that formations were nearly always intercepted and broken up, only isolated enemy aircraft getting through to the target. The present enemy plan, it was stat-J ed, was to send over large numbers of fighters, flying in waves up to a great altitude. In illustration of this tendency it was mentioned that on a recent occasion a squadron of Spitfires flying as high as 37,500 feet actually found German fighter aircraft up there. The R.A.F. is accordingly taking effective steps to counter the attempt by the enemy to “steal a march” on the defence by gaining an advantage in height. Both British and Germans are working hard on the problem of the night raider. Last night’s long raid on Berlin will doubtless have given fresh stimulus to the efforts of German experts, but it was confidently believed in London that the Germans are not so near to solving the problem as the British, who are working out on strictly scientific lines a method of locating the enemy’s whereabouts both to ground defences and night fighters, which, in increasing numbers, are going to be up in the air searching for him. At the same time the tendency in officials circles in London is to deprecate expectation of immediate or spectacular result from the research which is being pursued unremittingly. Even in the absence of revolutionary methods, which may take some time to develop, it is expected that a growing proportion of enemy aircraft will pay the penalty for night bombing over Britain. This expectation finds some support in the shooting down during Sunday night of four German bombers. DOVER MARKET BOMBED BY PROWLING PLANES. FISH AND VEGETABLES PILED IN HEAPS. LONDON. October 21. Two bombs demolished a row of seven cottages in a narrow suburban street but there were no casualties. Eight were admitted to hospital in a south-east coast town on which 12 bombs were dropped. One landed on an orphanage and two sisters were buried under the debris and were seriously injured. Prowling planes selected the busy market place in the centre of the Dover area for a hail of bombs. Fish, vegetables and food stuffs were hurled in confused heaps among the debris from -which rescue squads dragged men and women shoppers. Only seven were slightly hurt. A stall was rigged up and the undamaged goods were selling within an hour.