BOMBERS AT WORK

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 December 1940, Page 6

BOMBERS AT WORK

HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL RAID ON TURIN ATTACKS IN WESTERN GERMANY. PRESSED HOME EFFECTIVELY IN BAD WEATHER. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, Noon.) RUGBY, December 5. The British bomber crews who raided Turin objectives last night had a better journey than those in the aircraft which bombed industrial and transport targets in the Dusseldorf district. The first news of the bombing of Turin’s Royal Arsenal was a message from a bomber which had just dropped its bombs, saying: “Raid successful. Weather perfect.” This formidable assault on the great armament works at Turin was an impressive feature of the double attack on Italy from bases in this country and in the Mediterranean. The Royal Arsenal was once again the chief objective and much was done to reduce the output of guns, carriages, shell cases and tanks. The raid began some time after 9 p.m. and continued for about two hours. A considerable number of large fires .-were caused amongst the Arsenal buildings and at the Fiat Works, which were also attacked.

One by one, as they returned to their various stations, the pilots and crews confirmed one another's accounts of the success of the attacks'. The Dusseldorf raiders had little success with the weather. Their journey to the target was made through thick cloud and rain. The raiders might have had to seek other objectives, but a lucky cloud gap enabled the first arrival to bomb the yards of the Dusseldorf district and Rohrenwery Armament Works. Quays and dockyards along the Rhine and Dusseldorf coal-gas plants were bombed during a raid which lasted for nearly twelve hours. Goods yards at Neusi and Dortmund were also bombed from other aircraft, as well as docks and shipping at Antwerp, Ostend and Calais.’ It is officially stated that the total number of enemy aircraft destroyed yesterday over England is now fourteen. 1