HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 February 1941, Page 6

HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL

BOMBARDMENT OF GENOA AND BOMBING OF OTHER TARGETS DETAILED ADMIRALTY REPORT. ” SINGLE AIRCRAFT ONLY BRITISH ” LOSS. 11 y I e C . (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day. 11.25 a.m.) RUGBY. February 9. h An Admiralty communique states: “More detailed informatio received concerning our operations f against Italian bases in the Gulf of t. Genoa shows that the bombarda ment and bombing were even more J successful than was at first thought n “Our forces, under the command of e Vice-Admiral Sir James Somerville. . consisted of the Renown. Malaya. Ark d Royal and Sheffeild. with light forces r in company. 1 Military targets in and around Genoa . were subjected to a bombardment in . which three hundred tons of shells s were fired. The following results were ;1 observed: The Ansaldo Electric Works . and Alsaldo Boiler Works were heavily e hit. Large fires were started. The port's main power station, which also supplies power for railways, was sef verely damaged and set on fire. Many g hits were also made on dry docks, f warehouses and harbour works surs rounding the inner harbour. Here considerable fires broke out. The main c oil fuel installation and oil tanks were p repeatedly hit. also a number of supply 1 ships, and the main goods yards and . railway. “Several tons of bombs, a large num- . ber of them incendiaries, were dropped r by naval aircraft on the Anic Oil Re-, finery at Leghorn and on other targets ■ in the vicinity. The Anic Refinery is i one of the largest and most important i oil plants in Italy. Other naval air-; 1 crcaft attacked Pisa, where an aero-I J drome and railway junction were hit. j ■ This railway junction is the intersec-; • tion of the main west coast railway | from Genoa to Rome and the south and ! the most important routes across the ! peninsula from Leghorn to Bologna i and Venice. “Two Italian aircraft which attempt-1 ed to interfere were shot down. “Ono of our Swordfish aircraft is; ’! missing. No other casualties were suf- ! ‘jfered by our forces in the course of, 1 these most successful operations.”