ATTACK ON KIEL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 March 1941, Page 6

ATTACK ON KIEL

DAMAGE DONE IN CLEAR WEATHER NO BRITISH BOMBERS LOST. OTHER TARGETS EFFECTIVELY RAIDED. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 12.52 a.m.) RUGBY, March 12. An Air Ministry communique states: “Last night aircraft of the Bomber Command successfully attacked Kiel. Flashes of heavy explosions and the glare of a large fire were observed on stocks and docks. "Bremerhaven and two aerodromes in North-West Germany were also bombed, as well as an oil storage plant at Rotterdam and a factory near Utrecht. “In the course of offensive night patrols, aircraft of the Fighter Command destroyed an enemy aircraft on an aerodrome in Northern France. Aircraft of the Coastal Command, on patrol yesterday, destroyed an enemy aircraft. ■■None of ours are missing from any of these operations.” Describing last night’s attack on Kiel, the Air Ministry news service states: “Aircraft of the Bomber Command flew through thick cloud until they reached the Friesian Islands. There the sky cleared and very soon the ground was moonlit, so that the pilots were able to read their way to Germany. Kiel was visible from a distance of fifty miles. At Kiel the docks and town stood out in such sharp relief that the pilots could see that some small creeks were icebound, though the main waterways were clear. In spite of a concentrated barrage from this well-defended naval base, the pilots took their time and many were over their targets for over half an hour. In the clear weather, great care was taken to ensure hitting the target and leaving no doubt about the result. Many sticks of bombs were seen to burst on a shipbuilding yard and others on docks. One pilot counted five bursts right across docks, the first exactly at the water’s edge. In the shipbuilding yard, a large explosion followed the bombing and there was an extensive fire in the industrial centre of the city.

“Attacks were also made on Bremerhaven, where a number of warehouses were hit, and soon afterwards volumes of sfiioke rose high into the air.”