RHINELAND BOMBED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 June 1941, Page 5

RHINELAND BOMBED

FIRES STARTED IN COLOGNE ATTACK ON ENEMY CONVOY. SUPPLY SHIP OF 6.000 ’PONS PROBABLY SUNK. LONDON. June 15. Last night, industrial targets in Cologne were bombed by the R.A.F. Fires were started but the full results were obscured by low clouds. For the first time in four nights no bombs were dropped in the Ruhr. Three Beaufort aircraft attacked an enemy convoy off the Dutch coast. A supply ship of 6000 tons was torpedoed and probably sunk. One British plane is missing. Enemy attacks last night were confined to the west of England. Little damage was done and there were few casualties. One German bomber was brought down. A single enemy aircraft which dropped bombs at a point on the East Coast did some damage, but no one was seriously injured.

BATTLES BY DAY OVER CHANNEL & FRANCE. ENTERPRISING R.A.F. RAIDS. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, June 14. Strong British forces of fighters, accompanied by one squadron of bombers, carried out widespread offensive operations over the Channel and northern France this morning. A German patrol boat in the Channel was raked with cannon fire, almost from sea level. Two airfields at St. Omer were successfully attacked and direct hits were seen on buildings. Two enemy fighters were shot down by Royal Air Force fighters during the morning. One British bomber is missing from these operations. Three fighters were destroyed when a number of Messerschmitt 109 s sought to harass a force of day bombers detailed to attack two enemy aerodromes at St. Omer. A strong fighter force engaged enemy formations. In addition to three Messerschmitt 109 s definitely destroyed, several others were last seen emitting streams of glycol from damaged radiators, or were left with smashed cockpit covers and bullet holes in rings in the fuselage. Czech, Polish and Free French pilots were among those engaged in this successful operation. One pilot had a narrow escape after being hit by a piece of shrapnel and attacked by a Messerschmitt 109. Hits were registered on his fuselage-.and engine, but, after jettisoning the cockpit hood over the Channel, he nursed the damaged machine back to the coast and landed at the base, suffering only from slight injuries.

Later in the morning two Spitfire pilots, patrolling off the French coast, sighted a German patrol boat. One pilot “held -the ring” against a surprise attack, while his companion came down to within 20 feet of the water, throttled back and raked the patrol boat with cannon fire at close range. Low-flying attacks were also made on an aerodrome near Cherbourg shortly after dawn this morning, when a force of fighters swept down in a shallow dive to within 100 feet of the ground and attacked aircraft, dispersal pens and barrack blocks with cannon shells. “We attacked practically all the dispersal pens, of which there were about 20,” said a squadron leader, “and we were so low we could plainly see our shells hitting and exploding.” How the cannon shells of a night fighter found their mark in the bomb racks of a Heinkel 111 in the early hours of this morning is told by the Air Ministry news service. The enemy aircraft blew up with such terrific force that the British pilot heard the noise of it above the roar of his own engine. His plane was blown over on its back and he flew through a wall of flames upside down. He righted his aircraft and when his sight had recovered from the blinding flash he saw what was left of the Heinkel fall in 1 blazing pieces to the earth. Though his plane was smothered with soot and oil. the only damage was a hole in the oilpipe.

EXTENSIVE SWEEP MADE BY BRITISH FIGHTERS & BOMBERS. THREE ENEMY AIRCRAFT DESTROYED. CBi-itisli Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.10 a.m.) RUGBY. June 15. An Air Ministry communique states: “Early yesterday morning aircraft of the Fighter Command, in considerable strength, carried out extensive sweeps over the Channel and Northern France. A squadron of bombers which accompanied them attacked airfields and obtained direct hits on aerodrome buildings. Our fighters destroyed three enemy fighters in combat.”

DENSE CLOUDS NAVIGATION MOST DIFFICULT WORK OF NIGHT. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.10 a.m.) RUGBY. June 15. An Air Ministry communique states that on the raid on Cologne bad weather was the enemy of the bombers and navigation was the most difficult work of the night. Several crews reported that no land was visible during the greater part of the flight, and over the target itself there were oppressive banks of cloud all the way down from 15.000 to 2.000 feet. The bombers sometimes found it necessary to dive below the clouds to get their target in sight, for the crews to see the fires they had started.