AIR OFFENSIVE AGAINST GERMANY AND OCCUPIED TERRITORY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 October 1941, Page 5

AIR OFFENSIVE AGAINST GERMANY AND OCCUPIED TERRITORY

Nuremberg Blasted by Night IN ONE OF THE HEAVIEST RAIDS OF THE WAR NINETEEN ENEMY FIGHTERS SHOT DOWN IN NORTHERN FRANCE LONDON. October .13. This afternoon the R.A.F. capped last night’s heavy raid on Germany by shooting down 19 enemy fighters over Northern France. Blenheim aircraft of the Bomber Command, escorted by fighters, attacked a chemical works and power station near Bethune. A bomb was seen to hit the chimney of the cooling tower. Many encounters occurred with enemy fighters, 19 of which were destroyed by our fighters. One of our bombers and 12 fighters are missing from these offensive operations. Two fighter pilots are safe. Last night more than 300 bombers gave Germany one of the heaviest raids of the war. Nuremberg, the capital of Bavaria, a Nazi stronghold and the centre of large, heavy war industries, came in for a tremendous bombing. Good weather over the city favoured the attack. The town was soon studded with huge fires and pilots saw roofs caving in and factory building’s collapse. The docks at Bremen and Boulogne were also raided by strong forces of bombers. Enemy aerodromes in Holland were attacked and a direct hit obtained on a supply ship off the Dutch coast and another on a vessel off the Norwegian coast. Fighters also attacked enemy aerodromes in Northern France. From the great number of planes taking part in these night operations, 11 bombers failed to return. A second enemy bomber was destroyed last night in smallscale German raids on Britain. A statement from Eire announces that a German plane crashed at midnight on Saturday on a mountain in County Wexford. All four occupants of the machine were killed.