MASS OF FIRES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 31 March 1943, Page 4

MASS OF FIRES

- ■■■ — » AND TREMENDOUS EXPLOSION. SEEN BY PILOTS ATTACKING BERLIN. (British Official Wireless.) - (Received This Day, 10.0 a.m.) RUGBY, March 30. In last night’s attack on Berlin our pilots had to fly through some of the worst weather they had encountered for weeks, says the Air Ministry news service. “Clouds thick with ice banked up over the North Sea and pilots had to' climb almost the whole way to get over them. The mid-upper gunner of a Stirling saw chunks of ice from the front of his aircraft flying past him. The cloud bank broke up as the bombers crossed the enemy coast and for nearly 300 miles cones of searchlights were trying to pick them up. Zero hour was a few minutes before 1 a.m. and soon incendiaries were' burning in the target area. “,,‘As the attack developed,’ the pilot of a Stirling said, ‘flames spread and formed a large crescent of fires which went on growing all the time we were over the city.’ 1, “ ‘About teft minutes after the attack started there was a big explosion which lit up the surrounding buildings. ‘lt was far too large even for an 8,000 pounder,’ a rear gunner said. , “The crews agreed that the defences had been strengthened since Saturday night’s raid. There were large clusters of searchlights sweeping the sky and flak poured up the beams. Many of the crews reported seeing night fighters and there were a number of combats. A Junkers 88 was shot down over Berlin itself.”