DETAILS GIVEN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 April 1943, Page 3

DETAILS GIVEN

DESTRUCTION OF AXIS PLANES ON GROUND BIG BOMBERS AND TRANSPORT MACHINES. PROGRESS OF THE LAND FORCES. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 9.35 a.m.) RUGBY, April 14. Reporting on the raids in which Flying Fortresses destroyed 73 grounded aircraft in raids on Castel Vetrano and Milo, in Sicily, a North African communique says bomb bursts fairly covered both targets, at one of which over 100 aircraft were seen on the ground. One formation of Fortresses was attacked by enemy fighters, four of which were destroyed. Another communique says: “Forward troops of the Eighth Army yesterday continued to advance northward, and made contact with enemy prepared positions between Enfidaville and Bou Hodjar (25 miles north-west of Kairouan and 25 miles southward of Pont Du Fahs). On their left flank, French forces continued their advance, while the First Army made further advances in the Medjez El Bab-Munchar sector, in the face of enemy opposition. “Yesterday and on the previous night air operations were largely directed against enemy airfields, including his few remaining ones in Tunisia. Fires were started in several of these airfields and three enemy planes were destroyed in combat. Three more, including two torpedo-bombers, were destroyed over the sea, and an enemy bomber was destroyed on the previous night, making a total of seven enemy aircraft destroyed. During these operations we lost three planes.’ It is known that the 73 planes destroyed on Sicilian aerodromes included eight six-engined transports and 23 triple-engined bombers.