TWO-WAY ATTACKS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 4 October 1943, Page 4

TWO-WAY ATTACKS

FROM BRITAIN AND AFRICA ON GERMANY AND AUSTRIA. NAZIS ADMIT HEAVY DAMAGE IN MUNICH. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 11.25 a.m.) RUGBY, October 3. Further details have been given of last night's heavy raid on Munich, when the R.A.F. lost nine bombers. It was the R.A.F.’s fourth attack on Germany in five nights and was concentrated into 25 minutes, starting just before 10.30 p.m. During that period a total of 250 two-ten bombs, or 500 tons of explosives, were dropped. By the end of the attack, fires had gained a strong hold and one rear-gunner could see them 200 miles away.

At the very end of the attack a big explosion lit up rolling smoke clouds for several seconds. The Germans used their new flare-path technique pn a big scale. Their fighters laid lines of flares along the course of our bombers, starting at a point 150 miles from the target. They placed other flares near the ground to show up the bombers. Cur crews reported that at first the flak was heavy, but at a given signal it stopped and a large force of nightfighters came into action. Our bombers were sheltered by thick cloud, which thinned into haze over the target. Only 36 hours before, Munich had felt the weight of an attack by Africanbased Flying Fortresses. Today’s German communique says strong British bomber formations made a terror attack on Munich and caused considerable damage and casualties. The communique adds: “The enemy in daylight yesterday bombed Emden and other coastal places from a great height, under cover of clouds.” The German news agency reports that major damage was caused in parts of Munich.

Munich is the first German city to suffer the Allies’ two-way attacks, from Britain and North Africa. The raid last night was the second within 48 hours. Munich was attacked on Friday by heavy bombers from Norih-West Africa, which made a round flight of 1800 miles across the Alps. Other bombers from African bases bombed Wiener Neustadt, near Vienna, at the same time, in this first expedition across the Alps from the south. Reconnaissance photographs indicate that Friday’s raid considerably damaged war industry buildings in Wiened Neustadt, including an assembly shop for Messerschmitt fighters.

Renter's Algiers correspondent reports that Flying Fortresses shot down between 50 and 60 German tightens which attacked them over the Munich area. On Friday night, Britain-based bombers heavily attacked the important coal, iron and engineering centre and big railway junction of Hagen, in the Ruhr, and yesterday Flying Fortresses, escorted by Thunderbolts, attacked the naval base at Emden. An official report says the bombing of Hagen was well concentrated.