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OUT OF ACTION

VITAL GERMAN ARMAMENT FACTORIES AS RESULT OF AMERICAN BOMBING RAID MUCH TO SET AGAINST LOSS OF AIRCRAFT LONDON, October 17. It is now confirmed that the vital ball-bearing' factories at Schweinfart, in Germany, have been put completely out of action as the result of last Thursday’s Flying Fortress attack. Half of the plant exists no more. Reconnaissance photographs show that the entire works are now inactive. A tremendous amount of repair work will be necessary before the factories can operate again. It is stated that it might be possible for the Germans to restore one-quarter of the normal productive capacity, but that this will take some time. President Roosevelt stated on Friday that while the loss of 60 American bombers in the Schweinfurt raid was serious, it was balanced by the fact that the bombers put out of commission a very large German war plant or plants, says a Washington message. The President added: “We cannot afford to lose 60 planes a day, but our losses are not running that’ high.” BALANCE AGAINST ENEMY Referring to the fact that 60 bombers were missing from the Schweinfurt attack, Brigadier-General Anderson, chief of the United States Army Eighth Air Force Bomber Command, said: “We expected the losses to be heavy, and they were; but the damage done to the enemy was much greater. The weather over the target was excellent and bombs were concentrated 'on the vital points in the area. A conservative early estimate of the damage indicates the destruction of at least 50 per cent of Schweinfurt’s ball and roller bearing production.” “Schweinfurt had accounted for more than half of all Germany’s bearings, which are vital for every moving part of every piece of military and naval equipment. The results of this attack eventually will be apparent in a shortage of German tanks, planes, guns, and armoured vehicles on the Russian, Mediterranean and Western fronts, and in a slowing down of submarine construction.” General Arnold, Chief of the United States Army Air Forces, stated that though 593 of the crews were lost with the 60 Fortresses which failed to return from the Schweinfurt raid, at least half of the crews were believed to be alive as prisoners of war. General Arnold said the attack ranked in importance with that on Ploesti and will definitely affect the German war economy. The Americans dropped 585 tons of explosives and 88 tons of incendiaries, and are reported to have produced excellent results. Allied estimates of the damage inflicted by Flying Fortresses in the raid on Schweinfurt were too conservative, said a Swedish ball-bearing expert with intimate contact with the German ball-bearing industry, says the Stockholm “Allehanda.” The expert said that 75 per cent of the German ball-bearing industry was wiped out. All four ball-bearing factories in Schweinfurt were unusable. TREMENDOUS EFFECT OF ALLIED BOMBING OF REICH AT DIMINISHING AVERAGE COST (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, October 16. From 100,000 to 120,000 men were engaged in the preparations and carrying out of a big raid, said Air Marshal Sir Richard Peck, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff, and facing them there were perhaps nearly 1,000,000 Germans who would otherwise be taking their places in other sections of the war effort. “The enemy has nearly doubled his fighter forces since last January,” he said. “That indicates what a tremendous headache bombing is to him. Bomber losses are now less than five per cent. They were lower last month than in September, 1942. “We are doing far more damage for every ton of bombs than a year ago. We are losing for each ton of bombs about half the number of men and planes we lost in the early days.” NEW AIR WEAPONS USED BY BOTH SIDES. AMERICAN** ARMOURED CRUISERS. (Received This Day, 10.10 a.m.) LONDON, October 17. Heavily-armed multi-engined air cruisers have been escorting United States bombers in their daylight raids on Germany. A Stockholm report quotes German military observers as saying that these planes carry no bombs, but are each armed., with thirty machineguns, and several cannon. These armoured cruisers fly ahead of and alongside the Fortresses to “plough their way through German fighter planes.” Swedish newspapers also report that the Germans are using a new type of heavily-armoured fighter plane, which carries ammunition of terrific explosive power. German air observers state these new fighters took a heavy toll of the Fortresses which attacked Schweinfurt on Thursday. NEW FOG DEVICE. A German military spokesman also claimed that Germans are using a new “fog device,” which spreads a milk-like substance in the air, blinding pilots and causing their bombers to collide. According to the Madrid newspaper “Informacione’s” Berlin correspondent, the artifical fog converts daylight attacks into night attacks. He adds, that the Fortresses on the Schweinfurt raid emerged from these clouds without formation and were at the mercy of the German fighters. Many Fortresses collided with each other. Following on these claims of the use of the new weapons, the Berlin radio yesterday warned its listeners not to expect “a magic gadget” to defeat the Allied bombers.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WAITA19431018.2.26

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 October 1943, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
844

OUT OF ACTION Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 October 1943, Page 3

OUT OF ACTION Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 October 1943, Page 3

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