DEVASTATED IN HEAVIEST RAID YET MADE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 November 1943, Page 3

DEVASTATED IN HEAVIEST RAID YET MADE

R.A.F. Drops 2,300 Tons of Bombs on German Capital

SOME DETAILS OF TREMENDOUS DESTRUCTION

26 BRITISH AIRCRAFT LOST IN NIGHT’S OPERATIONS LONDON, November 23. More than 2,300 tons of R.A.F. bombs were dropped on 'Berlin last night in the heaviest raid the city has ever had. Great fires were reported to be still burning in the German capital today. Clouds covered the sky over Berlin when the R.A.F. attacked last night, but the target areas were marked out clearly by coloured flares dropped by Pathfinders. Fires so lighted up the area that bomber crews could see the bombs dropped by other aircraft. One crew reported that of fifty bombs the fall of which was observed, only one fell outside the target area. One explosion observed was described as the biggest ever seen from a bomb. Few night fighters came up to attack the bombers, but the Germans put up a terrific barrage, blazing away blindly. All reports agree that some of the most serious damage was done in the heart of Berlin, in the Government and diplomatic quarter. Neutral correspondents say that several important buildings were razed and that no building in this part of the city escaped damage. Today the people of Berlin are without electricity, without a water supply and in parts of the city without transport. From the night’s operations, which included Mosquito raids on Western Germany and minelaying in enemy waters, 26 aircraft are missing. Berlin was last heavily raided on Thursday night when 1,700 tons of bombs were dropped as compared with last night’s total of 2,300 tons. In each of three earlier attacks on the city, on August 21 and 31 and September 3, over 1,000 tons of bombs were dropped. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THIS YEAR ALONE THE WEIGHT OF BOMBS DROPPED ON BERLIN HAS EQUALLED THE TOTAL DROPPED ON LONDON IN THE BLITZ OF 1940 AND 1941. In daylight today United States Marauders, escorted by fighters, attacked enemy airfields in Northern France.