HEAVY DAMAGE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 November 1943, Page 4

HEAVY DAMAGE

DONE IN AIR ATTACK ON TOULON SUBMARINE BASE & OTHER TARGETS BIG EXPLOSIONS IN ARSENAL (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.20 a.m.) RUGBY, November 25. Considerable damage was done to the submarine base at Toulon by Flying Fortresses and hits were scored on repair shops and submarine pens as well as in the harbour, where ships were anchored. Oil fires were started in the repair shops and other fires surmounted with clouds of thick black smoke were seen. Three heavy explosions in the arsenal area are reported. One of the ships hit in the harbour is believed to have been a naval unit. An explosion was seen on another vessel. Three submarines and a merchantman in a dry dock were probably hit. The raid apparently sprang a surprise and only a few fighters were sent up, none of which gave battle.

Targets in Southern France included a viaduct on the Riviera railway, near Cannes.

Cloud prevented Liberator crews observing the results of their bombing of the Sofia railway yards. There was a sharp encounter between a dozen enemy fighters and the Liberators and Lightnings, in which three enemy planes were destroyed. According to the Vichy radio, casualties in the Toulon raid number 160 killed and 300 injured, with a great number of dead not yet recovered from the debris.