STRUCK AT GERMAN CAPITAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 4 December 1943, Page 3

STRUCK AT GERMAN CAPITAL

1,500 Tons of Bombs Dropped on Berlin in Half an Hour LANCASTERS AND HALIFAXES BREAK THROUGH POWERFUL DEFENCES ATTACK CONCENTRATED ON AIRCRAFT AND ELECTRICAL FACTORIES ’ LONDON, December 3. A great force of the R.A.F’s. biggest bombers, Lancasters and Halifaxes dropped over 1,500 tons of bombs on Berlin last night. It was the fifth big raid on Berlin in the last 14 days. The aircraft dropped their bombs on targets not hit before, thus opening a new phase in the battle of Berlin—the R.A.F’s. campaign to blot out the war factories of the. biggest manufacturing * centre in Europe, district by district. Pathfinders marked out" the targets in the south-east part of the city, which contains one of Berlin’s four main aircraft factories and. three big electrical equipment works. The Germans made their biggest effort yet to beat off the attack. They put down millions of flares and lit up the sky brilliantly ahead of the bombers. . Scores of night fighters came up 50 miles from Berlin and soon great air battles were taking place. These encounters, Berlin says, were some of the fiercest of the whole war. Although the Germans, threw in more and more fighters, the bombers fought their way through. They shot down at least three of the night fighters. Then they met the ground defences, searchlights in great cones and massed anti-aircraft gunfire. The raiders sent down their bombs and soon great fires were burning. The bombing attack lasted for half an hour. Smoke rose several miles high and when the bomber crews were 400 miles away they could still see a glow in the sky. When the main attacks was over Mosquito light bombers went over Berlin to drop more bombs and. have a look at the damage. They confirmed that widespread fires were burning. Forty-one bombers were lost. . A Swedish report states that Berlin was without gas, water or electricity. Street traffic was stopped and no daily paper came out today. This latest attack on the German capital is the fifth heavy one in 13 days. The last was a week ago, when Berlin was still burning-, and in that series of colossal raids over 6000' tons of bombs were dropped in eight nights.