BOMBS ACROSS WORKS

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21194, 17 August 1940, Page 7

BOMBS ACROSS WORKS

SEVERE DAMAGE CAUSED OIL SUPPLIES DEPLETED (Official Wireless) (Received August 17, 1 p.m.) RUGBY, August 16 Fires and heavy explosions followed the raid by British Blenheim bombers on the docks at Helder last night. Some of the Blenheims, flying very high, found cloud obscuring the target so they dived through the breaks in the cloud and saw the docks clearly lit up by the moon. Salvoes of heavy bombs burst on the quayside and fires could be seen as the Blenheims turned back over the sea. Germany’s oil supplies were further depleted when bombers again struck at refineries and storage plants in the industrial area of the Ruhr. Many Direct Hits At Gelsenkirchen, which bore the brunt of the attack, two oil-produc-ing and storage installations were singled out and systematically bombed for nearly two hours by two separate raiding forces. One refinery was repeatedly straddled with highexplosive bombs. Many explosions were seen and fires, started by earlier attackers, had soon gained such a hold that halfway through the raid one crew, which had registered eight direct hits on the plant, counted at least 25 fires raging in all parts of the target area. Meanwhile another large oil plant nearby was being similarly attacked. A dull red glow in the centre of the works guided, the late arrivals to the scene and at the height of the attack fresh fires could be seen breaking out all over the target. Other Successful Attacks In the early hours of the morning an oil supply centre at Reisholz was attacked. One heavy bomb scored a direct hit on the powerhouse and fires quickly broke out. An important munitions factory at Lunen, north of Dortmund, was bombed and heavily damaged. More than 17 tons of high explosives and several hundred small incendiary bombs were dropped on it, in the face of determined opposition from well-organised ground defences, including heavy anti-aircraft batteries and numerous searchlights, as well as a balloon barrage.

Others raiders attacked the Rhine port of Emmerich, scoring hits on dock installations and setting fire to buildings. Railway yards at Hamm and Soest received their customary night visit, the fiftieth of the war in the case of Hamm. The great Krupps armament factory at Essen, which was severely damaged in previous large-scale raids, was again attacked and a line of bombs fell across the works. Other, bombers,- penetrating deep into French territory, attacked an enemy-occupied aerodrome at Chartres, where bombs struck hangars. Attacks On Aerodromes Direct hits were scored on hangars in a low-level attack at Leeuwarden and fires were started among the aircraft dispersed around the aerodrome. Bombs also burst among the hangars at Eindhoven and night flying at the aerodrome near Woensdrecht was stopped by bombs falling on the landing ground.