TERRIFIC BATTLE

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21195, 19 August 1940, Page 8

TERRIFIC BATTLE

THRILLING ENCOUNTERS SOLDIERS ANNIHILATED PEOPLE WATCH FIGHTS (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) (Received August 19, 3.15 p.m.) LONDON, Aug. 18 A terriffic air battle was fought over the Kent district after violent anti-aircraft fire. Thousands of people witnessed the combat from concealed vantage points. Light-calibre bombs damaged several houses, breaking hundreds of windows. None of the inhabitants was seriously wounded. South-east coast residents saw five German planes shot down. Two groups of German fighters shot down several barrage balloons. Seventeen bombs fell on a golf course on the outskirts of London. A party of soldiers were annihilated in south-western England, when a delayed action bomb exploded. Fierce dog-fights were fought over the Channel as waves of German bombers, supported by fighters, tried to pierce the south-east coastal defences. The enemy hurried back when further squadrons of Hurricanes and Spitfires appeared. An enemy fighter lagging behind was sent down spinning to earth. The crew of a bomber baled out. Half-an-hour later four Messerschmitts indulged in balloon popping, soaring out of the sky at 400 miles an hour and diving 2000 feet. Two, balloons fell in flames. The raiders escaped amid a pandemonium of bursting shells. Germany’s Heaviest Loss Reports of Sunday’s air attacks show that the enemy lost at least 115 aircraft, and having regard to the numbers employed this represents the heaviest defeat he has yet suffered at the hands of our fighters and ground defences. German Apology The German radio, in apologising for the sparseness of the German assaults against Britain this morning, declared that bad weather hampered the operations, but reports of the action over the Channel emphasise the brilliant sunshine in which the British and German fighters battled. BERLIN, August 18 The news agency also boasted about the magnificent photographs which the reconnaisseurs brought back from Britain, and later described large-scale attacks on the Kenley and aerodromes in London, and claimed to have destroyed 21 grounded planes with bombs. It admitted losing seven machines during these raids. Later raids on Croydon and Maidstone are reported to have resulted in large fires and the destruotion of many planes. The Bremen radio says that the Germans shot down seven British fighters during an attack on aerodromes on the Isle of Wight.