RAID ON BOULOGNE

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21219, 16 September 1940, Page 7

RAID ON BOULOGNE

POLISH FLIERS PARTICIPATE GALLANT PART PLAYED HARBOUR WORKS DAMAGED (OlTlcldl Wireless) (Received Sept. 16, 11 a.m.) RUGBY, Sept. 15 The Commander-in-Chief of the Bomber Command, Air Marshal Sir C. F. S. Portal, today sent the following message to the officer commanding the bomber station where the Polish squadrons are based which took part in last night’s raid col Boulogne: “Hearty congratulations to your Polish crews on the successful completion of their first operation last nigh:.” Last night’s successful attacks on Boulogne, in which the Polish bomber squadrons co-operated With Royal Air Force units, was the first raid against the enemy to be carried out by Polish bomber crews operating from Britain. The two squadrons from which the crews were drawn were formed only three weeks ago. The pilots who took part in last night's raid are between 26 and 28 years of age, and, like the members of their crews, have all had previous fighting experience in the Polish Air Force. Describing their raid on Boulogne an observer in one of the Polish bombers said: “The searchlight and anti-aircraft opposition was every bit as bad as we had been led to expect, but these aircraft of yours are good and we were able to evade most of it. We saw our bombs striking the harbour works and bursting on the basins, and we came home very much happier than we have been for a long time.”