AIR RAIDS ON BERLIN

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21227, 25 September 1940, Page 7

AIR RAIDS ON BERLIN

GIGANTIC EXPLOSIONS AND FIRES THRILLING STORIES BY BRITISH PILOTS / DESTRUCTION OF POWER STATIONS. -AND FACTORIES \ _ 7 /" , /V" 4 (Official \Virelc^ 3 ) _r « (deceived Sept. 2 r j t u a . m .) RUGBY, 24 According to ;tn Air Ministry bulletin the Royal Air Force attacks on Ber lia last Might were careF u lly planned and lasted several hours „ How r the genei ral scheme work'd out may be judged by the comments o f the commanding officer of one large station, who said: “My aircraft went out at regular intervals and came bachl as regularly, just like well-organised trains/’ The w'est pow er stati on and the power stations of Wilmersdord, Charli jttenb’jrg, Klingenberg and Moabit, all within the Berlin area, each came in for a steady hammering, and many fires v fere seen to break out. One airerr ffi alone started five large fires, which were visible eighty aides away. Another reported the power station alight at four different points. At Kli ngenherg and Wilmersdord it w'as the same story, bombs bursting on power stations and flames leaping high. One pilot attacking a large gasworks saw his bomb burst an/iong the buildings. ' Other pilots attacking the same target later left a string of smallish fires in the target area. One of them said: “We must have bit this gasworks fait" and square. Onir bombs started another line of fires and then a fire in the middle of the target caused a gigantic explosion.*’ Ai. rail junctiooi to the east of the west power station was also b ombed. /' la an attack on the B.M.W. aero-engine works many bombs were dropped in the area and shortly afterwards numerous fires broke out. i siemens’ cable works were also set on fire. 1 p'

Rail- rays and Factories Hit An Air Ministry communique states: Through! iut last night strong bomber forces of the Royal Air Force delivered hea-ry attacks on military objectives in and around Berlin. This attack was: on a much larger scale than any yet carried .out, and the preliminary reports show that extensive damage was donev Among the targets selected by our aircraft and heavily bombed were the Rangsdorf railway station and several railway yards, including that at Grunewald, the w'est tower of the Wimersdorf electric power station, gasworks in Danzinst:rasse and Neufactories at Charlottenburg and Spa. nc * au ’ including the- Brandenburg motor works and other objectives. During the night operations over 1 Channel ports in enemy occupation i were vigorously attacked. Three of | our aircraft have not returned. j A German Official statement says/ that the Royal Air Force raid last night resulted in eleven people being killed and. fourteen wounded.. tt Large ‘Fires Started A later message states that ft v c large fires were started in last nigfc .t’s raids. • The German news agency announced that several British pi! , n e: last night flew over the norther a a nc eastern suburbs of .Berlin, dreg ping bombs, deliberately attacking residential quarters. Dwellings were damaged and seveXal civilians were killed or injured. There w; :s nc military damage. Reports from neutral source 3 indicate that the British bombers : ir rivec in waves and apparently set fire tc at least two warehouses or ti ictories Anti-aircraft fragr cents E epperec Berlin throughout th e raid. The authorities st< tte tha t mostlj incendiary bombs were dropped Most of the fires wei e extinguished More Big F ires Five big fires were star ted by on< aircraft at the Moabit par ver station enabling the target to be clearlj identified by followin g a ircraft. Three bombs from ; cne aircraf caused more fires ar d touched of explosive material, v. 4 uch blew uj in a series of vivid fi ashes. Thesi fires at Moabit were ' Bible 80 mile: away. Other Berlin targets , mostly powe stations and gasw, irks, receive! special attention. At the Charlottenbi mg power sta tion four big fires ■ »ire observes from one aircraft as it c ime away. The Friedrichsfeld power statioi was attacked and th s IVilmersdor power station was lef : ablaze. At the Danzigerstr ar.se gaswork the bombing caused a violent ex plosion and the target was left bum ing furiously. This was one of the night’s most satisfying spec! ales. Explosions—seen 23 miles awaywrecked parts of the h euklon gas works. At another gasworks t at Chariot tenburg large buildings wvere quick! gutted by fire, and ma try other fire caused by aircraft wei e observed. Comment by An tericans An American commi rntator on th German radio, deaiir lg with las night’s raid by the Rc yal Air Forc< said the single and sir. all formation ot British planes nev ;r seemed t stop coming. They c ived to helot 1000 feet. Another comments tor said th raid was a kind of roi ling attack. 1 block of buildings was« razed. The British War Offi( jc’s 48th casu alty list contains the names of 13C including three officers and 56 iv jn k ers killed, two officers ;sud 48 roiiker wounded.

LARGE=SCALE. OFFENSIVE

RAIDS ON THE CONTINENT MILITAF .y OBJECTIVES HIT KIE CANAL ATTACKED (omcial Wireless) • t; 7 (Received Sept. 25, Xl.so a.m.) RUGBY, Sept. 24 ’ Details showing that the heavy air .tack on military objectives in BerF ,n by the Royal Air Force last night was part of a large-scale general bombing offensive are contained in an Air Ministry communique, whicn states: I In addition to the strong forces of ; the Royal Air Force detailed to bomb objectives in the Berlin area and enemy-oCcupied Channel ports other forces of our bombers last night attacked aircraft works at Wismar, lock gates on the Kiel Canal, shipyards and docks at Hamburg, Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremen and Wismar, goods yards at Munster and Hanover, railway communications in North Germany, and several enemy aerodromes. Yesterday aircraft of the Coastal Command shot down an enemy bomber into the sea. Aircraft of the Coastal Command carried out operations against a | German-occupied naval station at Brest early on Tuesday morning. Over a torpedo-boat station, oil tanks and stores a long line of bombs was dropped, heavy explosions being followed by four distinct fires. A pillar of dense black smoke was seen over the harbour and flames were visible more than 30 miles from the French coast. Other aircraft of the Coastal Command attacked Zeebrugge and laid j sticks of bombs across the eanal mouth. Unusually large flashes fol- . lowed the explosion salvoes. ! Constantly Over Berlin . Some idea of the wearing tactics employed over Berlin last night by . the Royal Air Force may be gauged from the fact that after the first bombs were dropped shortly before 11 p.m. the bombing continued on an average of about 4£ minutes intervals for several hours. Throughout those hours British aircraft were constantly over the city in relays. Some ) of them remained above the targets | anything up to 50 minutes, despite 5 • unfavourable weather conditions, so as to aim bombs with precision. The heaviest attacks fell upon numerous pre-determined targets—the railway yards near the Potsda-mer-Lehrte railway station, the west electric power station, and the Moabit and Klingenberg power stations. Ground mist interfered with accurate observation results, but severe ■ | fires were started at all points. One aircraft reported eight or nine > J explosions in railway sidings after j bombs had been dropped, followed , by a very large fire in railway build - lings which were still seen 23 minutes after the aircraft had left the area. 3 . Three power stations took the £ I brunt of this series of attacks. i One aircraft started a large fire in ’ j the west power station, which was } • but one of many. r j At Klingenberg a considerable fire I already was burning when one airi craft arrived. By the glow of this ' | lire a stick of bombs was dropped 1 right across the target. The railway yards were seen to be hit, and the Tempelhoff aerodrome bombed. Siemen’s works, where a large pro- ■ portion of the electrictl equipment , -for the hydrogenation plant is pro- • duced received a direct hit. 5 Here a red oblong-shaped lire stinted, which spread rapidly.