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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 1226.PDF
388 APRIL 25, 1940 Another picture of Stavanger, with what appear to be two 500 lb. bombs going down. On the right are two JunkersJu 52 transports, the remainder of the aircraft seem to be Junkers Ju 88 bombers. Two large bomb craters are visible near the 52s. light of the moon, the bombers traversed the aerodrome in successive waves of attack, destroying aircraft and build- ings, pitting the aerodrome surface with bomb craters and leaving the base aglow with the light from many fires. The raiders encountered opposition from the Stavanger ground defences. Searchlights strove vainly to hold bombers approaching singly from different angles to launch their attack. Batteries of light anti-aircraft guns, which en- circled the landing ground, set up a barrage of fire over the centre of the target. Despite opposition from ground defences all our aircraft returned safely from Stavanger to their bases early next morning, though two Coastal machines working over the North Sea failed to return. In one of the attacks the crew of one of the British air- craft reported seeing a sudden red glow, apparently caused by a big explosion. "I've never seen a Brock's benefit night," said one of the young pilots, "but the Germans in Stavanger might have been having one last night. The air was simply alive with blue and orange searchlights, rockets, and shells which burst into groups of four bluish- white stars. We sailed through it all and dropped our bombs right on the target. My rear gunner sprayed bullets down the beam of one blue-pencil searchlight which picked us up. The light went out at once, and remained out." Blenheims played a part in the Monday's work, and they sank two German seaplanes at their moorings. It was a day of stormy weather and the Blenheims made their attack during a snowstorm, which probably inconvenienced the anti-aircraft gunners on the ground as much as it did our bomb-aimers. The raiding was continued, and by the evening of Thursday, April 18, seven severe attacks had been made on Stavanger and a great deal of damage had been done. On Tuesday, April 16, the R.A.F. varied the proceedings by a visit to Trondhjem, which was beginning to assume no little importance after the landings of British troops at various points on the coast had taken place. The raid by the R.A.F. was made by night, and a large fire was seen to break out as a result. Then a seaplane base in the neighbourhood was raided. Owing to the mountainous nature of Norway and the numbers of fjords, seaplanes loom rather large in the operations. On Wednesday, April 17, the Fleet took a hand in the harassing of Stavanger. Early in the morning naval forces subjected the aerodrome to a heavy bombardment for an hour and twenty minutes. As our ships withdrew, German aircraft tried to bomb them. Fighters of the Fleet Air Arm engaged the enemy aircraft. They shot down one Heinkel and one Dornier flying-boat, while two more Heinkels and another Dornier 18 were damaged. None of the Fleet fighters was shot down, but the Germans landed a bomb on one of our cruisers. She was damaged, but steamed on and reached her base. H.M.S. Gurkha remains the only moving warship to have been sunk by an enemy bomb. After the Fleet had withdrawn, the R.A.F. resumed its operations against Stavanger, where a large number of enemy aircraft was seen to be dispersed round the edge of the aerodrome. High and low-flying attacks were delivered by a strong force of bombers. Direct hits were observed on the runways and bombs were seen to burst among the transport aircraft parked on the south-west side of the aerodrome. The attack lasted for over an hour. Fighter opposition was encountered. In addition to the aircraft which were destroyed on the ground, two twin- engined enemy aircraft are believed to have been shot down. , , The same aerodrome was again attacked by our aircrattduring the night and further damage was reported. Our general reconnaissance aircraft continued to patrothe fjords and islands off the Norwegian coast. A^low- level bombing attack was made on a submarine and 01hit was observed. A supply ship was also attacked. I"
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