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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 2086.PDF
64 JULY 25, 1940 WAR IN THE AIR (CONTINUED) oil storage installation at Hanover in a series of raids which began shortly after midnight and lasted for about half an hour. A large blast furnace at Hamborn was left blazing after two dive-bombing attacks. In the first attack a direct hit resulted in a violent explosion. A few minutes later the target was again bombed from a low level, and this time the bomber's crew saw a great fire break, out. The aircraft equipment store at Paderborn, to the East of the Ruhr, was raided for the second night in succession, the bomber's crew arriving over the target area during a severe thunderstorm which hid the moon and obscured the landmarks. " Altogether we spent one and a quarter hours The French air- craft carrier Beam which is reported to be lying at Martinique with 100 American aircraft aboard. Blackburn Roc two-seater fighter of the Fleet Air- Arm. cruising around in search of the target," said the pilot of the aircraft. "When at last we had made quite certain we were near, we dropped a parachute flare, and by its light saw 12 large camouflaged buildings like hangars, in four rows. We made two dive attacks in quick suc- cession." Other aircraft attacked the rail communication centres at Osnabriick, where particularly heavy anti-aircraft fire prevented full observation of the results, and at Hamm, where a hit on the railway sidings was followed by an ex- plosion so violent that the concussion was felt in the air- craft several thousand feet above the target. At Dummer, some 20 miles from Osnabriick, a raider scored two direct hits on the main line in front of a supply train. Dortmund-Ems Canal Breached A REALLY great success was scored by the Bomber •**• Command recently when the canal between Dortmund and Ems was breached. After the damage that had been caused to German trains and railway junctions by R.A.F. raids, enemy communications were becoming much disor- ganised. To relieve the rail congestion, the German transport authorities began to make increasing use of their elaborate canal system, which was already heavily occupied in carry- ing iron ore and other essential supplies to the Ruhr fac- tories. Large barges, big enough to carry two train loads of goods, were being used for conveying munitions. Reconnaissance aircraft flew over the Dortmund-Ems canal, and photographed its various stretches, in particular the double aqueduct where the canal crosses over the River Ems. Models of the aqueduct were constructed, and picked crews received special instructions on the method of attack to be adopted. The crews were also shown photo- graphs—taken by the R.A.F. a few days earlier—which depicted 20 large barges on one short stretch of the canal. The presence of these barges was striking testimony of the importance of the task, and indicated how great would be the increased strain on the railways if the canal went out of action. There was bright moonlight when the crews set out on their task. Bombs were dropped in the aque- ducts, near the safety gates, and against the embankment. All the aircraft returned undamaged. Subsequent photo- graphic reconnaissances reveal the success of the attack. Barges can be seen high and dry in the mud. The aqueducts are un- usable and the canal is empty. Other reconnaissances showed barg.es un- loading their cargoes in a field alongside the canal—further evidence that the task had been successfully completed. An unexpected phenomenon was the appearance of a Henschel 126 army co-operation aeroplane off the South Coast on the afternoon of Thursday, July 18. This type corresponds to our Lysander, and bears a certain resemblance to it, being a high-wing monoplane with an undercarriage which does not retract and having con- spicuous "spats" on the landing wheels. It may have been out on some form of photographic reconnaissance. Unfortunately for the Henschel, the machines which dis- covered it were Hurricanes, which promptly attacked it. It was last seen flying low, with smoke pouring out of it. On the same (lay, July 18, there was an air raid on Gibraltar in which three civilians were killed and some others were hurt. This was the first raid on the Rock in which fatal casualties have occurred. There is no room for an aerodrome on the flat ground round the base of the Rock, and so fighters cannot be used for its defence. Heavy fire was opened by anti-aircraft guns. ,' Once more Wilhelmshaven was bombed on Sunday, July 21. One of our bombers came down so low to attack two warships by a wharf that it nearly hit a church steeple. Another got home with a rudder and both airscrews damaged, but none of the crew was wounded. Once again the fighting Anson has distinguished itself. One of this type found four Me 110s machine-gunning trawlers and promptly attacked. It shot down one fighter just as Spitfires arrived in answer to its call. H A bomber returning from a raid over Germany by night was attacked by three fighters which its rear gunner thought were Heinkel 113s. He set the first one on fire, sent the second down in a vertical dive, and escaped from the third, which did not venture within close range. A very gallant fight took place over the Channel on Sunday afternoon, July 21, when six Hurricanes found about 40 Dornier T7S and an escort of 40 Messerschmitts 109 and no preparing to attack a convoy. Without hesi- tation one sub-flight of the Hurricanes climbed to attack the fighters while the other sub-flight went for the Dorniers. One Me 109 was shot down into the sea, and several other enemy aircraft were badly shot about. On Friday, July 19, we shot down 11 raiders, next day 21, and on Sunday three. We lost nine fighters. In the month starting June 18 our civilian casualties from raids were 336 killed and 476 seriously hurt.
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