The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-26
Oechsner Story Over
 Raiding Of London
(Continued From Page D

base of Portland, resulting in severe air battles, the communique said.
 The communique credited two U- Boats with sinking total of 76,170 tons of enemy shipping and said that a German plane sank another merchant ship of 4,o00 tons about 200 miles west of Lands End, Eng land, which would indicate a Nai air patrol over the Atlantic ocean.
 The communique said that the Richthoffen pursuit plane squad ron--one of the best known Ger man units--had exceeded the 250 mark yesterday in the number of planes shot down during the war.
 First Lieut.. Wieck achieved his 18th and 10th air victories," the communique said.
 Hours Bombing Berlin
 The British raid on Berlin during the night lasted three hours and the raiders dropped propaganda leaflets on various districts.
 The official news agency said that the only damage in the raid was to one shack which was ignited, and asserted that German anti-aircraft guns shot down one of the raiding planes as it flew homeward.
 The agency asserted that during the night German planes had drop ped 1,500 bombs weighing in all 165 tons on Great Britain. Nine airfields and factories, railroad and anti-air- craft batteries at 38 points were at tackled, it was said. Explosions and fires were observed at the harbor works of Cardiff, Weymouth and Newcastle and at factories at Bill ingham an dMiddlesborough. Other Nazi sources said that Birmingham had been bombed heavily and that important aircraft and other arma- ments factories had been severely damaged.
 The air raid alarm kept Berliners in shelters for three hours and one minute and sent them sleepy-eyed to work.
 A preliminary check-up brought reports of only one attempt to drop 8 bomb. One incendiary bomb drop ped in flower nursery in a Berlin suburb.
 Over Hitler Chancellery
 Planes were heard over. the city and directly over Adolf Hitler's chancellery, the foreign ministry, the propaganda ministry and other government buildings. Anti-aircraft batteries on top of these buildings, and batteries all over the city, fired furiously. The roar of snti-aircraft gun fire was punctuated by occa- sional heavy explosions which vet erans of air raids on other countries believed to be the result of bombs.
 Some British planes dropped leaf lets over the city.
 Damage at the flower nursery was slight, it was asserted. A fire was started but air raid wardens put it out, informants said.
 United Press Correspondent watching from windows of the United Press Offices and from their homes in the West End, heard scores of violent detnnations from the west and north during an al- most uninterrupted crescendo of fire for a half hour.
 There were many heavy detona- tions mixed with lighter explosions which came from anti-aircraft guns nearby.
 The alarm was Berlin,s fifth since the war started and the third since intensified air war was started against Britain June IS. This alarm period was far longer than any pre- vious one and gave Berliners their first experience with planes dron- ing over the city, tracel bullets and searchlight beams trying to pierce the clouds and anti-aircraft batter les firing from many places. The rec peated intensifyink of anti-aircraft fire. after periods of relative calm, made 1t appear that British planes were flying in waves. Like the guns. the searchlight batteries did not stay in action all the time but swept the sky ct intervals after planes were heard.
 60 Heavy Explosions
 An air raid alarm was sounded ct 1920 .. n. during the first 10 min- utes 10 heavy explosions, the rever- beratlons Of which could be felt iu mld.Berlin, were heard from the