The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-17
GERMANY TELLS
 OF BRITISH RAID
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 other widely separated objectives in raids yesterday and last night listed British losses at 89 planes, i1- cluding 59 shot down and 30 des- troyed on the ground, 22 barrage balloons armed merchantmen to- taling 25,000 tons and a destroyer.
 German war planes followed up yesterdays raids with forays last night in which "other suburbs ot London" arms factories in the mid- lands, harbors and docks at Cardiff Newport and Bristol, and air fields and gun emplacements in southern England were successfully bomb- ed," the communique added.
 British Losses
 Britain's merchantmen losses, the the high command said, were brought about by submarines which attacked strongly escorted con- voys." One of the ships sunk was a 5,700-ton tanker. it was said.
 German airplanes attacked and sank a British destroyer near the Isle of Wight during yesterdays raids on the south coast, the com munique reported.
 The German air force last night following yesterdays raid, continued attacks on Britain" the high com- mand said. German pursuit planes in the battle area broke through enemy defenses, thereby making 1t possible for bomber units to reach their objectives. The German att tacks were carried out with partial forces"
 The communique said 31 German planes were missing after yester- days day and night operations.
 German quarters claimed that air domination over Britain had been thoroughly established in what they called "England's battle to be or not to be-" They asserted that the "bar- rage girdle" around London had been broken and objectives there and elsewhere "laid waste"
 Must Bomb Britain
 DNB, official German news agen- cy, in summing up results of the raids, said the Germans were bent on bombing Britain and were not primarily interested in shooting down enemy planes.
 'The German air force laid em- phasis on bomb attacks" DNB said. Wave on wave of ever fresh for- nations of bombers were sent over England accompanied by small con- voyS of Messerschmitts. Their mis- sion was to get rid of their ex- plosiveS as soon as possible and then immediately get back to their bases. It was not the intention of German fliers yesterday to engage in air battles"
 Meanwhile Berlin seethed with ex- citement over official reports of tremendous devastation visited up- on London's suburbs and official claims of one-Sided victory in "The greatest air battle of history"
 The claims of destruction wrought upon London were based on reports radioed home from reconnaissance planes which, the Germans said, cruised over the area while bombers smashed at their targets and em- battled fighters danced over the London fog like gnats over a swamp"
 The raid was carried out by spe- cial formations ordered specifically to give the British capital a taste of lightning war from the skies.
 Carried News to Radio.
 DNB, off1cial German news agen- cy, carried the radio reports to the German press. They included such phrases as:
 Smoke rising up everywhere, !" Init after hit was observed" ''the wind is driving black pail of smoke over London's eastern slums," "the German bombers loosed bombs on military objectives with fatal ac- curacy."
 The chief objectives blasted, DNB said, included the Thames harbor district, arsenals, warehouses, re- plants and munitions fac- tories.
 The bombs started "huge fires raging on both sides of the Thames" while British fighters and anti-air- craft guns made "unavailing" at- tempts to break up the raiders close formations, DNB said.
 The British fought, DNB said, as though they realized everything was at stake-existence or non-ex- istence."
 Airdromes around London were intensively bombed, and German reconnaissance planes reported they saw 'signs of great destruction Bomb hits. fires. craters, destroyed houses, great detoiiations and high sheets of flame showed the work of the German bombers.' observers said in their radio dispatches.
 London was just one point of at- tack. Military objectives north of the city were bombed and c large power plant at Enfield was blasted with high explosives. the Germans said. South and Southeast Eng. land. ralded repeatedly before, was attacked again.
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