The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-22

As German super-big berthas
blazed away at the vessels in the
first long range German shore bonn
bardment Of enemy ships during the
war, British men o. war eScorting the
convoy put out smoke floats to screen
the attacked vessels.
The thunder of the German guns
shook towns on the English side OF
the channel and observers on the
cliffs here saw the flashes Of the
German artillery In long rows
Through the haze. There was a shat
tering din each time the guns
doomed. apparently firing in batter
les of four.
The Smelling started about II a. m.
-Four great columns of water leaped
up from the sea on the first salvo.
IS Vessels in Convoy
Eighteen vessels were in the Brit
fish convoy and they were subjected
to the German fire for about 40
minutes.
Fearful of a German aerial attack
at the same time the convoy was
under fire, British fighter planes flew
over the convoy, ready to repel any
attack from the air.
saw the convoy enter the Straits
of Dover and proceed eastward.
Then the German guns opened up.
Four huge spouts Of water were
thrown up some distance from the
ships, between them and the Ger
man batteries. The splashes were
followed by terrific explosions, which
shook this town.
A few minutes later saw flash
from the French cliffs followed by
three others. Then after a short in
terval splashes appeared on the water
around the attacked ships. Although
this continued for about 40 minutes
the ships pushed on without altering
their speed
During the commandment Ger
man plane, apparently a spotter for
the shore batteries, appeared In the
clouds over the sunlit channel. Brit
ish fighters protecting the convoy
chased it away.
Made Smoke Screen
Small motor boats moving at ter
rife speed appeared and with British
destroyerS they made smoke screen
which obscured the attacked ships,
blowing steadily on, from the French
coast. The screen was perfect but
the Smelling continued and some of
the shell bursts were on the English
side of the screen.
Many of the shells must have
passed over the ships under fire.
Gradually the ships passed from
sight, beyond Dover, apparently I'M
harmed. British fighters continued
their patrol of the sky but no Ger
man bombers appeared.
I counted about minute between
the time I saw gun flashes on the
French coast and the splash of Ger
man shells in the water. After each
salvo thin spirals of smoke coiled
into the air from the distant Ger
man batteries. Later the lombard
ment increased in intensity and the
firing appeared to be at about half
minute intervals.
The ear shattering roar of guns
echoed up and down the channel
coast and the scream of shells was
distinctly audible. None of the ships
appeared to have been hit.
Bombardment Intense
The German bombardment was
especially intense as the convoy
passed this harbor. 1t did not dim
inish until the convoy had passed
Dover and was steaming in the di-
rection of Deal.
Crowds lined the white chalk cliffs
here during the bombardment and
1t appeared to observers that the
firing of the long range artillery on
the French coast progressed along
the shore as the convoy moved.
Even after guns at Boulogne had
ceased firing guns farther up the
coast took up the bombardment and
the batteries at Calais were in &C
ton when the convoy passed Dover
safely.
Observers agreed that no hits had
been scored. One witness said that
at least 100 rounds had been fired.
The guns were believed to have
been the same which recently she'll
ed points in southeast England but
today marked the first time that
they had been in action against
shipping.
At times the channel seemed alive
with water spouts. At one time three
British men o'war poured out great
clouds of smoke simultaneously and
their progress in defense of the con-
voy was marked clearly by white
bow waves. The screen was thick
ened by smoke floats on the surface
of the water.
Although much of the area was
covered by thick pail, shell spouts
went as high as 100 feet.
Blitzkrieg Slackens
London, Aug. % - (UP0 - Ger
many's aerial blitzkrieg against
Great Britain slackened for the
fourth straight day today. But the
lull served only to make BritonS
more certain that the big blow was
on the way.
The general opinion seemed to be
that the longer the lull the heavier
the blow when it comes.
Again, during the early morning
hours, not a single plane was re-
ported over the British Isles. There
had been only sporadic raids by
single planes or small squadrons all
day yesterday and last night.
Bad weather at least partly
caused the moderation of the Ger
man raids. But indications were
seen by many that the slackening
was deliberate. Slosure of the entire
border between occupied and nom
occupied territory in France was