The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1940-07-08
Britain Is Convinced
Dread Invasion Nears
Continued From Page u

any day-raids by hundreds O
planes on military detectives Of al
sorts and perhaps on cities to pre-
pare for an attempt to land troop!
by sea and air.
1t was held that the present raids
were training ones, intended to
familiarize pilots with British de-
lenses.
Possibly the biggest air fight Of
the war over Britain was held along
the southeast coast between Ger
man bomber and fighter planes anc
British fighters which drove them
back over the channel. Coastal res
idents watched for an rour fights
between groups of British and Ger
man planes, the British planes sup.
ported by strong anti-aircraft fire
from the gfiround.
Bombs Along Coast
The German planes were drop
ping bombs along the coast. Within
few minutes British fighters en-
gagged them. Some of the bombers
penetrated the coastal anti-air de-
lenses but the fighters, it was re.
ported, intercepted them and turned
them back. At least three German
planes were shot down in these
fights, witnesses said.
British planes, in turn, bombed
German ship yards at Bremen a1c
Kiel, the entrance to the Kiel Can.
al, an arms depot at Emden, air.
dromes at Exreux, Northern France
Knocke. Belgium and Ypenburg
Holland; barges at Zwolle. Holland
canal at Katwijk, Holland, ano
Seaplane bases on Nordeney anc
Hornum Islands, Germany. Navy
planes dive bombed German fue.
stocks at Bergen, Norway, and start
ed big fires.
The submarine Snapper, the adj
mirality reported attacked two Ger
man ship conveys, and, despite their
escort of armed trawlers, torpedoed
five ships.
Viscount Beaverbrook, minister
for aircraft production, said in q
public statement that Britain's Or
ders in the United States for air.
craft amounted to well over" ST.
000,000,000. Deliveries were increas-
ing, he said, on orders for $50,000,-
600 worth of aircraft in Canada.
Gibraltar Attacked
Grenoble, France, July g. (U.P)
"A dispatch from Vichy, new seat
of the French government, report
ed today that two squadrons OF
French navy planes took part in an
air raid on Gibraltar in retaliation
for the British attack on the French
fleet, at Oran, Algeria.
The newspaper LIE Petit Dauph-
inois, authority for the report, as
serted that at least one big British
ship had been hit.
A Toulouse dispatch said General
Charles De Gaulle, head of the
French National committee at Lon
don, in charge of organizing contin-
ued resistance to Germany by
Frenchmen outside of France prop
er, had been sentenced to four years
in prison and a fine of 100 francs
($2.25) for disobedience of orders.
Various reports of the Oran naval
battle said that more than 1000
French navy men were wounded or
killed and alleged that a British
submarine torpedoed the navy es-
cort ship Rigaud De Genouilly, l.
969 tons, without warning as it APP
preached Toulon.
British Ships Hit
A dispatch from Algiers asserted
that in the Oran battle the big
British battle cruiser Hood was
struck by three shells and that two
British destroyers were sunk.
1t was asserted at Toulon that the
French Battleship Strasbourg, &c.
500 tons; five cruisers, numerous
destroyrs and several submarines
had arrived there.
According to Petit Dauphinois
British airplanes bombed the Grip
Piled French battleship Dunkerque
at Oran and machine gunned small
rescue boats, with the result that