Evening star., 1941-09-08
Berlin Hit by Worst R. A. F. Raid;
'Low-Down |nfamy>' Nazis Charge;
Leningrad Cut off, Germans Claim
20 Bombers Lost,
British Admit;
Moonlight Aids
BY the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
LONDON, Sept. 8.-One year
from the night of the Luftwaffe's
first mass attack on London,
hundreds of planes of the Amer
ican-strengthened r. A. F. rode
In moonlight over Europe and
bombed Berlin from midnight to
almost dawn today.
1t was the heaviest raid ever
made on the capital of the Reich,
the British Air Ministry said.
The British lost 20 bombers out
of what was described as a very
powerful" raiding force. Four Ger
man night fighters were said to
have been shot down. One British
fighter was missing from attacks
on German-held continental air.
dromes
(The Germans reported that
II British planes were bagged
during the night, three over Ber-
linz
Many Bombs Dropped.
A communique said "a great num-
ber of high explosives and incen-
diary bombs we're dropped" in Ber-
lin and that great fires sprang up
in the city and extensive damage
was done"
On the night of September 7-8,
1910, the Germans pounded Lon
don for eight hours and 18 min
utes, losing IS planes, according to
the British count, but executing
what the Air Ministry called the
first big .4erial assault on the Brit
ish capital"
The Air Ministry news service
said the attackers found the lakes
to the west of Berlin shining in
bright moonlight.
I'VE could see the place like a
map" said one fight sergeant.
"Soon there were many fires, with
one in particular blazing large and
fierce in the heart of the city as a
further guide to bombers."
The Berlin attackers were but
part of the hundreds of planes strik-
ing regularly at the continent.
Fire Around Rail Station.
Crews returning from the German
capital said many big fires burst
around a main railway station and
their glow could be seen long after
the bombers set out for home
The German defenses were strong,
the attackers acknowledged. Anti
aircraft was virtually incessant and
stopped only to allow the approach
Of German night fighters.
1--WE were clamped in the large
cone of a searchlight," one gunner
said. Jerry was pumping fax as
hard as he could Suddenly the
fax stopped and I saw an ME-110
coming up on our starboard quarter
II gave it burst and saw my
tracer enter a starboard engine.
The ME caught fire and crashed
1t passed so close I thought it was
going to hit us"
No Figures on Bomb Tonnage.
Although the Press Association
called the Berlin raid the heaviest
since the war began, no figures were
issued either for the number OF
planes or the bomb tonnage.
The forays highlighted week end
OF r. A. F. attacks on front rang
ing from Norway to France.
Besides the attack on Berlin-the
fourth by either British or Russian
planes in a little more than week
the offensive was aimed at Bergso
Island off Norway, the German
naval base at Kiel, the Rhineland
industrial town of Huls and the
French-occupied port of Boulogne.
Most spectacular of the attacks
other than on Berlin was the one on
Boulogne begun last midnight and
carried through to dawn. The sky
over the French port Redeemed as
the r. A. F. carted more and more
explosives across Dover Strait to
dump into raging fires. Watchers
on the Kent coast today reported
the fires still were burning.
Southeast Coast Bombed.
The Luftwaffe crossed paths with
the British. The Air Ministry said
places on the southeast coast were
bombed and some damage and a
few casualties were caused in the
east of England.
British flyers returning from raids
reported heavy anti-aircraft fire,
especially at Huls Saturday night
and Boulogne last night. At Huls,
the flyers said, they scored a num-
Der of bull's-eye hits on a synthetic
rubber plant.
Participating in daylight raids
yesterday against the French coast,
American Eagle Squadron flyers ran
into a dog-fight with Germany's
latest Messerschmitt fighters. Flight
1t. c. G. Petersen of Santaquin,
Utah, said he zoomed up to within
rs yards of a Messerschmitt and
opened fire.
FIRST his wheels dropped" Peter
sen said. Then he went down into
a slow spin. He crashed near the
outskirts of Boulogne."
Glides Back to England.
On his freshman flight, Pilot
Offlcer Patrick Dowling, Texan,
caught so much action his guns
were damaged, his engine went awry
and large hole was torn in wing.
The Air Ministry news service said
Bowling glided back to England and
landed in a field after a fine piece
of flying"
The service said United States
built fighters took part in last
nights offensive, raiding air bases
from the Netherlands to Brittany
: Fires left at one base in Northern
: France could be seen Is miles away,
the service reported.
: The British said they lost three
fighters in yesterdays offensive and
: eight bombers from operations Sat-
urday night.