Evening star., 1942-12-07
industrial Areas
OnGermun-Ituliun
Route Blasted
BY the Associated Press.


force of RAF bombers, striking
after American and British air
men carried out their biggest
daylight assault against the
continent, continued the Often
sive to knock Italy out OF the
conflict with an attack last night
on one Of the bottlenecks in the
rail system through which the
Nazis sustain their weaker
partner.
At a cost of nine planes the Brit
ish bombed targets in Southwest
Germany, which Berlin identified
as Karlsruhe and Pforzheim, neigh
boring communications and war
factory centers on the most direct
route from Germany to Italy.
The German news agency DNB
said there were killed and injured
both at Karlsruhe and at Pforzheiln,
16 miles to the southeast. The Air
Ministry did not give the size of
the raiding force, but its assertion
that it was a strong one presum-
ably meant that hundreds of bomb
ers were used.
The British announced officially
that nine planes were lost; the Ger
mans claimed only five, but broad
cast that IS Allied craft were
downed in yesterdays massive raids
against II announced by the Raj.
Key Link to Italy.
Karlsruhe is a key junction on the
rail line running from German coal
and steel centers in the Ruhr
through Switzerland to Italy's in
dustrial north. Much of the coal
shipped from Germany to main
tain Italian war factories is barged
down the Rhine to this point to be
loaded on trains.
Pforzheim Is on a connecting line
over which trains might be rerouted
IN case Of tie-up on the western rail
system.
1t was assumed that the Raj
aimed its bombs at rail yards and
shops and factories, including arms
plants, at Karlsruhe and the large
scale machinery works at Pforzheim.
but the Air Ministry said bad wealth
er made impossible any accurate
observation of the results.
The Friesland and Hilversum ra-
do stations In Holland went of the
air for 40 minutes today, indicat-
ing raiders were back again.
Important Targets.
Lying within the area raided last
night are such important targets as
Stuttgart, Innsbruck, Munich, Salz-
burg and Augsburg, but there was no
indication that the bulk of the at
tack was concentrated on any one
place.
British observers acclaimed the
weekend operations as evidence that
the Allied drive in North Africa had
resulted in no diminution of air
strength in the west and that the
United Nations now are in position
to carry on large-scale aerial opera
tions simultaneously on several
fronts.
A cloud of 400 fighter planes pro-
vided cover for the 200 bombers
which carried out yesterdays day
light forays.
Norwegian, Polish, Fighting
French, Canadian, New Zealand and
Indian fighter pilots participated in
the action, making it truly Allied
operation In every sense of the word.
The biggest previous daylight as
Sault on Western Europe was car
ried out on October 8 when 105
American bombers and about 500
fighters made a violent attack on
Lille.
Lille again was one of the targets
yesterday, squadrons of Flying
Fortresses of the United States
Army Air Force unloading tons of
explosives on the Fives. Lille Loco
motive & Carriage Works.
At the same time four r-motored
United States Liberators blasted the
German air base at Abbeville in
Northern France, supported by
swarms of Allied fighters which shot
down seven enemy aircraft attempt
ing to break up the raid.
Light British bombers, meanwhile,
attacked the radio tube factory at
Eindhoven, the Netherlands, leaving
the main buildings of the works
the biggest in Europe-battered and
burning. RAF fighters also attacked
railways and other targets in Hol-
land and Brittany.
Despite the vast scope OF these
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