Evening star., 1942-06-26
1000 Raj Planes Blast Bremen;
50 Missing> Record Night Loss;
British Take Stand Near Matruh
Assault Probably
Biggest in Air
Wars History

bo4NDSANs ~ uiA1 So' - Ne>~ -
were set by the RAF last night in
the big German port city OF
Bremen, principal target OF a
devastating assault which prob
ably was the largest in the his
tory of aerial warfare.
Indications were that the number
Of planes participating exceeded the
flights of 1,130 and 1036 bombers
which laid Cologne and Essen In
ruins on May 30 and June l.
Again today the RAF was reported
active over the English Channel
area.
American-made Lockheed Hudson
bombers belonging to the Raj par
ticipated in the Bremen attack,
while Douglas Havoc fighter-bomb-
ers were used in other forays.
Town Blazing Merrily.
Canadian airmen, returning from
Bremen. said the glare of many ex-
tensive fires against Bremen's low
clouds hindered appraisal of damage
to Bremen.
I'VE got tired of trying to see
through the clouds so we went down
below and saw the town blazing
merrily in a dozen places" said a
sergeant from Manitoba.
An Air Ministry communique told
of one bomber force of more than
1000 whose main target was
Bremen and reported intensive at
tacks on air fields in the Low Coun-
tries by "a second force of bombers
and fighters"
This force was believed to have
been numbered in the hundreds.
Fifty-two planes we're missing, the
highest one might loss ever expert
enced by the Raj, but informed
sources said this was less than S per
cent of those involved.
This would indicate that more
than 1,040 planes were involved.
The Germans, agreeing on the So
figure, contended it represented
25 per cent of the attackersJ
Nazi Air Fields Harassed.
In addition to the Bremen raid.
hundreds of fighter planes and
fighter -bombers were believed to
have participated in intensive har-
assing attacks on German air fields.
Each of the three massive air
blows has been aimed at vital
arsenal supplying war tools for
Adolf Hitlers land, sea and air
forces.
BY centering on Bremen, the Raj
evidently was adhering to policy
of making priority targets of u
boats. especially U-boats under con-
struction. In the period since the
Essen-Cologne raids, smaller Raj
squadrons-presumably of several
hundred planes-four times have
smashed at Emden, U-boat base
10 miles northwest of Bremen.
It was the second time this month
that Bremen was singled out by the
British for the RATS fire bath.
Abundance of Targets.
Besides being Germanys second
largest port, with population of al
most 100000, Bremen offered targets
in abundance-along with shipbuild-
ing yards and one Of Germany's big
gest submarine construction works,
1t has docks, railways, steel works.
oil refneries and the Rocke-Wulf
factory and airdrome where the
Nazis get fighters and great, long
range bombers.
An Air Ministry communique said:
Last night very large forces Of
our aircraft drawn from all the home
operational commands Of the Raj
were in operation.
The bombing force consisted Of
more than 1000 aircraft and its
main objective was Bremen. the
enemy's second largest port and one
of the principal centers Of his sub
marine production.
Large fires were seen, but con-
siderable amount of heavy cloud
made accurate Observation of results
very difficult.
Enemy Aircraft Damaged.
ITO disorganize the enemy's de-
fenses many airfields in the Low
Countries were subjected to inten-
sive harassing attacks by second
force of bombers and fighters.
I'm the course of these intruder
operations and in the many combats
which took place between our bomb
ers and enemy fighters some enemy
aircraft were damaged or destroyed.
From the nights Operations a
total of 50 aircraft of all commands
is missing
Bremen was said to have been de-
Tended fiercely by night fighter
planes and anti-aircraft fire against
this, the 95th and heaviest air bonn
bardment Of the city.