Evening star., 1942-04-25
British Bombers
Loose 400 Tons
Of Explosives
~ the Associated Press.

was battered nercely overnight In
the r. A. F.'s second successive
l,000-mile round trip against the
big German Baltic coast war
plant and shipping center, where
the British declared today that
more than 400 tons of explosives
were dropped in the two attacks.
The smashes at Rostock were said
TO have surpassed anything the Ger
man air force had dealt out TO
Britain.
The Air Ministry said the British
flyers. striking in clear weather with
good view OF their targets, blasted
the Heinkel aircraft works with
heavy bombs and left huge fires
f,aring from Rostocks Neptune ship
yards.
This was one OF a series OF night
operations which cost a total OF
three planes, and r. A. r. squadrons
took to the air again by daylight to
strike at Nazi bases across the Eng
hsh Channel.
Docks at Dunkerque were raided
anew and air fields In France and
the Low Countries were attacked by
night by aircraft Of the bember and
fighter commands, the Air Ministry
said.
The Polish wing operating with
the r. A. r. shot down flve Focke-
wuf 1905 In the morning sweep
without loss to itself, and American
built Douglas bombers. escorted by
Spitfires, attacked targets in the
Cherbourg and DunkerQue areas.
One British bomber and two fighters
were missing from the day opera
tions over the Calais -Cherbourg-
Dunkerque- Calais areas.
Enemy Ship Set Afire.
A coastal command bomber or
patrol OF the Norwegian coast was
said to have bombed an enemy sup
ply ship and set it aflre.
British planes crossed and re-
crossed Dover Strait in haze today
and heavy explosions and gunf1re
sounded from Erance-st times ap-
parently from the areas OF Calais,
Boulogne and inland.
The new attack on Rostock-a
marshaling point for Nazi war sup
plies-drew from the London Star
the comment:
Even at the height of its power
the Luftwaffe never launched raids
of such intensity"
Benefited by the excellent wealth
er, the British flyers were said to
have hit with particularly good
effect at the Heinkel plant.
The attack sustained a new round
the-clock cycle of British air raids
on Germany in which the r. A. F.
struck with unprecedented power
twice within "a hours-first with a
pre-dawn assault on the important
Nazi port where. in one hour Thurs
day night, the greatest weight of
bombs" In r. A. F. history was
loosed and later when the largest
British fighter force ever sent
against single objective escorted
bombers attacking the occupied
Dutch port of Flushing in daylight.
Naxis Acknowledge Raid.
The German radio acknowledged
the new raid on Rostock, with DAM
age to houses and some casualties
to civilians, but said one British
plane was downed and mentioned
destruction only in residential areas.
That the British struck on sue
cessive nights against the compare
lively small city OF Rostock was re-
garded In some quarters as a sign
that the Germans are using it as a
great base for rushing men and sup
plies to both Russia and Norway.
Observers pointed out the great
weight of bombs probably left The
port even worse battered than Lue'
beck. twice its size. Lubbock va:
hit Just once with the full force oi
the new r. A. F. bomber power or
March %, and British authoritie:
have said 40 per cent of the cit!
was devastated.
The Air MiniStry,s announcement
indicated that RoStock was hit a!
hard as Lubbock on Thursday nigh
alone.
Nine Fighters Lost.
Nine fighters were lost yesterda!
in the Flushing raid and in sweeps
over Northern France. while fiv'
Nazi planes were destroyed. Ont
of these was Junkers So trooI
transport, shot down in flames b,
two American Eagle pilot officers
Arnold Skinner of Webb City, Mo
and William Daley of Amarillo. Tex
In saying yesterdays fighter groul
was the largest ever employed. tn,
Air Ministry declined to disclost
the actual number
A Copenhagen dispatch relaye,
by Stockholm last night to Reuter-
said British aircraft few over
wide area of Denmark Thursda,
night, dropping bombs at certain
places"
One British plane was reporte
10 have crashed at Soen6er in tn
Province of Shetland