Evening star., 1943-06-28
French Airports
And RoiI Yards
Also Battered
BY the Associated Press.

another blazing ont. a beach and
brought three more to a stand
still after a night in which RAF
Mosquito squadrons winged deep
into France to hammer airports
and railways in the mounting
Allied aerial offensive.
The sea engagement was re-
ported by the Air Ministry to have
taken place of the Dutch coast
where swift Raj fighters found five
enemy coastal vessels sailing in g
line.
- These vessels were attacked ir
waves and the final wave of flyer.
also attacked ships, believed to be
tugs trying to aid the convoy. One
RAF plane was lost, the Air Ministry
announced, in contrast to the Ger
man high commands claim that
nine were shot down. The Germans
also asserted that the convoy suf-
fered only minor damage, adding
that 60 British planes attacked the
ships of Scheveningen.
Close in With Guns Blazing.
Hurting through intense anti
aircraft fire, fighters closed in to
500 or 600 yards with guns blazing
in the initial attack on the convoy
An explosion and yellow flames sug-
gesting an ammunition fire burst
out of one 800-ton ship, which was
beached, the Air Ministry said.
One pilot saw a 600-ton ship sink
in 10 minutes. When the second
wave of planes came over another
600-ton ship had disappeared.
Other Typhoon bombers arriving
later found two more ships which
looked like tugs plowing to the as
sistance Of the remaining two vessels
at a standstill. One of these poured
out smoke after hits were registered
Gal oNCi IAS1 ~ " oo otoGCd
In the blows by the Mosquitoes the
Air Ministry said two railway yards
were hit. locomotives were rakeo
with machine-gun fire and R-boats
of Cherbourg were straddled with
bombs.
There were no indications that
British planes were over Germany
during the night.
1t was the first time after seven
consecutive nightly attacks against
the Ruhr and Western Germany
that the RAF failed to strike at
war plants in Germany proper.
1t was the ninth night, however
OF the current allied aerial offensive
against Hitler's Europe.
Slacken In Intensity.
The weekend assaults slackened
In intensity, however, from the pun
lShing raids last week on the Ruhr
and on airports and railway targets
in France.
Bad weather hampered operations
Saturday. American bomber crews
returned with bomb racks still
loaded because they could not spot
their objectives through heavy cloud
formations.
Col. Charles E. Merton of Detroit
commander of a group which took
part in a four-ply operation over
France Saturday. declared on his
return: I'VE did not drop bombs
following an Army Air Force policy
OF not bombing unfortunately
over France"
The RAF followed up Saturday
night with raids on unspecified tar
gets in Western and Northwestern
Germany and on objectives in
France.
The Vichy radio declared nu-
merous Allied planes, from single
scatter fighters to four-engined
Fortresses, were over France during
the day.
In the Saturday night mission, the
Raj also laid mines in enemy
waters, it was announced.
London had a brief daylight alert
early today and one enemy plane
was reported destroyed off the
southeast coast. In all other Sunday
operations five enemy fighter planes
were shot down.
(The German press declared
new types of Nazi fighter forma-
tions were being employed sue
cessfully against the Flying
Fortresses which have dealt such
heavy blows to Goering's air
force. Dispatches to Bern assert
ed that 26 American boinbers
were shot down when an attack
on Bremen was thwarted Friday.
An 9th United States Air Force
communique which said North
west German targets were at
tackled Friday in heavy weather
also announced II planes had
been lost)
The current offensive began JUNE
10 with an Raj night raid on the
Schneider armament works at Ii
Creusot, ITO miles southeast of Paris
Only one town of more thar
100 0,000-Muchen- Gladbach, west Of
Duesseldorf-has escaped damage
from the RATS battering of the
Ruhr Valley.
Bochum and Gelsenkirchen were
the last to get heavy load of ex.
plosives.
The Allied air offensive over West.
ern Europe and the Mediterranean
during the week ending yesterday
cost 238 British and American air.
craft, but about 200 Axis planes were
destroyed apart from the enormou.
damage caused by Allied bombs.
The losses were:
Over Britain: Axis, /; RAF, none
Western Europe: Axis, Is by RAJ
and nearly 100" by United State.
heavy bombers; RAJ, 1854, ane
USAAF, 81.
North Africa: Axis, 6s; Allies, n
Middle East: Axis. 33; Allies, /.