Evening star., 1943-05-31
$50 American Heavy Bombers
Batter Naples and Foggia Base;
Italian Isles Are Attacked Adain
RAF Hammers
Ruhr Valley City
Of WuppertoI
By the Associated Press.


Axis bases in Southern Italy,
blasted Naples and Foggia by
daylight yesterday and left
smoke-shrouded ruins in their
wake, it was announced today
at Allied headquarters in North
Africa.
Explosions and fires ragged at
Naples, hit by force of more than
100 Flying Fortresses of the North
African command. More than so
Liberator bomberss of the 9th United
States Air Force struck from Middle
East bases at the airdrome of Foggia,
80 miles northeast of Naples
These were the major forays of
a day which included renewed at
tacks on Sardinia, potential stepping
stone of invasion, and Pantelleria,
the battered italian bastion in the
Sicilian Stlaits
Meanwhile statisticians in Lon
don chalked up a new record for
the RAF as 8 resume of operational
reports showed that British flyers
had dumped more than 1000 tons
of bombs on Germany during the
last week in the most furious aerial
offensive in history.
Wuppertal Heavily Bombed.
The Notwithstanding total of
high explosives was concentrated on
five German industrial centers-
Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Jena, Essen
and Wuppertal, all of which are
engaged in the production of ma
terials vital to Adolf Hitlers war
machine.
Wuppertal, a Ruhr Valley city of
4ll000 situated between Essen and
Dusseldorf, felt the might of the
RAF Saturday night when 1900
tons of bombs were unloaded on
the city in one of the heaviest raids
on A.cord.
Returning pilots reported they
left fires from which columns of
smoke billowed up nearly miles
into the sky.
The Germans struck back in re-
prisal yesterday by making their
strongest daylight raids on Britain
IN some time, attacking coastal dis
tricts in series of quick thrusts
which cost them at least half a
dozen planes.
Children Killed in Church.
The brunt Of the German attacks
was borne by town on the SOUTH
west coast. identified by the Berlin
radio as the resort center of Tor
quay, which was bombed by Is
Focke-Wulf fighter -bombers. This
raid caused a considerable number
of fatalities, including 18 children
and three Sunday school teachers
whose bodies later were dug from the
ruins of a church. An unknown
number of children and teachers
was missing. Additional casualties
resulted when hotel was hit and
when the streets were machine
Ayunned by the raiders.
Yesterdays raid was the setond
on Foggia in three days and, by
Italian broadcast accounts, the 10th
against Naples, which was said to
have suffered casualties and great
damage"
"A large force of BIZ Fly
Ing Fortresses yesterday attacked
Naples" said the war bulletin is
sued at Allied North African head
quarters Bombs were dropped on
an aircraft factory and neighbor-
ing air field. Large explosions were
caused in an Oil storage depot and
many fires were reported
A Cairo Communique said the
Liberators thoroughly covered the
Foggia airdrome and scored direct
hits on hangers and barracks.
Numerous aircraft in the dispersal
areas were destroyed. including some
siX-engined craft it said. Black
smoke was observed rising from oil
fires and buildings were left burning
throughout the target area
IA Enemy Planes Destroyed.
For all operations of the day
authorities announced that IA enemy
planes were destroyed in combat
and one plane from the North
African air force failed to return
The Flying Fortresses shattered
important war targets and destroyed
10 enemy fighters in the bristling
bomber returned safely. The Amer
leans made four-fanged attack on
Southern Italys biggest defense
center.
In Naples harbor 320-foot mer-
chant vessel was sunk. A 150-foot
tanker was set afire and another
ship. 1S5 feet long, was damaged
pair shop were hit and two oil
storage tanks were exploded.
The Fortresses also dumped ex-
ploslves on an assembly plant, ma
chine shops and hangers of the air
plane factory in suburban Pompig-
liano and struck at the big Naples
airdrome of Capodichino. where
from 80 to so planes, mostly German,
attempted to beat off the raiders,
but the bombing runs were not
broken.
Some enemy pilots. flying high
above machine-gun range, tried
aerial bombing of the Fortresses, but
this now familiar tactic also failed.
Aerial photographs show many
Capodichino.
Over Sardinia large formstions of
Lightnings bombed railway and
shipping targets.
Freight Yards Blasted.
At Chillvania. railroad junction
freight yards were covered with
bomb bursts and hits damaged a
transformer station, train and sew
eral buildings. The raiders went on
to shoot up the railway station
three trains. the water tower and a
factory at Alghero. The one Allied
plane lost during the day went down
(See RAIDS. Page A-4)