Evening star., 1943-07-11
Allied bombers Raid
Ruhr Factories and
French AirfieIds
BY the Associated prsss.

BY the Associated Press.
LONDON, July 10.-Resources OF
the Axis war machine, straining to
break through the Russian armies
and to stand on Allied invasion in
the Mediterranean, were whitfield
down today by fresh bombing of
factories In the Ruhr and airfields
in France.
Big British bombers executed q
| very heavy attack" on the Central
Ruhr Valley Of Germany last night.
Among the targets was Gelsen-
kirchen, oft&battered oil refinery,
iron and steel center, authorities
announced.
Both United States Flying Fort
resses and RAF light bombers
pressed the offensive today. attack
ing enemy fighter bases at Caen and
Abbeville in Western France, where
direct hits were observed.
German Strain Seen.
Ten British bombers were lost dur
ing the night raid, and three Flying
Fortresses from the daylight opera
tions. The comparatively small toll
was seen here as possible indica-
ton of weakeni~T of enemy fighter
forces under J,iv strain OF three
front aerial warfare.
An 9th Air Force headquarters
statement said the Caen Airfield is
one of the airdromes used by Reichs-
marshal Goering's crack squadrons
and that the attack came at time
when enemy reserves are sorely
pressed on diverse fronts"
The American heavy bombers,
which thundered over the English
Channel few hours after the Raj
made the night assault on the Ruhr,
encountered adverse weather and
thick clouds in the attack on Nasi
air force headquarters at Caen and
the Abbeville fighter field.
Met Little Resistance.
Returning crews said they met
surprisingly little enemy opposition
in an area where they usually run
into swarms of Reichsmarshal
Goering's yellow nose" Focke-Wulf
squadrons, flown by ace pilots.
No enemy formation was contact
ed over Abbeville.
A number of Nazi fighters was
destroyed, however, by another
group of Flying Fortresses. which
had considerable opposition and
turned back without bombing its tar
get, obscured by clouds.
American PAT Thunderbolt and
British Spitfire fighters escorted the
heavy American bombers.
The strength of the British at
tack on the Ruhr, and the American
sweeps over France, indicated the
Allied air offensive on Western
Europe would not be diminished by
the southern assault on Sicily.
Nazi Power Spread Thin.
Home Secretary Herbert Morrison
said, in a speech at Londonderry,
that continuous British and Amer
lean blows permitted less than half
the German air power to face the
Russians in the east, and its re-
manning strength was spread thinly
elsewhere in Europe.
He attributed the spreading to
threats of more Allied attacks. any
where from the north cape of Nor
way to the Greek islands. and said:
To-day the axe is laid to the root |
of the tree."EF' st-s
The relatively low loss of Raj
bombers last night indicated British |
pilots took full advantage of wealth
er conditions unfavorable for enemy |
night fighters and anti-aircraft |
gunners, as we'll as showing possible |
weakening of German defenses.
The Germans reported Bochum.
industrial city just southeast OF
Gelsenkirchen, was hit last night,
but the British confined their brief
communique to naming the central
Ruhr, including Gelsenkirchen. Both
cities were raided heavily June Is.
German Barrage Heavy.
The Air Ministry reported the
Raj bombers ran through "one of
the flercest barrages" of the long
battle of the Ruhr, but that night
fighters were mot nearly so nu-
merous as usual
Heavy and light guns opened fire.
as soon as the bombing feet crossed
the Ruhr boundaries, the Air Min
istry said, and the area of flax
spread for miles. Thick clouds.
however, made the hundreds of
searchlights in this area Ineffective.
British crews said they could see
the glow Of great fires reflected
against the clouds as they turned
for home, but the night was too
dark for full observation of the
hopobipc results