The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-12-21
British Raid

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the two attacks, in subsidiary Mos
quito raids on western Germany and
Belgium and in mine-laying opera
lions. 1t was the biggest loss in q
single night since A bombers failed
to return from raid on Leipzig and
other operations the night of Octo-
Der 20.
Guided by flares dropped by Path
fielder planes which swept over
Frankfurt shortly before the main
attack, hundreds of Britain's big
gest bombers laid a pattern of
bombs, ranging from four-ton super
blockbusters to two-pound incen-
diaries, across the city's sprawling
chemical and arms factories.
First reports indicate the bomb
ing was effective and large fires vert
left burning the air ministry an
nounced.
Besides several I. G. Farben
plants turning out all kinds of
chemical products from explosives
to poison gas, Frankfurt has air
craft. machine tool, arms, tanks and
armored vehicle plants.
Last nights was the first attack
on Frankfurt since November Is and
was believed to have left a huge
area of the important industrial
center in flaming ruins.
Secondary Assault
No details were made available
Immediately of the secondary as
sault on Mannheim udwigshafen
40 miles to the south.
The Royal Air Force obviously
split its forces last night in an at
tempt to catch the German defenses
of guard. However, the loss of a.
bombers indicated that the forma-
tons ran into heavy opposition.
Royal Canadian Air Force planes
rounded out the nights attacks
with raids on enemy shipping in
the English channel.
In daylight yesterday, eighth U.
s. Air Forces Flying Fortresses and
Liberators left Germany's second
port of Bremen wreathed in smoke
and flames. Forty enemy fighters
were shot down, 81 by the heavy
bombers and 10 by escorting fight
NAo, u5aAilot d ADD "a GJ Z VI llGSSGo
and Liberators and eight fighters.
Several hundred American and
British medium and light bombers
attacked military detectives through
out northern France yesterday. All
bombers returned safely, but three
Allied fighters were lost. Eight en-
envy fighters were destroyed
German planes struck back feebly
at southeast England last night and
dropped bombs at several points. A
brief alert was sounded in London.
Sofia Bombarded
In the Mediterranean theater,
American flying Fortresses and Lib
orators that hit Augsburg and mss
bruck Sunday shifted their assault
to the Balkans and bombarded Sofia
and the Eleusis airfield outside
Athens, Greece, yesterday.
Strong formations of Liberators
laid their bombs across the Sofia
railway yards in the fourth Amer
lean raid of the war on the Bulgar-
Ian capital, hub of the Nazi supply
network for southeastern Europe.
Locomotive repair shops, warehouse
es and other installations were COW
cred with smoke as the bombers
tunred for their homeward journey.
a German DNB dispatch from
Sofia said 80 planes participated in
the attack and claimed that num-
Der of dwellings and an elementary
school were destroyed with civilian
Casualties.
The raid came at a time when the
Bulgaria ngovernment was reported
trying desperately to find a way out
OF the war in advance of any Allied
invasion of the Balkans. Cabinet
members toured the bombed areas
after the raid, DNB said.
Swedish dispatches said the CEN
ter of Sofia was damaged during
the attack, which lasted more than
an hour and half.
Four Waves
-Four waves of flying fortresses,
attacking at intervals of two to
three minutes, hit runways, parked
aircraft and hangers at Eleus!s.
Many nangarS were reported set
afire and returning crewmen re-
ported the bombing results were sex
cellent."
Both the Sofia and Eleusis forma-
tons were forced to fight their way
through Swarms of enemy lighters,
bfut the bombers and their fighter
escorts shot down % enemy planes
for a two-day bag of II aircraft.
American losses over the Balkans
were not specified, but an Allied
communique issued at Algiers said
IL planes were lost In all operations
yesterday, including a fighter bomb
er sweep over Rome, during which
rolling stock and motor transport
were destroyed.