Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-01-14
Britain Reveals How
Bombers SET OF Nazi
Mines From Air
EleetrieoIIy-C Hoop
Around Planes Used to !.
Explode Magnetic Devices
b. the Associated Press.

~ the Associated Press.
LONDON, Jan. 14.-The Air Min
tstry released 3-year-old secret to-
day In telling how wellington
bombers helped clear the seas
around Brtain's coasts Of the
deadly German magnetic mines
which once were Hitler's secret
weapon" and which threatened the
supply lines to these islands in the
last three months Of 1899.
The story of the hazardous and
unpleasant work" was told for the
first time in Coastal Command" a
new booklet in the series on the
British Air Force, the first Of which
was Battle Of Britain"
The mine sWeepers Of the air were
equipped with "hoop-shaped cas-
ing extending all around them and
secured to their nose, wings and
tail" The casing held a magnetic
coil and the current was supplied
by an auxiliary engine of the ordi-
nary Ford V-8 type.
The equipment was designed to
set up q magnetic current which
would set OF the then new type OF
mine.
Jolted by Mine Explosions.
Coastal Command said that
when the mines exploded the
Wellingtons were severely jolted
and their crews had no warning to
brace themselves. for they could not
know the moment when they would
pass over mine"
Mine sweeping from the air, 1t said.
continued some four months, after
which it became no longer neces-
sarv. the (surface) ships having
been fitted with Degaussing gear"
which nullified the magnetic mines.
Coastal Command" tells the pub
lishable story of the aerial watch
dogs OF Britain's coasts and sea-
lanes. 1t reports they had flown
5000 900 miles in the first two years
of war, escorted 4,947 conveys and
made SGT attacks on enemy subma-
rines.
1t tells OF the intrepid young men
in whom are combined the British
heritage of nautical skill and the
RATS aeronautical genius and fight
ing spirit.
Aided by L. S. Planes.
American-made Hudsons, Cata-
linas and later Liberators played a
big part in the coastal commands
invaluable service to the cause Of
the United Nations, the booklet said.
Magnificently illustrated, the IA
page publication shows many pic
lures never before published, includ-
ing a striking reconnaissance photo !
graph of the German battleship |
Bismarck in Heltje Fjord just be- |
fore she weighed anchor for her
last fateful trip.
Also published for the first time
Is one of the most daring recon-
Nuisance photographs of the war.
obtained by a coastal command
plane which slipped out of the
clouds and got sharp, detailed
closeup of a Hyper class cruiser
in drydock at Brest from an altitude
Of only 500 feet.
The coastal commands biggest
task is the battle of the Atlantic
It's strenuous efforts are credited I
with greatly reducing the menace
of Focke-Wulf Kondor air raiders
and its relentless patrols have
proved big hindrance to enemy !
submarines.
Weather Worse Than Nazis.
Weather has been a worse foe !
of the coastal command than the
German air force, the booklet de-
clares, but patrols have been main
tanned over thousands of square
miles of sea from icy Greenland
to the sweltering tropics of Equa-
torial Africa.
Sea rescues have been an i'm
portant part of the work. In the
first two years of the war about
5000 persons adrift on the sea
after U-boat attacks were sighted
and helped by coastal command
planes.
Rich with anecdotes, both hui
morous and pathetic, the booklet
tells, among other things. how a
patrol plane In difficulties 200 miles
of Iceland on Christmas eve "a
diced, SOS. Am landing in the
sea. Merry Christmas"
That tale had happy ending,
however, for the plane managed to
get home on one engine.