The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-10-15

CONTINUED from Page -
EFFORT was worth the cost. No en-
zine, whether in plane, ship, tank
pr locomotive, can operate without
bearings and Brigadier General
Frederick L. Anderson, bomber chief
command, recently described Sch
weinfurt the most important tar
get in Europe"
On one previous occasion - Aug
ust II - the Eighth U. s. Air
Force lost SO heavy bombers in a
single day, but in two raids, SO fail
Ing to return from an attack on
The same targets at Schweinfurt, IS
miles east of Frankfurt, and %
from O shuttle raid on Regensburg,
S. miles southeast of Nurnberg.
The Royal Air Forces biggest
single loss in q night raid was So
in an attack on Berlin last August
Is.
An average of 400 bombers have
been participating in recent Amer
lean raids on Europe and II that
average were maintained yesterday,
the so bombers lost would conSti-
ttite is per cent of the raiding
force, FIVE per cent more than the
usual maximum that can be afford
ed.
A Zurich dispatch said one Fort
ress made forced landing In Swift
zerland with three of the 10 crew.
men wounded. Two Of the crewmen
were believed to have parachuted
ed over Germany.
The official German news agency
issued its customary exaggerated
claim, asserting that 80 enemy
planes had been shot down over
southwest Germany, including 20
out Of one formation and IS bomb
ers. Many of the Americans were
burned to death when their planes
exploded as they hit the ground,
the broadcast said.
The German transocean agency
hailed the aerial battle as 'one OF
the greatest German defensive VIC
tories" but acknowledged that the
raiders had caused considerable
damage" In Schweinfurt.
Some crewmen said they saw
smoke and debris from their block
busters soar 5000 feet into the air.
Major Theo Diltv, %. Of Sabinal,
Tex, deputy group leader, said
the target was smashed to he'll"
Many Fires
There were fires all over the
target area" he said. Il have never
seen anything like it,"
Second Lieut.. Howard Kliemetz
Of Escanaba, Mich, said the three
plants were hit so hard that
Schweinfurt will have ball bearings
all over the place"
The Germans obviously threw
every fighter plane they could mus
ter against the Fortresses, other
crewmen said, and they used every
weapon at their disposal, including
aerial bombs and rocket guns.
Even Anticipated fighters joined in
attacks on the Fortresses and one
American Flyer remarked he would
not have been surprised to see 1.-THE
Wright Brothers up there"
The Fortresses shot down 81 in
tercepting enemy fighters and prob
ably shot down AZ more, while the
thunderbolts destroyed 10 enemy
planes and probably destroyed three
more.
The Schweinfurt raid ended a
three-day lull In Eighth Air Force
operations.
Another official American state
ment reported that reconnaissance
photographs had disclosed that both
the huge Focke-Wulf assembly
plant at Marienburg and the COM
ponent factory at Anklam were
knocked out Of production in Satur-
days raids on Northeastern Ger
many and Poland.
The Stockholm newspaper Sven
ska Dagbladet quoted Swedish crew.
men who were In Gdynia harbor
when the four-engined bombers hit
the Polish port Saturday as saying
that 10 vessels, including the 49,
387-tone ocean liner Stuttgart and
two small warships, were sunk.
Ship VaniSheS
In addition, Pocket battleship
which was in the harbor at the
beginning Of the raid disappeared,
but the crewmen were not certain
whether 1t had sunk or put to sea.
The coal harbor was damaged so
extensively that coal shipments,
especially to Sweden and Finland,
probably will be suspended, the
Swedish seamen said.
One bomb was said to have hit
the Gestapo headquarters at Gdy-
MIA, while others cut broad path
through the center Of the city. Pam
plnIets were dropped warning that
the raid would be repeated.
The British Air Ministry said
Reconnaissance photog raphs of
Hanover in Northwest Germany
showed more than one and a half
square miles in the business and
administrative center Of the city
almost completely devastated. Fires
burned for three days after the Raj
raid 8 week ago tonight, the min
lstry said.