Evening star., 1943-06-18
Germans Strike Back
Over Channel as RAF
Continues Offensive
Post Office on Major
London Street Hit,
With Few Casualties
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
LONDON, June l8.-The RAF
carried its current offensive
against Axis targets across the
Channel last night while the
German Air Force dropped
bombs in London and on a south
coast town.
Intruder planes ranging over
Northern France dropped their
nightly packet of bombs on the air.
field at Polk, near Amiens; peppered
speeding E-boat of the French
coast with bombs and cannon fire.
and shot up railway trains and
barges. the Air Ministry News Serv-
ice said.
One Mosquito pilot reported that
he believed he had hit an ammuni-
ton train standing at station so he
went back and fired through the
trainshed, touching off more ex-
plosives.
The forays were on small scale
compared with the attacks carried
out during the last week on Dues
seldorf. Muenster. Bochum. Ober-
hausen and Cologne, which had its
1l6th raid of the war Wednesday
night
Two Killed in Post Office.
Nazi raiders. meanwhile, running
at top speed and low over London
rooftops, plopped down a single sur
prise bomb in major street, wreck
ing post Office and killing two per-
sons. Two others were seriously in
jured and several were slightly hurt.
The explosion sounded before any
gunflre was heard and hundreds
gathered to watch rescue workers
eXtricate men and women trapped
IN the post office shelter.
The post Office fire, extinguished
after several hours, gave London S
civil defense workers their biggest
test in months. Home guardsmen
were among the injured
Three or more persons were killed
in another raid on South England
coastal town, which Berlin said was
Portsmouth.
The Berlin radio acknowledged
that Allied aircraft we're over Reich
territory" last night. but did not
say whether its reference was to
Germany or occupied soil.
U. S.-Built Airfield Taken Over.
An early report by Reuters from a
recording of Rome broadcast
quoted the italian radio as saying
that Berlin was one of last nights
targets, but later Reuters declared
that the Italians evidently were re-
ferring to an alert in the German
capital the night before
Meantime, as another forerunner
of the obliteration air offensive still
to be unleashed against Germany, it
was disclosed today that the second
American-built, American manned
airdrome to be completed within the
last month was formally taken over
by the 9th United States Air Force.
1t is a 6OO-acre, $8.0O0,O 900 plant.
IL months in the making. Ameri-
cans built it with materials supplied
by the British Air Ministry.
Commenting on the 8th's part In
the current aerial war, Maj. Gen.
Ira c. Eaker, commander of the
force, said he was satisfied with
the results of the great battle over
Kiel. I have congratulated the
flyers who bore the brunt of it as
have Gems. Arnold and Devers >.
1t was significant victory
The force. without fighter escort,
bombed Kiel and Bremen in a
double -barreled attack last Sum-
day, during which 26 heavy bomb
ers were reported lost while prob
ably 100 German fighter planes
were destroyed.
Ours is not primarily an aerial
dogfight between bombers and
fighters Gen. Eaker said. Its a
battle between bombers intent upon
destruction of German war indus
try and the fighters whose existence
depends upon delaying that in
evitable conclusion"