Evening star., 1944-05-22
Fortresses Hit
Nazi Submarine
Base al KieI
Liberutors Pound
Pos-de-CuIuis Area
In Continuing Drive
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
LONDON, May %. Flying
FortreSses bombed the German
submarine center of Kiel and
Liberators pounded German for
tifications in the Pas-de-Calais
area of France today after a
night in which 750 heavy British
bombers saturated the major
island Nazi port of Duisburg
with $500 tons of explosives.
The double -barreled daylight blow
carried the newest Allied aerial pre-
lude to the western invasion past 80
hours of continuous day-night
attacks.
Up to $50 Flying Fortresses and
the same number of Liberators. each
group protected by swarms of Amer
lean fighters, struck the twin assault.
Hanover, rail and rubber GEN.
ter, and German airfield in Bel
glum, were other British targets of
the night. Thirty British planes
were lost in the night attacks.
In all about 5000 Allied planes
most of them fighters, sprayed
nearly every moving piece of Nazi
transport sighted in Western Europe
yesterday with cannon and ma
chine-gun fire. These fighter sweeps
and the Raj night blows dove
tailed into the Allied strategy
aimed at crippling Germany's move
ment of troops and supplies to COM
bat the impending invasion from
the West.
"Very Heavy" Attack.
Duisberg, Germanys greatest in
land port, had been bombed 81 times
previously, Of which seven we're ma
Jor attacks, 1t last was hit hard on
May IL, 1943, and after that attack.
a record at the time, the Air Min
istry announced the entire com
mercial and administrative center of
the city OF 3oo,00U had been laid in
ruins.
The attack on Duisburg last night
was described by the Air Ministry
as very heavy" While Duisburg
was being attacked other British
bomber formations bombed objec-
tlves IN Hanover, raided a Nazi air.
field in Belgium and carried out ex-
tensive mine laying in waters fire.
quented by enemy shipping.
The loss Of 30 night bornbers was
the greatest suffered by the Raj
since May 3, when 40 bombers failed
to return from widespread attacks
on multiple targets in France and
Germany.
Airmen back from Duisburg re-
ported fierce combats over the city.
They had little opposition on the
way to the target, however, and the
bombs started plunging down before
the German fighter pack arrived.
One pilot said the Nazis pursued
homeward-bound bombers beyond
the coast.
Nazi Naval Units Attacked.
Light units of the riddled German
Navy lurking in the English Chan
mel in anticipation of coming events
felt the weight of Allied aerial
might once more when RAF Ty-
phoon fighter -bombers and Spitflre
fighters flew mast-high through in
tense flax to attack a half-dozen
Nazi naval vessels sighted off Cap
F'rehel near ST. Malo last night.
The Air Ministry said the Spit
fires went in first and shot up the
rprno0n chine thn IS
which were minsweepers. Typhoon
pilots said one was in flames as
they went in low to bomb. Obser-
vation of the bombing was difficult,
but one pilot reported a direct hit
or a very near miss. Another
Sllenced the flax from a minesWeeper
with cannon fire. One Typhoon
was missing from the operation.
German transport on another side
of Nazi Europe also suffered sting
ing blows as the Mediterranean Al
lied Air Forces medium and fighter
bombers smashed at bridges and
other installations behind embat-
tied enemy positions in Italy.
Activity over the Channel con-
tinued throughout the forenoon to-
daE with fighter formations sweep
ing out toward the Boulogne and
Dleppe areas as another returned
from Calais.
The gigantic operations yesterday
were unique, since never before had
American fighter forces and the
British I'd Tactical Air Force Joined
In such a gigantic bid aimed at de-
stroying every moving military OBJ
1ect in the Nazis' defense territory
behind the Atlantic wall. From Of
fetal accounts it appeared every
thing in Western Europe was driven
to cover.
Fifty-seVen British and American
planes failed to return from the
sweeps, many of them made at
Of