Evening star., 1944-04-12
|ta|y-Based u. S. Bombers Blast
Aircraft Factories Near Vienna;
Others Strike Across Channel
Raids Follow Day
And Night Attacks
By Yonks, British
b. the Associated Press.


flying from Italy, attacked Ger
man aircraft factories in the
Vienna area today, while Brit
ain-based air fleets were sweep
ing toward Europe, carrying
into the fifth day the current
campaign to cripple the German
air force ahead of the invasion.
The 18th Air Force bombers from
Italy concentrated their main at
tack on Messerchmitt factory at
Wiener Neustadt, 30 miles south of
Vienna, dropping many tons of
bombs. Returning crewmen reported
good coverage of this target, which
was heavily damaged last November.
Liberators, escorted by Thunderbolt
fighters, attacked the target.
Another Italy-based force at
tackled an airf1eld and railroad yards
at zagreb, the capital of the puppet
government of Croatia, while Fort
resses bombed cement factory at
Split, important Yugoslav port.
Other Targets Raided.
Aircraft targets in the Vienna
area, besides the Messerschmitt
plant at Wiener Neustadt, were the
components factory of Bad Voslau,
10 miles northeast of the central
Messerschmitt factory.
Fresh waves of Allied planes were
seen winging their way across the
English Channel toward Europe in
midmorning.
Last night Raj heavy bombers
smashed at Aachen, Hanover and
other objectives in Central Ger
many
The night attackers, following up
Yesterdays big raid on Germany by a
fleet Of nearly 1000 American heavy
bombers and fighters which fought
some OF the fiercest sky battles of
the war, braved bright moonlight
in returning to the Reich for
the first time since the March
80 raid on Nurnberg which cost a
record of 81 bombers. Last nights
attack on multiple targets, how
ever, was carried out with loss of
nine planes.
Sixty -four u. S. Bombers Lost.
Sixty-four American bombers and
Is escorting fighters failed to return
from yesterdays blows at plane fac
tories in Oschersleben and Bern
burg and at industrial targets in
Rostock and Arnimswalde, near Stet-
tin, a United States communiuue
said, but the wild battles, even over
neutral Sweden cost the Germans
126 planes. At least So more enemy
aircraft were wrecked on the ground
by American fighters strafing air.
dromes on their way home. Still an
other Nazi plane was downed by the
Swedes after it had opened fire on
Swedish antiaircraft, Swedish
communique said.
Ohclal announcements showed to-
day that American bombers and
fighters in this theater have shot
352 German planes out of the skies
in the last four days.
This brought to 2,61l the an
nounced total of enemy planes de-
stroyed in the air since January |
by Britain based American airmen.
Additional hundreds have been de-
Stroyed aground and others smashed
in aircraft factories before they
could be taken off production lines.
Although the loss in bombers yes
terday was the second heaviest ever
suffered by the 9th Air Force-four
under the 68 missing in the first mass
daylight assault on Berlin March g.
nine of the big aircraft were forced
down in Sweden and the Swedes said
the crews of all were safe, with the
exception of one airman, who was
dead when his plane landed. Three
more heavy bombers were reported
to have landed in Denmark.
10 Americans Rescued.
1t also was reported that fishing
smack had docked at Bornholm Is
land off Denmark with 10 exhausted
Americans rescued from the Baltic
Sea after parachuting from a Grip
pied Fortress.
The Air Ministry described the
blow at Aachen, vital rail link be-
tween Germany, Belgium and North
ern France, as heavy and said the
bombing was well concentrated.
Aachen, center of an important
coal mining and industrial area in
the Rhine Valley, had not been the
target Of major attack since July
13, 1943. Reconnaissance photo
graphs taken after that Raj as
sault showed that 500 acres of the
city had been devastated and 80 of
its factories hit. Heavy damage also
was done to railway tracks, the sta
ton and rolling stock.
In the interim the city had been
hit, however. by Mosquito raiders,
the last time on April l.
Hanover, the center Of the en-
emy's rubber industry, also is the
site OF numerous other war plants
and has huge railway yards. It
has been hit numerous times by
both British and American bombers
and was raided only last Monday
night by Mosquitoes.
Aircraft Plants Hit.
Tho