Evening star., 1944-05-01
Aerial Drive Goes Into 18th Dav:
First AI|-American Tank Outfit
Enters Fig hing in North Burma
French, Belgian
Targets Hit by
1,500 Planes
STAIN SAYS ALLIES must launc

sTALIN SAYS ALLIES must launch
blows against Germans from east
and west. Page AS
By the Associated Press.
LONDON, May Fifteen
hundred or more Allied planes
struck at Nazi installations and
rail lines in France and Belgium
today in the 17th day of the
preinvaSion air offensive, spear
headed by a heavy bomber as
sault on secret targets in North
ern France.
Up to 500 heavy bombers and as
many escorting fighters delivered
the main blow without losing a
plane and then American Maraud-
ers followed up with raids on rail
yards in both France and Belgium,
feeding the German Atlantic wall
defenses.
Separate fleets of RAF mediums
bombed railway objectives in France,
and Mustangs and Thunderbolts hit
the yards at Namur and Haine st.
Pierre in Belgium.
Raj Raids Paris Sector.
The daylight attacks followed an
Raj heavy bomber night raid which
exploded an ammunition dump at
Maintenon, 81 miles southwest of
Paris and hammered two more rail
points in France.
Later today the German radio
said that single planes are over
Western Germany" The broad
cast was recorded by United
States Government monitors in
New York;
The United States heavy bombers
roared out early over the Channel.
American pilots found the weather
none too good and some >forma-
tionS brought their bombs home
rather than drop them uncertainty
and endanger French civilians.
Other groups found holes in the
overcast and reported satisfactory
bombing.
No Fighting Encountered.
'We didn't encounter a single
German fighter" reported Fortress
Tail Gunner Sergt. Harry Shirey,
Elwood City, Pa. What little flax
We saw was off in the distance"
Bostons and Mitchells of the Raj
I'd Tactical Air Force led off to-
days offensive, bombing rail targets
in France under escort of RAF, New
Zealand and Allied Spitfires.
The British night blow itself fol-
lowed close on the blasting which
5000 Allied planes delivered yester-
day against German anti-invasion
targets in France.
Targets of the RATS railroad
busters, which wound up two
straight months of almost continual
hammering at functions on lines
supplying Nazi forces in the west,
were Acheres, near Paris, and So
main, coal-fleld town south of
Lille near the Belgian border.
One British Plane Lost.
An Air Ministry communique said
one British plane was missing, indi-
eating the attackers probably con-
sisted of streamlined but heavily
loaded forces. The war bulletin de-
scribed the attacks as heavy and well
concentrated. British planes also
attacked unannounced objectives in
Western Germany and laid mines
in enemy waters.
Somain also was hit yesterday by
American Marauders and Havocs
during dawn-to-dusk assaults on a
variety of targets vital to the Ger
mans anti-invasion preparations,
including at least eight railyards in
Northern and Central France.
The night blows brought to so
the number of attacks made by day
and night throughout March and
April by American and British raid
ers against at least 80 different rail
functions, most of them in France.
Counting today British based
planes Of the United States Army
Air Forces have been over the con-
tinent 100 of the 122 days of 1914
and the Raj has pounded enemy
targets on 81 nights.
The massive torce of Britain
based planes which carried out yes
terday's daylight operations included
about 1000 heavy American bomb
(See RAIDS, Page A-5J