Evening star., 1944-04-30
BY the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
LONDON, Sunday, April 30
Two thousand American war
planes, smashing through hun
dreds of German fighters in the
greatest daylight battle of the
war, dropped $500 tons of ex-
plosives and incendiary bombs
on invasion-jittery Berlin yes
terday at a cost of SO bombers
and IA fighters.
A United States communique last
night said that 8S German planes
were destroyed in combat, 72 by the
guns OF the Flying Fortress and
Liberator crews, and Is by a power
full escort of American Thunder
bolt, Lightnings and Mustang fight
ers and RAF Mustangs which also
wrecked parked Nazi aircraft and
shot up 81 locomotives.
At midnight the German radio
indicated that Raj night raiders
were carrying the unprecedented
assaults into the 18th straight day
by warning that Allied planes were
over the Rhenish- -Westphalian in
dustrial area of Germany.
The British Press Association said
early today that the Raj was out
in strength over Europe during the
night.
Great Fires in Heart of City.
Great fires were kindled in the
heart of the German capital which
was bombed usually through holes
In a cloud cover. The communioue
termed enemy fighter opposition
"determined' and declared there
were many heavy air battles between
our aircraft and the enemy's."
The German-controlled Vichy ra-
olo IN one OF its most outspoken
broadcasts said fatty that vast
fires broke out in Berlin"
The German fighter force, which
has been refusing combat during
American raids on France this week.
engaged In what returning flyers
described as the greatest mass sky
battles of the war.
Despite the severity of the fight
ing, the loss of SO American bomb
ers was not quite as costly as two
previous missions. 1t was five less
than fell in the first mass assault
on Berlin March 6, and one less
than in the April IL assault on
Oschersleben, Bernburg and Ros-
tock. The total of n planes lost
Friday, however, matched the total
casualties in the March attack
when SO bombers and II fighters
were lost.
Air Fields in France Blasted.
A separate official announcement
said that Thunderbolt fighter
bombers and fighters attacked an
enemy air field near Rennes in
Northern France without loss.
The Berlin assault was declared
to be not only the fierceSt air bat
tie ever fought at the Nazi capital;
1t was the fiercest ever fought in
the whole course of the war.
The Germans threw up their new
twin-engined plane, the Focke Wulf
189, among others, and Nazi airmen
unhesitatingly flew their planes into
their own flak-making suicides of
whole squadrons.
simultaneously another force of
up to 500 Flying Fortresses and
Liberators from Italy beat against
the southern rim of Hitlers i'm
perilled continental fortress, hurl-
Ing a great weight of explosives on
the port and submarine pens of
Toulon, French Mediterranean naval
base. In the two-way offensive,
$4,000 tons Of bambs have been
showered on Axis targets.
Raj Attacks Norway.
The two American daylight blows
followed night plunge across the
North Sea by big Raj Lancasters,
which attacked a major German air
base repair depot at KELLER, II
miles outside the Nazi-held Nor
Weigian capital or Oslo.
The radius of these three at
tacks-Oslo being SIS miles north
west Of Berlin and Toulon TOO miles
southwest of the Nazi high COM
mand strategy center-gave an ex-
(See RAIDS, Page A-4)