The Wilmington morning star., 1944-05-01
Air Invasion Is Carried
Into 18th Day By 5000
Allied Bornbers, Fighters
DEFENSES RAIDED
Coastal Fortifications In
France Hammered By
Great Armada


ably 5000 Allied planes - includ-
ing three American task forces OF
Of 1000 heavy bombers
and fighter - poured explosives
on German airdromes, coastal de-
lenses and railyards in France to-
day, and Europe's radios blared
forth indications that the Gar
gantuan aerial offensive was roll
ing inevorably on into the night.
It was the Wind-up Of month
in which about 100000 tons OF
bombs were hurled on the CONT
nent by Allied planes from Brit
ain and Italy.
Streams of planes Numbered
across the Channel throughout
the dag - the 18th day OF histo-
rvs greatest sustained air as.
saults. Only one heavy bomber.
one medium bomber and four
fighters were lost in the opera.
tons, in contrast to the So bomb.
ers and IA fighters which failed
to return from yesterdays 1000
ton hammering of Berlin.
The three formations of Flying
Fortresses and Liberators rained
their bombs in separate blows at
Pas-De-Calais, an airdrome near
Lyon and fighter nest near Cler.
month errand. in both south and
central France and the Ninth Air
Force announced it's Marauders
and Havocs dropped more than
$50 tons of bombs on French rail-
yards.
Formations believed to include
heavy bombers were seen cross
ing the Channel this evening, in
dicating anti-invasion targets in
France were being still pound
ed. The Vichy radio said Allied
formations flew over the Alps and
the Danube at about 7:30 p. M,
suggesting that targets in Aus
tria might be under attack by It.
aly-based planes.
The Budapest radio later warm
ed that air raiders were approach
the Hungarian capital. Perhaps
Illustrative Of its fear Of night
operations, the Berlin radio an
nounced it was going off the air
''for technical reasons for 10
hours. from 9 p. M, German time,
to Z a. m. This was one of the
longest periods of silence it has
ever announced.
Three airfields in northern
France were bombed and shot un
by Lightnings, Thunderbolts and
Mustangs in a late afternoon at
tack, that encountered no opposi-
ton. Still other Thunderbolt fight
er bombers returned to northern
France at dusk to bomb railyards
IN the Arras Cambria area without
loss, while Marauders and Havocs,
in their second operation of the
day, attacked railyards at Somain
Bethune and Busigny in France
shortly before dark. Raj Mitch
ellis, Bostons and Mosquitoes also
bombarded French railyards.
Added today to yesterdays toll
Of 80 German planes wrecked in
air combat, were Is more German
fighters, plus a number Of others
destroyed on the ground.
Every type of daylight raider
participated in today's dawn to
dusk slaught, some of them 60
ing out two or three times.
1t. Gen. James H. Doolittle dis
closed in speech broadcast ia
America that the Eighth Air
Force dropped over $4,000 tons Of
bombs during April, the greatest
month of operations in aerial war;
fare history, and had destroyed
more than 1900 German planes
I'm the air and on the ground.
This, he said, was substantially
more than THE Nazi rate of pro-
duction.
Doolittle said the months as
saults cost 359 bombers and 144
fighters. His estimate of bomb
tonnage was considered conserva-
tive since check of daily COM
shows that Eighth Air
Force bombers flew about $1,000
sorties in April and previous Of
fetal figures have shown their
average load as 5000 pounds per
plane.