The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-05-22
5000 Allied Fighter Planes
Blast At Germany And France
In Their Greatest War Sweep
SAVAGE ATTACK
TERMED SUCCESS
300. locomotives Shot Ups
Troop Trains, Locks,
Barges Battered

.P)-Three thousand AL
lied planes, mostly fighters,
converted western Europe in
to a gigantic shooting gallery
Sunday, sweeping across Ger
France and the low
countries in the most colos-
sal misunderstanding onslaught
of The way with vast success
Some bombs were dropped bv
fighter-bombers and a medium-siz.
ed force of heavy bombers, but
machine guns and cannon were
the principal weapons.
Fifty-seven British and American
planes failed to return.
The German radio early today
sounded an air alarm for Berlin
after broadcasting warnings that
strong bomber formation was
approaching northern Germany
and a smaller formation was over
Schleswig- Holstein, suggesting that
the great strafing raid was being
followed up by heavy night bonn
Der attacks.
American and British planes Of
every type participated in the sud-
den, savage attack, dealing glGan-
tic blows to the German military
transport system by shooting up
more than 300 locomotives, scores
Of troop carriers and trains, hun
dreds of canal locks and barges
and scores Of grounded enemy
planes.
20 Germans DOwned
Twenty German fighters were
destroyed in air combat, while
IS American fighters failed to re-
turn. This was a record fighter loss
for one days operations, The pre-
vious high having been 80 on
much smaller sweep April is.
TWenty-seven of the American
planes were lost in the tremendous
sweep across Germany beyond Der.
lin.
Coming breathlessly after Satur-
days recordbreaking 6,00O-sortie
bomber and fighter attack, the
great fighter onslaught was regard
ed as one of the most significant
developments to date in the long
process of softening the Nazi d.
lenses for the invasion.
Intense anti aircraft fire met
some of the sWarms of fighters
ranging more than 600 miles from
their bases in Britain, but aerial
opposition generally was light.
A force of so Fortresses and Lib
orators added to the fury of the
air attacks, which roared into their
third successive day, dropping $50
tons OF bombs on the coastal ram
part of Pas De Calais and return
ing without loss, but that heavy
bomber raid was almost lost to
view in the tremendous scope of the
fighter operations.
Targets Drenched
Every military target encounter
ed was drenched with the fighters
50-caliber bullets or cannon fire as
the Eighth air force fighters roar
ed across Germany, the Ninth turn
ed its guns on northern France,
and the Raj dealt with the low
countries and France
Never before have the American
fighter forces and the British Sc
cond tactical air force joined in
such a gigantic bid to destroy ev-
cry moving military object in the
Nazis' offensive territory behind the
Atlantic wall.
1t seemed that almost every
available fighter was thrown into
the effort including American
Thunderbolt, Lightning and Mus
tang fighters, Thunderbolt fighter
bombers, British Spitfires, Typhoon
and Mosquitoes.
The operation was unusual not
orly for its size but it's nature.
From official accounts of the on.
erations it appeared that every
thing on the face of western Eu-
rope was driven to cover.
Most OF the sweeps were at