Evening star., 1945-02-04
Aerial
Continued From First page.)

bombers. They concentrated chiefly
on the railroads of Northern Holland
and Northwestern Germany. In an
other area Raj Lancasters escorted
by Spitfires carried the air war to
Hitler's navy by pounding seaports
along the European coastline.
Designed to Cut of Troops.
The all-out aerial assaults are de-
signed to isolate German units on
the western front and keep them
from shifting troops to the east, and
at the same time to soften up the
enemy for possible large-scale push
to the Rhine.
Early broadcasts from Germany
heard in London made no mention
Of the results OF the raid on Berlin,
but Sergt. Clifford L. Whipple,
Syracuse, N. Y, a Bit radio op-
orator, said he heard . Nazi an
nouncer say:
Every man, woman and child is
out fighting the flames with the
Russians only 10 kilometers away"
'Ihe first wave of bombers over
the Reich capital attacked in good
visibility" an air force communique
said. Large fires were started in
the target areas and smoke and
flames which followed caused some
of the last formations over the city
to bomb by instruments"
Flax Intense in Some Areas.
Allied air raiders We're over Ger
many continuously from II am.
to about $3.50 pm. yesterday, and
German radio warnings were re-
newed last night, indicating that
Allied bombers were out for fol-
low-up blow against the Reich.
1t was the first time in the war
that no German planes interfered
with Allied bombers over Berlin, but
some groups of the American force
ran into intense anti-aircraft fire
and returning crews reported seeing
several Fortresses shot down.
A dispatch from Stockholm said
thousands Of the refugees jammed
into Berlin from the east were killed
in the raid when they were unable
to find shelter in the battered city.
AS the first formations lead plane,
piloted by Col. Lewis D. Lyle of pine
Bluff, Ark, began the attack by re-
leasing its bombs over the heart of
the unprotected city, the last forma-
ton of procession of Fortresses
more than 300 miles long was cross
ing the Netherlands coast to add its
bombs to the deluge.
Raj Blasts Naval Bases.
In the diversionary assault, the
400 LiberatorS split a load of 1900
tons OF bombs between the Magde-
burg railyards and the synthetic oil
plant at Rothensee, a suburb of
Magdeburg. The latter is one Of the
last four oil plants still supplying
fuel to the German air and ground
forces.
Later in the day, Raj Lancasters
dropped 12,00O-pound earthquake
bombs on E-boat shelters at Ijmui-
den and naval installations at Por-
tershaven near Maasluis in Hol-
land.
The target for the tremendous as
sault on Berlin was the heart of the
city and included the Anhalter and
Potsdamey railway stations, the
Tempelhof yards and military and
government buildings in which the
Nazis' struggle to direct defense
measures and handle the masses
Of refugees are centered.
It was the 204th air attack of
the war on Berlin, including night
Mosquito attacks by the Raj, but
it was by far the most ,concen-
trated on the center of the city.
A larger number of American planes
attacked Berlin June Il, 1914, but
their bombloads were dispersed
through the industrial suburbs.
Radio Stations Disrupted.
The RAF has made % major
heavy bomber attacks on the Nazi
capital. Today's was the 10th 9th
Air Force assault on the city and
it brought American bomb tonnage
chopped there to $4,000 and the
Allied total to nearly $4,000
The apparent purpose of the
massive raid on Berlin was two
fold-to shatter military transporta-
ton between the east and west
fronts and to deal blow to enemy
morale.
THE attack was aimed at dis
rupting communications through
the capital city" the official an
4I-MMHE