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CLOSE TO BERLIN
RAIDS BY R.A.F.
Junkers Factory Damaged
LONDON, Wednesday. — Diving from
the clouded moon, strong forces of the
Royal Air Force bombers carried their
offensive within 60 miles of Berlin last
night when they raided one of Ger
many's main aircraft production
centres, Dessau, and heavily damaged
a Junkers factory and plant, covering
many acres, in systematic hour-long
attacks by the light of parachute flares.
Numerous direct hits with heavy
calibre bombs were scored. The main
power house was destroyed, an experi
mental shed blown up, and air frame
assembly sheds severely damaged.
Coincident with this attack, other Bri
tish raiders, operating 20 miles to the
west, bombed another factory at Bern-
berg where dive-bombers and troop
transports are produced. Salvos of
high-explosive and incendiary bombs
burst within the target area and a
building was reduced to debris.
Munition factories at Lunen and
Grevenbrotch also were bombed and
set on fire.
More squadrons raided military ob
jectives at Frankfurt and Hanover.
Fourteen enemy aerodromes were
bombed, ranging from de Kooy in
Northern Holland southwards to Brest,
and eastwards to Magdeburg. Fires
were still visible when the raiders were
well on their homeward flight.
A 23-year-old bomber pilot who
"went to Hamburg for his birthday
and had a successful night," in a
broadcast account of his latest adven
ture, said he flew into the middle of
German barrage balloons after attack
ing the oil plants at Gelsenkirchen.
He saw one balloon come up right
ahead. He turned away steeply, but his
wing-tip caught the fabric and the
balloon exploded with a bang, audible
above the roar of his engine. His
machine was not damaged. Later he
discovered that he had been flying in
the middle of a thick barrage, and was
between cables when he carried out
his attack.
WAR EFFORT
MR. a YEATES'S COMMENT
BRISBANE, Thursday.— Mr. Her
bert Yeates, MIA. (representing the
Toowoomba branch), speaking at the
annual dinner of the Queensland Real
Estate institute to-day, made an ap
peal for Australia's war effort. All
personal interests must be subser
vient to those of the nation, he said.
I They were living in stirring times.
Hitler had boasted that on that very
day he aimed at going into possession
of England. "There would always be
an England," said Mr. Yeates, amidst
loud applause. The British Empire
would ultimately come out of the
struggle victorious but only subject- to
every ounce of weight being lifted by
tire outpost dominions. They would
never admit defeat and the way to
hold to their slogan was to bring out
every talent for service — none must be
left hidden under a bushel, so to
speak. A full 100 per cent, organisa
tion—faith, hard work and persever
ance—was required. He thought that
before long every man from 18 to 60
years of age would be in training, the
latter for home defence. Every great
Australian, indeed every loyal citizen,
must have been moved at the tragic
air fatalities of the past few days,
both at Canberra and right in their
own peaceful Moreton Bay, where
some of the nation's bright leaders
and brave men of the air service had
lost their lives. They must look to the
future with confidence and become
more determined each day. He sug
gested that those with capital should
supply a proper and reasonable
amount for the sinews of war, after
which real estate was a sound invest
ment, particularly the broad acres in
the country to be used for production.
It was the bounden duty of every
good citizen to 'get behind the Central
Government fully and. throw .. party
politics into the scrap heap until after
the war was won.
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