AD_ MINISTRY BULLETIN 814. 1/6/40 AIR MINISTRY NEWS SERVICE AIR BATTLE AT S:CA LIWLL THREE AVRO ANSONS OF ·THE CO,,\B'?.AL COlAMANDa LIGHTLY ARMED AIRCHAP.r USED FOR RECONNAISANCE -ENGAGED NINE MESSERSCHlf1ITT FIGHTERS TODAY BETWEEN CALAIS AND OSTEND. TWO OF THE ENEMY WERE SHOT DOVJN, TWO WERE DISABLED AND THE REST FLEW AWAY. THE .ANSONS , . i"!1IICH FOUGHT 50 F . .ET ABOV:.G THB S:CA , ALL RETURNED) SAFELY WITH TWO MEMBERS OF T!IBIR CREWS WOUNDED. ONE ANSON ACCOUNTEC FOR TWO OF THE ENEMY FIGHTERS • • II I FLEW ONLY A FEW FEET ABOV:C THE WATER' II THE PILO'f· SAID, "AND THREW THE ANSON ABOUT ALL OV.cR T!IB PLACE. AT TIMES, I COULD SEE FOUR STREAMS OF TRACER BULLETS COMING IN 'Nri DIRECTION. I TURNED .AND. GAVE THE MESSERSCHMITTS A ~-WHEN THEY CAME IN FOR THEIR THIRD ATTACK. . THEY DISPERSED' BUT ONEnm NO'! GET VERY FAR. IT WAS HIT BY MY REAR GUNNER AND CRASHED IN THE SEA. THE TWO OTHERS RESl.Thffi!} THE ATTACK, BUT ONE CAME TOO NEAR. A SINGLE BURST SENT HilJl INTO THE SEA. THE SURVIVOR WITHDREW AF1'ER I HAD DAMAGED HIM SEVERELY•" THERE WERE ONLY FOUR BULLET HOLES IN THE ANSON. AIR MINISTRY BULLETIN No.807 1/6/40. -No. 2. AIR MINISTRY NEWS SERVICE Advancing Germans Bombed. Many direct hits on enemy troo:p concentrat.ions and motorised columns on the Nieuport road -on the BelP~ian coast ­were made by aircraf't of' the Fleet Air Arm Operat~.nG with the Coastal Command yesterday (Friday) af'ternoon. The aircraf't were out to attack roads on which the Gerraans were bringing up troops and ammunition trucks. Theyfound the roads crowded, approached at 9,000 feet, and then split into two formations. Diving to 2,000 feet they Made simu]..taneous attacl{S on two roads. Scores of heavy bombs were dropped~ As the smoke of the explosions cleared, the pilots saw craters in one road at an important junction. Nearbyhouses were demolished. ' One pilot saw his bombs make a direct hit on a large, open touring car escorted by two motorcycle out-riders. Other bombs fell directly on lorries and bodies of troops. The second f'light saw similar results f'rom their bombs. They watched a large red building at a road junction crumble into ruins, and a particularly f'ierce explosion followed their last salvo. Other bombs struck on the roads and on houses in a German-occupied village, The whole attack was made in face of heavy anti­~ircraf't fire, but none of our aircraf't was harmed. AIR .AFFAIRS +++++++ AIR !,aNISTRY NEWS SDRVICE --~---.... ...... _...,.,,._,. ._._____,............._.... Y~~:fIB.-~~ ~AllELl)}f.I;-tI.91:1..FROM.:Iti&.SKl.DS .JkA\•.F.,,__P:-.ID.·.-~9~11. A..)~.J~N....Q/•Ji.lLl.~. Squadrons of the R.A.F. Com}_)m1ont, flyinc with gracnt daring, ho.vo uclcled to tho epics of tho defence of Calais 1Jy dropi1ing wator~ ammunition n.nc1 hanc1 Grennde:s to thu heroic c:. In London he was greeted by Mr o /mthony Eden? Secretary of State f'or War, and members of the Arrri:y Council, then on t o the War Office. Only a few members of the publ ic who hab:Ltually haunt Whitehall saw his arrivalo Gort was back home ~ 11omo i n t he pl ace he knew so well., Marching along those long corridors he could hold his head high, f'or he hacI reuurned as a Commander who had not f ailed in his task., He had taken out a Great Army and a Great Army had returned after performing deeds oO heroism that will be blazoned in the colours of many proud regiments throughout t he year s to come1, The Army has· returned on l eave , leave t o fight again and to win. Lord Gort too is on leave, a short Ieave 1 f or he cannot long be spared from the battlefieldo As he said in the tratn coming t o London "We will. meet them again and next time the victory will be with us.," There spoke the s oldier9 the comrade~ the man who is a man among men, the leader who is also a fighter ., ' WAR OFFICE 1/6/40 -No. 24 NOT TO BE Q,UOTED AS A WAR OPFICE .ANNOUNCEMENT When he arrived in London· early to-day, Lord Gort was met at the station by Mr. Anthony Eden, Secretary of State for War. He was subsequently in conference at the War Office. Later Lord !~·ort was received by H. M. The King at Buckingham Palace. ----000-.----­ MILITARY AFFAIRS 1/6/40 -NO. 2'5 COSTLY GERMAN ATTJ~CK ON FRENCH CASEMATE The losses inflicted upon the enemy have been enormous, whether in attack or defenceo So great indeed have these been in some cases that what would seem to be a local· German success has been won at such an appalling cost in men, material and munitions that the real victory has certainly been on the side of the defenders. A shining example of this is afforded by the story of the heroic defence by a handful of Frenchmen of an isolated casemate whose capture was broadcast by the Germans as the fall of an important part of the Maginot Line. For several days Second-Lieutenant Bourguignon and the men under him maintained the defence of their position "up to the &apreme sacrifice" in the words of the army report.. The German attack was at its height, heavy artillery was brought to bear on the isolated casemate, shells came down against the cement, but in spite of repeated hits which might have shaken the nerves of the strongest, each man remained at his posto Shelling hav:tng po effect an ·aeroplane was brought into play and began dive bombing with its heaviest bombs, but steel and concrete resistedo A wave of German infantry then attacked with machine gun and light cannon aiming at the openings.. The defenders gave back shot for shot, but were so busy with their guns and half-blinded by the smoke that they did not see a party of the enemy who found a blind spot and laid a charge. There followed a terrific explosion which rocked the ground like an earthquake. The casemate still held but one of its mechanisms was put out of action. The Germans rushed forward believing the defenders to be stunned by the shock of the explosion.. But they were met by a burst of fire and in an instant great heaps in field-grey were piled up in the wire entanglements riddled with machine-gun bulJltet~, Recourse was had once more to the aeroplane, eight to sixteen bombs at a time were dropped again, with a further barrage from the heavy artillery. But the attack had been going on for some days, the French fire began to slow down as one after the other cannon and machine-gun r an out of ammunition. S/Lieutenant Bourguignon and his men were stil] at their posts, but their weapons were uselesso The air in the casema1te was becoming unbreathable. Against a last wild rush the little force ga thered its remaining strength and launched its last grenades. When the Germans entered at l ast, they found that for days they had spent hundreds of lives, shells, bombs and munitions to overcome an enlarged pillbox and its half dozen defenderso MINISTRY OF INFORMATION The following is issued by Naval i;:6/4o Affairs for such use as the­ Press may wish to make of it~ THINGS OF SPLENDOUR ·---.-......---·---....~-­ BY NAVAL EYE-V!ITNJ..§.§: Yesterday was the ru111iversary of the Battle of Jutland, I was on the bridge of one of our destro~rers packed from end to end with men of the British Expeditionary Force, heading for a South ~oast port. And it passed through my mind that in war there are successes which dissolve into nothingness, and retreats and reverses that are things of splendour -which time reveals as the turningpoint that leads to victory. At the time Jutland looked like anything but a victory. Yet we know now that it sealed the doom of the German Fleet in the last war. .And it may well be that this triumphant extrication of the B.E.F. from Belgium may prove j.ust such another turning point in this war. After what I have seen I believe it to be so, All day Thursday I spent at the south C:oast base where the ships that brought the army off came and went. For days and nightsthere had been a continuous stream to and fro of transports and destroyers, sloops and trav1lers, coming back crammed to their utmost capacity with men. They had been shelled by coastal batteries ~d bombed almost ceaf'Jelessly from the air. They embarked thousands from beaches, men wading out to their armpits to reach·the boats. They embarked tens of thousands from piers and jetties, beating off the German bombers with their guns while the troops climbed on board, and they told me of men of a Scottish regiment who scrambled: onto a destroyer fo~ecastle in the last stages of exhaustion and· joinedin the fusillade with their rifles, trying to shoot down the' low­diving bombers. I was on board a destroyer in the afternoon that had just come back from the beacheso She had had 52 bombs dropped over her and she had lost her capt ain , but she came back crammed to capacity, They had only one boat, a whaler, to bring them off. The other boats were splintered and out of action. What seemed to worry them most was the behaviour of a Germa.i1 bomb that burst in shallow water on the bottom of the sea and deluged the whole ship and everybody on board with grey mud~ The gunner's mate was the happiest man on board. He had found a Bren gun abandoned on the beach. It was full of sand and he spent a blissful afternoon taking it to bits and oiling it and putting it · together again, "We' 11 have some fun with this tomorrowl!i, he said, "'] 1 ve never ovmed a Bren gun before:"; I remember while I was watch~ng his fingers fiddling .with the complicated mechanism, a little sloop came past us, having just landed her troops, on her way to t nke in fuel. Her funnel and upperworks were so riddled with borrhsplinters that she looked like a colander. Her ~aptain's face was covered with bandages, leaving a hole for one eye, and he was conning his ship with that. BUt they were all laughing at our baptism of gre;r mud, so my hosts laughed back at their splinter holes -because that grey mud rankled rather ­and wished them luck next trip. -2 ­ I sailed in another destroyer about midnight. Calm and clear and starlit, and the sea like a mill pond. As we approached the French coast we could see the German searchlights wheeling nervously to and fro and suddenly a battery opened fire. Our guns swung round and everybody crannned on his "tin hat" a bit tighter, but they weren't firing at us. We could see the tracer · shells soaring up towards the stars, presumably aimed at our coastal bombers. There was a dull glow of firesalong the horizon, and "flaming onions" bursting into red flares. We wriggled our .way through the minefields until we: were nearing Dunkirk. The oil tanks were still blazing furiously and there was an occasional sound of distant gunfirea Once a shell landed in one of these blazing tanks and a huge red glare blazed up almost to the zenith. It died down again and the moon came out from behind a cloud, giving the sea and sky a queer semblance of peace in contrast to the bla~ing inferno ashore. ' Just then, about 3 o'clock in the morning, in the middle of the swept channel, we bumped some wreckage and fouled one of our propellers. So there we were with one engine out of action. The Captain tried to clear the mess by going ahead with both engines, but the ship protested by making a series of strange jumps like a wallaby, so. we desisted, and crept ahead on one engine till we reached the entrance to Dunl{irk harbouro There we lay-to, and explained by flashing lamp to the British Admiral in Dunkirk what had happened.o To enter a harbour and manoeuvre alongside a wharf with only one engine under shell-fire is a tricky business. The Captain wasn't sure if he was justified in taking the risk without authority. While we were waiting for the reply a German bomber appeared. It was getting light and he hovered on the edge of the dark clouds, having a look at us. Our shell fire drove him back into the cover of the clouds, and every time he poked his nose out a desperately accurate barrage drove him away againo Thenfi'om the inside of the harbour came the flicker of a signal lampo 11Enter harbour forthwith" it said. 11Right," said _the Captain rather grimly. "I suppose it is better to enter Heaven maimed and with one propeller than to stopoutside." So he rang down half speed on both engines, and after one protesting buck jump, the obstruction, whatever it was, cleared itself, and we proceeded smoothly through the entrance. It was light enough to see the outlines of the town buildingsstill standing, black against the glare of fires, and the vast clouds of smoke billowing away to the eastwardo And it was light enough to see assembled the whole length of the mole thousands of men of the British Expeditionary Force, waiting patiently for embarkation. There was a French destroyer already alongside filling up with men. There was a trawler alongside also, but she had been sunk by bombs and only her masts and funnel were above water. The white ensign was still flying bravely at her masthead. We went alongside between them, watched by those thousands of patient eyes under the shrapnel helmets. It was nearly low water and the top of the mole was level with our bridge. Scaling ladders were lowered and down they came as fast as fully equipped, fully armed men could climb. This was no army in defeat. They looked in magnificent fettle, ruddy and burly, and wearing full equipment. Dog tired after fighting a rear-guard action day and night for a week, as well they might be, but for the matter of that, the Navy that was bringing them off could have done with a bit of sleep themselves. Every man as he got on board grinned and said "Thank God" and settled dovm quietly in a bit of deck space like a well behaved school-treat packing into a motor-coach for an outing. Then a bomber reappeared overhead, and we opened fire. A French destroyer came in through the entrance, firing as she came, followed by a British destroyer, The embarkation continued as calmly as.if nothing out of the ordinary was happening,, German shells began bursting at the end of the mole with methodical regularity, hitting nobody; about one a minuteo A few stretcher cases arrj_vcd~ carried by men too tired to avoid stumblingo As each was lowered on to the gun platform between burst ·of fire, the surgeon bent over each case with the mercy of the morphia syringe in his haDd.o We were full up at lasto Every inch of space on deck and below crammed with meno 1\lready many of them were asleep where they lay, and many of those who slept had smiles on their faces, as if they were congratulating themselves even in sleep on a good job well done~ As we went out we met another of our destroyers coming in, and the ti.red men raised a croaky cheer as she went pasta I talked to a good many of them9 and I talked to many of our sailors who had talked to themo They were not just undaunted -they talked like victorso But for the German superiority in aerial bombers they knew themselves the masters of the enemyc1 They weren't braggarts. They kn~, that was allo They were just a haphazard collection of men from any number of regiments, but in physique and bearing they might have been the pick 1 of the crack regiment of an arm~ro Ne all felt happier that morning than we had felt since the war started.a 11 Give us a chance for a wash and brush up and a bit of sle8p9 and let~s get back. wetve got Jerry beat .. " That is in effect whci.t they all saide The English Channel was an extraordinary sight as the sun roseo It looked something like Henley regatta; as if every craft on the ·. south coast that could float was heading for Dunkirk and the beaches to finish off the jobo There were barges and wherries, yachts and launches, little boats i n t o ·;,r of bigger boats, and presently up through the middle of them came an overseas convoy from the other side of the world. There was somehow about them -· their bright red ensigns and their guns cocked up on the sterns ~ an indescribable jauntiness. Overhead, swooping t o ancl f'r•o. above this incredible scene, was a Sq'\.ladron of spitfireso When eventually I landed at our base, the quay was thronged with thousands of men being fed and sorted out and entrained. It was 11' vast sea of khaki, and slung rifleso And as I threaded my way through them something bright caught my eyeo One of the soldier,J had a child~ s spade and bucket dangling from the muzzle of his riflec They were painted bright orange. Perhaps he was the regimental je3tero Perhaps he kept them in good heart on those terrible beacheo with those absurd baublesd Perhaps he had found them .in an abandoned kiosk and was bringing them back for his children -strong in his faith in the Navy to bring him back to his child.reno I don't knowo I dj_dn~t ask hlm because in that moment I knew something more importanto It was an assurance as strong as my certitude that the sun \'ll11 rise tomorruwo It was the certitude that unless these men of the B,; EoFo a1~c exterminated and the men who brought them off from the piers and beaches are exterminated, and all memory of them is blotted out.) we cnnnot lose this waro .._-~--­ NAVAL i\FFAIRS 1/6/40. No.27, The Ministry of HO}lle Security Calling all Housewives:­ The Ministry has frequently urged householders to take all possible steps to protect the glass of their windows against shattering by the neat or di~tant expiosibn of bombs. Several methods have beert reoonimended, inclUQ.ing the use of transparent films in sheets or strips, and liquid coatings; also the use of opaque screens of plywood, fibre board and sifnilar materials. In some districts the demand for such materials may exoeed supplies readily available, and attention is therefore directed to certain alternatives which have also been mentioned and which in many cases have the merit of being available in most households. These particularly include various textile materials, such as cotton, linen or other light cloth, either in strips, or stuck all over the windov1. Old bed sheets or dust sheets may be cut up for this purpose, provided the material is soi.m.d. Old muslin or net curtains will also be of great use. In many households, rag-bags and linen cupboards can provide a large amount of emergency material of this kind. Suitable adhesives are gum, flour paste, or paper hangers' paste, with a little glycerine, treacle or molasses added; or a little calcium chloride, about two parts in a h'l.U'l.dred, added to ordinary office gum or one part in a hi.m.dred to office paste. Calcium chloride is easily obtainable for a few pence from any chemist. It is quite certain that large numbers of casualties can be avoided in air raids if suitable precautions are taken to protect windov;s, and if the occupants of houses keep away from vrindows at such times. The public are again urgently recommended to give this matter immediate attention. "Keeping away from windows means taking up a position where you cannot see out of the windo~; then you are out of tee line of fire of possible splinters. Do not of course sit 'l.U'l.derneath a windov.r." MINISTRY OF HOME SECURITY. TRAVEL BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN .AND El g_:§ .AND BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN .AND NORTHERN IJtE1ANJ2 In view of the present emergency, His Majesty';s Government have reached the conclusion that every effort must be made to reduce all forms of unnecessary travel from this country, and in particular they have decided that it is necessary. t.e-·impose further severe restrictions on travel between Great Britain and Eire and between Great Britain and Northern Irelando In f'uture exit permits for travel from Great Britain to Northern Ireland or to Eire will be granted only to persons who can satisfy the permit authorities that it is necessary for them to travel on business of national importanceo No applicationfor an exit permit to travel to Northern Ireland or Eire will be entertained if the object of the journey is for private reasons only. The restrictions will not apply to those . classes of personswho are at present exempted from the regulations r equiringtravellers to be in possession of exit permitso -----000----.. HOJ>!~_OFfIQE, WHITEHALL. AIR MINISTRY BULLETIN 811 1/6/40 -NOo 29 ------~.-..-.......c..-.~~-.... .. c............ o.;i WIDESPREAD. ACTIVITIES__.__OF......... _ THE R.A.Fo ~~~~-­ The Air Ministry announces: Aircraf't of the Royal Air Force Coastal Cormnand carried out another successful attack on the oil storage depots at Rotterdam yester•dayo Further explosions and fires were caused.. To-day, three .Ansons of ~oastal Cormnand were engaged by nine Messerschmitt fighters off the Belgian coasto In a running fight 50 feet above the sea, two of the enemy were shot down, two were disabled and the rest flew awayo Our aircraf't returned saf'ely.. Last night aircraft of Bomber Conmand ~arried out heavy bombing attacks on targets around Nieuport and on port facilities at Ostendo Many hits were made, followed by firesand explosions. Medium bombers of the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm have continued to support the withdrawal operations of the B.E.F. throughout the dayo ~anal bridges, motor transport, railway junctions and troops have been repeatedly attackedo In the Dunkirk area today the number of enemy aircraft confirmed as having been destroyed by aircraft of Fighter Conmand has already reached forty. A further thirty-three are reported as having been destroyed or severely damaged., Thirteen of our aircraft are repor ted missingo In the Narvik area, on May 29th, our fighters destroyed two enemy aircraft and severely damaged two others.. ... ~~....,---oOo·.................. AIR MINISTRY AIR MINISTRY BULLETIN 8ll2'. AIR MINISTRY N~WS SERVICE BOMBERS DEFEAT FIGHTERS "Intense enemy air activity and numerous encounters with German fighters were reported by the crews of R.A.Fo medium bombers which throughout yesterday assisted the withdrawal of the Allied armies from Dunkirk by a constant series of attacks on bridges~ tanks, motorised columns and troops on the Flanders battle areao "Enemy fighters which sought to divert them from their mission encountered vigorous retaliationo One Messergchmitt cruising to within 40 yards of a bomber was .-f'.'orced to drop back by burst from the British rear gunnero The fighter was last seen enveloped in smoke and losing height with such rapidity that a crash seemed inevitableo Meanwhile, the bomber 9s front gunner, repulsing another Messerschmitt 109, caused the enemy to dive out of sighto Off Ostend} another section of bombers engaged two Junkers 88 twin-engined bomberso Both jettisoned their bombs into the sea and made off hurriedlys one having had its rear gun put out of action. The last air engagement of the day was directed against a silver painted German observation balloon1 bearing a large black cross, whlch was seen flying at 1 9500 ,feet off Nieuporto A section of' bombers took a crack at l t on the way homeo .It is believed to have been destroyedo The above is a follow~up of Air Ministry Bulletin No0 8080 (issue Noo 9 of to-day)o AIR MINISTRY 11_6/LtO No•. 31 ROTTERD1\E OIL STORES DESTROYED "'""-'O:s"~---~...,._,....-,w;~·'a"4/3•·r..-...11.... -.~--.-.------­ Petrol and oil s to:r>es at Rotterdam were again bombed by ©:>astal