20/8/40 - No. 3. BRITISH PRISONERS OF WAR Following is the latest list of British Prisoners of War in enemy hands, as received from a German source NAME ADDRESS C.Wood 2 Laurel Crescent, Ovenden. K.J.Reid 121 Homeleigh, Wyckham Market, Suffolk. J.H.R.Edgar Unknown. A.Cross 12 Greystore Gardens, Newcastle-on-Tjme, V.A.Coveyduck Higher Town, Truro, Cornwall, F.Keighley Unknown J. Y/. H, Parsons 82 Hill’s Avenue, Cambridge. R.H.Edwards At Air Ministry, London.' R.VJ, Cornwall 23 Kitto Road, London, 5.E.14. R.E.Hotchkiss 607 Lordship Lane, London,•S.E.22. P.F.Eames Booth Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey. GoFo (?S) A.Skelton Lodge Farm, Foxhall, Nr. Ipswich. (No initials given) Rennison 5 Cluny Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (No initials given) Chambers Vernon, British Columbia, Canada. (No initials given) Lepine Craigowan, High Road, Saltcoats, Ayrshire. O.Leason Brendon, King Edward’s Road, Malvern, Worcs. (No initial given) Rowson 1 Monkham’s Drive, Wotton, Norfolk. MINISTRY OF INFORMATION 20/8/40 - No. 4. PRESS NOTICE The Postmaster General announces with regret the loss through enemy action of mails containing some of the letters for Gibraltar posted approximately on the Ist and 2nd of August, and some letters for Tangier and the Spanish zone of Morocco posted approximately on the 31st July and 1st of August. GENERAL POST OFFICE Air Ministry No. 1439 20.8.40 No. 6. AIR MINISTRY AND MINISTRY OF HOME SECURITY COMMUNIQUE During last night enemy aircraft operated for the most part singly but over widespread areas of England and South Wales and also over a few districts in Scotland. Damage was done to houses and other property in some towns in North Eastern England and the Midlands and in a town in South Western England, The majority of the bombs however fell in rural areas causing very little damage. A number of casualties were caused, some of which were fatal. Reports received of yesterday’s operations confirm that another enemy aircraft was destroyed by our fighters, making the total five for the day. Three of our fighters were lost, but the pilots of two are safe. 20/8/40 - No. 7. OFFICIAL ADMIRALTY COMMUNIQUE. Skua aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm yesterday located and attacked two enemy transports of about 3,000 tons in Haugesund, Norway. Two direct hits with bombs were obtained on one of the transports. Other Skua aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm carried out an attack on oil tanks north of Haugesund. All aircraft returned safely. Admiralty, S.W.1. AIR MINISTRY No. 1440. 20/8/40 - No. 9. AIR MINISTRY COMMUNIQUE. An enemy aircraft which attacked a coastal town this morning was intercepted by our fighters and shot down into the sea. AIR MINISTRY BULLETIN No. 1442. 20/8/40 - No. 13. Air Ministry News Service. The following is the script of a broadcast made by Air Marshal Joubert after the 6 p.m. news to-night:- RADIO IN WAR. This is a radio war. In aspect of the operations on land, on sea and in every the air, wireless communications of every kind play an outstanding part. The R. A. F. lives by wireless. Our operations are controlled, our aircraft directed to their targets and enabled to return to their bases after doing their jobs, through the medium of radio. In the expansion of the Royal Ail” Force which has taken place, the demand for radio operations and radio mechanics of all kinds to fulfil our requirements has been most heavy. To-day, I am asking those of you who have experience in this work to listen for a few moments to what I have to say, hoping that you may be persuaded to join the service for this kind of work. We have, at the present time, vacancies in the trade of Wireless Mechanic which we are most anxious to fill. This trade is something of a specialist’s job, but do not be alarmed at that. There are, I am sure many among you who are amply qualified for enrolment in the R.A.F. in this capacity. I can safely say that you would be doing a very great deal towards helping your country and in addition you would be gaining knowledge and experience invaluable to you when you return to your civil occupation after the war. I say this because the work which will be engaged is broadly speaking very similar to radio work upon you of a civilian character. Let me tell you exactly what a wireless mechanic is and. what are the particular qualifications of the men we wish to enrol. A wireless mechanic in the Royal Air Force is a man with special knowledge both practical and theoretical, but mostly practical. He is engaged for the most part on ground duties which include the wiring, fitting and testing of wireless and electrical apparatus at R. A. F. technical establishments and in aircraft. The trade or Wireless Mechanic is in what we call Group 1; that is the most highly skilled group of and the best You all, paid. may say that the Group 1 tradesman is the key man round which all the activities of the other trades revolve. His prospects of promotion are good, and intelligent and skilful man is sure to any get on. Now, as regards the qualifications for enlistment. We want men with plenty of sound electrical experience and knowledge of broadcasting receivers. A man with who is has been in the wireless and electrical retail and common sense or engaged servicing trades who knows how to makesimple a -wireless set and who can handle tools, is just the type. Indeed a good wireless amateur' has probably sufficient qualifica- tions to enable him to enter as a tradesman. Of course, the rank into which you will be entered will be dependent upon the amount of your skill. If you are considered good enough you will be taken in straight away as a leading aircraftsman. This is the highest rank below that of a non-commissioned officer. Don’t worry if you have no knowledge of Morse. This is not essential. Mainly it is a question of whether you can read a circuit diagram, understand the meaning of component values, know the functions of a valve, a condenser, a resistance and so forth, can use tools and trace faults. One last word - how to enrol. Go to yournearest Royal Air Force Recruiting Office and. ask for the appropriate form. Mention’this broadcast and the recruiting officer will know how to advise you. AIR MINISTRY. 20/8/40 - No.15. TOWER GUNS FOR SCRAP. Arrangements have been made to scrap the old French and English guns now acting as bollards Tower Hill on and pass them to the breakers for use in munition making. They are all over 100 years old and most came from wooden men-of-war. By midday today (Tuesday) eight of the forty or fifty available had been removed from the kerb. Only those marking corners will be left. In addition eight guns inside the Tower weighing 25 tons have been lifted and will shortly be removed by the scrap merchants. In all about 150 tons of metal will be recoverable. The old war trophies, cannon and mortars, along the river frontage and Tower Walk inside the Tower have also been earmarked for scrappingbut will be retained until the last possible moment at the discretion of the Master of the Armouries in whose charge they are. Most of the bronze and date back to the trophies are some 16th century. MINISTRY OF SUPPLY. 20/8/40 - No. 16. Air Ministry Bulletin No. 1441. Air Ministry News Service. "CLARE" BACK AGAIN FROM CANADA. The civil flying boat 'Clare' of the British Overseas Airways Corporation, arrived at Foynes, on the Shannon, at 11.35 hrs B.S.T. this (Tuesday) morning, having crossed the North Atlantic on the west to east route in thirteen hours fifty two minutes, 'Clare' left Botwood, Newfoundland, at 21.43 hrs B.S.T. yesterday (August 19). AIR MINISTRY. AIR MINISTRY NO. 1444 20-8-40 - No. 17 AIR MINISTRY COMMUNIQUE Yesterday (Monday) our bombers carried out daylight reconnaissances over Holland and the North Sea. An anti-aircraft position near Amsterdam and the aerodrome at Flushing were bombed.- One of our aircraft did not return. During the night, thirty enemy aerodromes in Germany and enemy- occupied territory were attacked. Other aircraft bombed the naval base at Kiel, and oil refinery at Hanover, the Power Station at Zschornewitz, north of Leipsig, and a number of key points on the enemy’s lines of communication in the Ruhr and north-west Germany. Oil tanks at Ambes, near Bordeaux, were also successfully attacked. Two aircraft were lost in these operations. AIR MINISTRY 20/8/40 - No. 18 AIR MINISTRY BULLETIN NO. 1445 Air Ministry News Service ST. OMER BOMBED Blenheim aircraft of the Coastal Command caused many fires last( Monday) night when they raided the aerodrome at St. Omer in Northern France. The leader of the formation saddled the aerodrome with his bombs. There was a big explosion on the ground followed hy several smaller ones. Fierce fires broke out. Further salvoes of incendiary bombs increased the fires until most of the airfield was cloaked in flames. The Blenheims took the enemy completely by surprise. They found a flare path lighted in readiness for returning Nazi aircraft. One Blenheim pilot, mistaken for a German, was signalled to come in and land. He replied with a load of bombs. Flare path and tarmac in front of a line of hangars - revealed by the flashes of the bombs - were hit repeatedly. A Blenheim, which could not find its primary target, was approaching Cap Gris Nez on the return journey when a concentration of German searchlights opened up on him. He dived and dropped all his bombs on them. The lights went out and fires started on the headland. AIR AFFAIRS Air 1443. 20/8/40 NO: 19 Ministry Bulletin No. - AIR MINISTRY NEWS SERVICE NIGHT RAIDS ON KIEL A strong force of bomber command aircraft attacked the German Naval Dockyard at Kiel during the night (Monday). Drifting clouds over the district hampered observations of the results, but numerous direct hits were seen to have been scored within the dockyard, and heavy damage must have been caused. One salvo of heavy bombs was observed to burst on the main basin of the dockyard, whilst six hits were made on an underground oil store. Heavy explosions were also noticed in the shipyards lying to the south of the main basin. Intense well-directed anti-aircraft fire was encountered through- out the attack by the British aircraft which had to contend further with many searchlights and a balloon barrage. An extensive electric power station at Zschornewitz, twenty- five miles north of Leipzig, was the objective of another raiding force which, in the course of an attack lasting for seventy five minutes, dropped nearly ten tons of high explosive and numerous small incendiary bombs on their target. One great explosion broke out soon after the bombing had started, and was later followed by a series of fires which sprang up in many parts of the power station. Oil storage centres in Germany, Salzbergen, Ostermoor and Hanover were also raided during the night. At Hanover, a bomber, flying at three thousand feet, was rocked by the force of one great explosion accompanied by a sheet of flame two hundred feet high. Here, too, a bomb that burst on the eastern edge of the target was followed several minutes later by a red glow which could plainly be seen when the aircraft was forty miles away. The Dortmund-Ems canal, one of Germany’s main arteries for river-borne traffic, was again bombed, and in a low-level attack on the Weser-Eide canal, a line of bombs was seen to straddle an important bridge and to strike an adjoining main railway line. Rail communications over a wide area were dislocated and damage was caused by successful attacks on railway junctions at Bremen, Wunstorf and Geseke. /Two 2 Two big explosions in the railway yard at Geseke resulted in outbreaks of fire. The aircraft responsible for this attack was damaged by shrapnel from the ground defences which penetrated its fuselage and fractured the starboard elevator. Two machine gun bullets, lodged in the raider’s gun turret, were evidence of the low height from which the attack was pressed home. The railway yard at Hamm, the largest assembly point for goods traffic in Germany, received its fifty-second visit. Lines of high explosive bombs wore seen to fall down the centre of the yard, and twenty separate fires were kindled by incendiary bombs in all parts of the target area and were seen to be spreading In the course of an hour 's intensive bombardment the great oil refineries and storage plants at Bec d’ Armes, near Bordeaux, were further At the height of the attack the point of land on which the refineries stand was described by an observer as ”a sheet of flame and smoke.” Raiding aircraft felt the heat from the fires at a height of two thousand feet. One of the early attacks was carried out by dive-bombing to within a hundred feet of the ground, This is the second occasion on which theue refineries have been attacked by bomber command aircraft. The night's operations also included raids on some twentyfive enemy aerodromes in Germany, Holland, Belgium and France. Buildings were struck by high explosive bombs on the aerodromes atLeewarden, in Northern Holland; Lanveoc, near Brest, and at Soesterburg, Hagel, Flushing, Brest, Guipavas, Ostend, Bricy and Orleans. Fires were seen to break out following the bombing of aerodromes at Lisieux, Rennes, Montebourg and DietholS and, in an attack on the Evere Airport at Brussels, a searchlight was put out of action by machine-gun fire from a low-flying raider. A fire started at St. Inglevert Aerodrome could be seen from the other side of the English Channel. At Villacoublay, a military- aerodrome on the outskirts of Paris, bombs were seen to burst on the hangars and across the landing ground. AIR MINISTRY 20/8/40 - No. 20 AIR MINISTRY NO. 1446 AIR MINISTRY AND MINISTRY OF HOME SECURITY COMMUNIQUE During this (Tuesday) morning, enemy activities over this country were comparatively slight. Bombs were dropped on two towns, one in Essex and the other in South Wales. In both places houses were hit and some persons were injured, a small number of these casualties being fatal. Bombs were also dropped on a South Wales port, the damage done being small. This afternoon the enemy approached the South-East coast in stronger force. An East Anglian town was attacked, but no casualties have so far been reported and damage was confined to broken windows. The main objective of the afternoon attack appears to have been an aerodrome on the South Coast but the enemy showed no desire to press home the attack and very few of his aircraft succeeded in penetrating our defences. No damage was done. Reports received up to five o' clock show that three enemy aircraft were shot down by our fighters, bringing the total for the day to four. AIR MINISTRY 20/8/40 - No. 21. AIR MINISTRY No.l448. AIR MINISTRY COMMUNIQUE Three more enemy aircraft have been shot down today (Tuesday) by our fighters, one of them by a Polish squadron of the R.A.F. It is now established that eight more enemy aircraft were destroyed by anti-aircraft fire during the air fighting on Sunday and that an enemy flying boat was shot down by anti-aircraft fire off the North East coast shortly before midnight last night (Monday). Air Ministry Bulletin No. 1447. 20/8/40 - No. 22. Air Ministry News Service. POLISH SQUADRON’S SUCCESS. A Polish Squadron of Fighter Command, in action for the first time, brought down a Junkers 88 bomber this evening. Anti-aircraft guns destroyed a Dornier 24, a tri-motored flying boat, not previously seen round our coasts. A Hurricane pilot made a single-handed head-on attack on 30 Dornier 17 bombers over the mouth of the Thames. Those were a few incidents of the air war during a day on which attacks by the German Air Force have been small in comparison with the mass raids of Sunday and last week. Reports received to 9 show that up p.m, seven enemy aircraft have been destroyed today by R.A.F. fighters - one Junkers 88, three Dornier 17 bombers, a Messerschmitt 110 fighter-bomber, and two Messerschmitt 109 fighters. It is also known that anti-aircraft gunners on the North-East Coast had a victory just before midnight last night.. They saw an enemy aircraft of unusual type, a great three engined flying boat, caught in searchlight beams, and they opened fire. They did not see the result, but two searchlight crews confirmed that the flying-boat - identified as a Dornier 24 - had crashed out to sea. This brings the total of anti-aircraft successes, since the beginning of the war, to 130 enemy aircraft destroyed during attacks on this country. The Polish pilots, who form a complete fighter squadron, have only recently taken up their action station, though there have been individual victories by Polish pilots attached to British Squadrons. The new squadron has an English squadron leader. Early this evening, with his Polish pilots, ho was ordered to look for a German raider off the North-East coast. ”We were patrolling at 5,000 feet”, he said afterwards, "when the Junkers 88 in sight. We dived and chased him cloud. Just he out of came through a as came cloud and into I one was going another, gave him a burst. The next tiling I knew I was so close I had to break away to avoid crashing into him. Then a Polish pilot ‘blew in' and gave him a burst from astern. The rear gunner, I think, must have been killed, The other three members of the German crew all baled out and have been taken prisoner”. Tonight the Polish Squadron received a signal from the Air Vice-Marshal, commanding their fighter group, congratulating them on their first victory. The signal was in Polish. An hour earlier, the Hurricane pilot, already mentioned, became separated from his squadron, which has just shot down a Dornier 17. Returning over the Thames Estuary, this flying officer came across at least 30 Dorniers 17. At once he attacked the formation, flying straight at them, head-on. As he pressed his gun-button he saw what ho called "a terrific flash" among the Dorniers. He believes, that his bullets exploded a bomb in one of the enemy machines. About the same time a Spitfire Squadron were driving Nazi raiders from away the Thames Estuary. The Pilots sighted a formation of 30 or 40 Dorniers 17, with an escort of Messerschmitts 109, travelling up the Thames. The Dorniers were in three arrow- heads - "like Sergeants chevrons” as a Spitfire pilot said afterwards. One flight of Spitfires attacked the bombers and hit several of them. The other flight sent two Messerschmitt 109 crashing in flames. Earlier today Spitfire pilots destroyed a Messerschmitt 110 off the East Anglian coast. The number of German bombers and fighters shot down by anti-aircraft guns during Sunday's air battles now proves to be 23. The German losses on Sunday were therefore 152. AIR MINISTRY Tuesday, August 20th, 1940. MINISTRY OF INFORMATION NEWS BULLETIN NO.77 INDUSTRIAL REGISTRATION ORDER The Ministry of Labour and National Service announces, in accordance with the time table already announced under the Industrial Registration Order, men whose surnames begin with the letters K. to 0. should register at any Local Office of the Ministry of Labour and National Service tomorrow, Wednesday, 21st August, 1940 between the hours of 9 a.m. to 8.30 p.m. Ministry of Labour M.O.I. - 1. FASHION TRADE CONTRIBUTES FOR PURCHASE OF SPITFIRE The Minister of Aircraft Production acknowledges with gratitude the sum of £1157-10s-0d received from Mr. Louis Krohnberg, Style Dress, 34“35 East Castle St., Oxford Circus, W.1., towards the purchase of a Spitfire. Mr. Krohhberg has handed in twenty-four cheques he has received from members of the fashion trade. A committee has been formed and hevhas the assistance of Mr. William Rose, and Mr. Lucian Redman, representing the textile and underwear sections respectively. Mr. Krohriberg launched his scheme with an announcement in "Womens Wear". He quickly received gif from many branches of the fashion trade. The committee aims at providing £5000 within the next few weeks - Ministry of Aircraft Production M.0.1.2 MORE GIFTS FOR THE WAR EFFORT FROM OVERSEAS Lord Caldeoote, Secretary of State for the Dominions, has conveyed, through the Governor of Newfoundland, the thanks of the British Govt to Mr. A. L. Barrett of for his of dollars "a Curling, Newfoundland, gift 50 given as slight personal donation towards the nation’s war fund". The British Govt. has accepted, with great appreciation, the generous response of the people of Ceylon who have contributed a quarter of a million rupees (£18,750) towards the cost of the war. The Northern Ireland Spitfire Fund which aims at providing a flight and later a squadron of Spitfires has now collected over £20,000 sufficient for four Spitfires. The Fund is a shilling one and among the donors are two children, one of whom con- tributed 10/- the amount he had received as a birthday present and the other who, having saved 5/1 1/2d towards the cost of a toy glider, decided to 'present the money towards the purchase of a Spitfire. A further sum of £7500 has been remitted to the British Govt, from Tanganyika towards the cost of the war. The Govt, has gratefully accepted a loan of £2OO, free of interest, from the Tanganyika Ginneries Association. The British Govt, has acknowledged with warm appreciation a further gift of £5OOO from the Bahamas War Committee for the purchase of aircraft. Lord Beaverbrook has sent thanks to Dr. Malcolm MacVicar and the contributors to the Mayor’s South Africa for the cheque towards the cost Fund, Alice, Cape Province, of a fighter aircraft - Dominions and Colonial Offices Press Section M.0.1. 5. GIFT FROM DOMINICA, The Administrator of Dominica, Windward Islands, has received £5OO as a first instalment of contributions collected by Dominica’s "Win the War Fund", The money is to be utilised as the British Government think fit. - Giolonial Office Press Section M.0.1. 4. Tuesday, August 20th 1940 MINISTRY OF INFOR M A T I 0 N NEWS BULL E T I N 78 ULSTER’S IRON ORE The the Minister of Supply to send an decision of expert to Ulster to report upon ron supplies in County Down is a reminder that from very early ages various ore eposits of the ore in Ulster'"’were worked. Remains of largo furnaces show that harooal melting was carried out extensively. In one areq of 167 square miles, it has been reported that there exist over 80,000,000 tons of ore, and, in addition, there is quantity a of inferior aluminous ron ore which in years by has been found useful by English smelters for mixing gone n furnaces with foreign higher grade ores. The richest grade is said to yield over 40 per cent metallic iron. Mining in this rea began to assume substantial proportions in 1861 and in the following year over 0,000 tons of ore were raised for export. The records show that 228,000 tons of .nterbasaltic iron ore were obtained in 1880 and nearly 190,000 tons two years later. Today there are no working iron ore mines in Northern Irelando Some months before rar broke out, the Ulster Industrial Development Council reported that unlimited [uantities of iron ore not containing a high percentage of iron, existed in County uitrim. - Dominions and Colonial Offices, Press Section. M,o*l* 5» CLUB FOR AUS^MAM. .SOLDIERS. A Club for members of the Australian Imperial Forces and other Australians on active Service on leave in London will be opened at Australia House tomorrow (Wednesday) it 4 p.m. by the Australian High Commissioner, Mr. S. M o Bruce. The Club is situated in the cinema hall at Australia. House and it has been specially adapted for the purpose to afford every facility for the comfort and entertain- aent of the men. The Australian War Contributions Council under whose auspices the Club has been established has appointed an executive committee for its management and members of the Australian Women’s Voluntary Services under the leadership of Mrs Bruce will be responsible for the catering and hospitality arrangements.- Dominions Office,Press Section. !£• £lO.OOO MORE FOR SPITFIRES The Minister of Aircraft Production acknowledges with deep gratitude the following gifts:- £5,000 for the purchase of a Spitfire from the Directors of Empire Dairies in Australia and Nevz Zealand. <£5,000 from the Nigerian "Win the War Fund” - this is in addition to the £lO,OOO already received from the Fund* Ministry of Aircraft Production* c M,: o t _9c TOWARDS £3>OOO f OOO Sales of Ulster War Savings certificates and Defence Bonds are quickly approaching the £3,000,000 mark. Certificates to the value of £1,647>000 and Defence Bonds to the value of £1,204,365 have been sold up to date.- Dominions and Colonial Offices,Press Section, M. 0.1.60 GOVERNMENT THANKS FIJI SCHOOLCHILDREN Lord Lloyd, Secretary for the Colonies, has expressed the of the great appreciation British Government for the further £20,000 which Fiji has contributed towards the Bomber Fund, and has expressed his particular appreciation of the action of the children of a school in Fiji in foregoing their prizes to aid the Fund. Lord Lloyd has also gratefully acknowledged on the British Government’s behalf the second donation of £7>500 from the Uganda War Fund Committee c Colonial Office, Press Section. M,o,t, 7» EVACUATED CHILDREN COLLECT SALVAGE. Evacuated children from London are helloing in the Salo ge drive at Wells, Somerset. All the school children in the town vzere enlisted for a day’s work in the campaign. As a result, three railway wagons vzere completely filled with valuable material which, be used again* In five weeks of 6000 collected between can Wells, a town inhabitants, has 35 and 40 tons of metal scrap* Waste paper worth £BO lias been salvaged since the scheme was inaugurated. The various collections are to be continued* - Ministry of Supply M.o.I. 8.