Brightout

The R.A.F., making good Churchill's promise to make "rostockize" a more sinister verb than "coventrize,"* revisited ruined Rostock, then flew eight miles farther north to Warnemuende, aircraft-manufacturing center and U-boat training base. As the night flyers came in through fog, intense artillery fire greeted them--but no searchlights.

Suddenly 50 powerful beams stabbed the darkness. Then more & more, until some cones of light were formed by as many as 40 searchlights, catching and holding bombers at their apex. Simultaneously a great curtain of light was flung out horizontally to dazzle raiders, protect factories and military works.

To find their objectives--a huge Arado Flugzeugwerke assembly plant for Messerschmitts and a Heinkel torpedo-plane plant--the R.A.F. was forced to dive through the shimmering light curtain, headlong into terrific anti-aircraft fire.

Result: 19 raiders lost, heaviest toll since last November.

* R.A.F. raids of the week: aircraft plants (Stuttgart, Rostock), shipyards and docks (Hamburgh, St.-Nazaire, Le Havre, Kristiansand, Boulogne), munitions plants (Pilsen), key political point (Vichy--where leaflets were scattered).

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