But Not the Last

As the R.A.F. Lancaster-- "B for Beer" -- neared its target, the bombardier turned to a helmeted man beside him. Said the bombardier:

"Major, this is my favorite target. You miss that and, rank or no rank. I'll drop you through the bomb bay without benefit of bombsight."

Said Major Sy Bartlett: "How can I miss? My hands are frozen to the release."

Major Bartlett was a Hollywood film writer until last year, and his account of the bombing had more than a touch of Hollywood, plus a touch of Bartlett. Although he went along with the R.A.F. as an observer for the U.S. Army's Eighth Air Force, he was allowed to release a two-ton blockbuster. Said he :

"We got to Berlin with the first hundred. We made a two-minute bombing run and dropped our cookies. I saw 100 cookies drop dead bang. Flak was spasmodic. After our first big concentration, Jerry came out of the cellar and gave us another burst.

"We had unfinished work outside the city, so we circled the place for some time. The whole of Berlin was vomiting mortar, dust and steel. Berlin really got sick to its belly. It had a really good touch of indigestion last night.

"I never saw a better concentration of bursts. We could still see the hot glow 120 miles from the target on the way home."

The R.A.F. had dumped 900 tons of bombs on Berlin, double the tonnage ever dropped on London in one raid, greater than Berlin experienced in its last raid March 1. That raid, according to Swedish press correspondents, killed 2,000 and damaged many important buildings, including Luftwaffe headquarters. This one was bigger. Aside from morale and Government buildings, Berlin offered important industrial targets: Europe's largest brake factory in suburban Lichtenberg, the huge concentration of iron, steel, electrical-equipment, locomotive and tank factories at Spandau, aircraft and chemical plants in other suburbs. The first Swedish reports indicated that the industrial areas felt the main weight of the raid.

U.S. and British bombs also fell on Rouen railway yards, the St. Nazaire U-boat base, Wilhelmshaven docks and factories. The Allied air offensive was gathering spring momentum.

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