Show Z British Planes Fought o Shot Down 20 I Returned Only 3 Missing e writer of or the following has Just fined ned from tram Belgium and from tram close yon Ion the pot spot of or the part played b royal sal al air force Corco In tho the liberation of oC Alberts Albert's coun country tn 0 Bj fly l Service Jan On 4 4 On the map of or Bel- Bel thero is a u neat little triangle It by y lines linos s connecting rugge and Bruges Brues And And v within Rhin of or this triangle the Ger- Ger expended more wealth effort on fortifications fortification on than an any ever expended In any an oth- oth ven area of at tho the same sam size at t was because they know that they the were ousted from lom those pox pos po- po s x with all an they meant as ma- ma bases tho they would be bo swept out In short order Sat t to also was nas the tho reason wh why eh h air squadrons have ceaselessly ceaseless pod Od cd that region Ion ever er since tho the days S of or the war al Despite clabor- clabor shelters mammoth mammoth dugouts coned coned con- con ed with Infinite labor and nd hun hun- jot of thousands of ot tons of at steel ie- ie concrete life thero there has been beena I a hell on earth since sinco the tho beginning beginning- The British airmen made it so The entire coastline testifies testiCles to the tho deadly accuracy of tho the work ork The Tho string suing of concrete dugouts among the tho sand dunes is starred all over over- with over with bomb homb craters Gun emplacements cleverly crl camouflaged have heen t- t and It t needs no ImagInation Imagination Imag Imag- to the fate fato of the gun un crew crew And the remorselessly increasing in- in ct easing creasing effectiveness of tho the aerial bombardment Is apparent from irom the fact flet that tin there aro are no fewer than four our classes of dugouts on that line line each each deeper an and stronger than those previously built as n. n a. a submarine base is wiped out The rho famous Mole 1010 has been Plastered with bombs Tho size c and pun power passer cr ft rf f some of or them may bo be ju Judged g-ed g 1 by inspecting the remains of or a n dugout dugout dug dus- out the top of which built hullt of concrete con can crete rete was eight feet thick It had been literally flattened out by a n. single sin sin- glo gle hugo bomb Bruges Drugos holds a I. I shining example of or 1 I 1 I the splendid accuracy with which nl night bombing has been carried out by tho the British The docks on one On side of the tho town are nrc a scrap heap the tho other side tho great relt factories which turn turned cd out munitions for tor tho the Germans have been completely wrecked But In tho the town proper not nota a building has been wrecked not a pavIng paving paving ing stone disturbed Inhabitants there havo have told me nio that n after the first few the they retired retired re re- 10 raids b by y the British airmen tired with w th a feeling of perfect security Yet Tat the German raids over o England Invariably brou brought ht wreckage not to military establishments but to private residences schools hospitals and the like Ousting of Aids Aid Greatly Tho pushing of tho enemy from his coastal stronghold was of Immense value to the British from a tactical point of or view For four our years cars the they had been obliged ed to travel over the tho sea in order to carry out their raids raid an and s If It an engine went wrong or their planes were damaged by br anti aircraft fire lr tho the choice often oHen lay hay 13 between landing in tho enemy linos or In Holland In such circumstances the thc British airmen airmen airmen air air- men naturally chose choso the tho alternative of oC Internment Tho Tho thrusting out of oC the Germans gave an un abundance of landing space east of tho the coast which not only eliminated the old handicap but furnished furnished furnished fur fur- excellent bases of or operation against the enem enemy's s 's right flank Many of the former German aerodromes aero aero- aerodromes were at once occupied b by the I British squadrons sq the retreat of oC tho the I enemy Enem having been so precipitate that ho he had not time to demolish them The fhe young major commanding a squadron of or twelve twel British planes looked anxiously In the tho direction of ot Ghent while awaiting their return from a raid They rhey came back In twos and threes Here and thero there a bit of at fluttering fabric told toM where boche boch bullets had torn the surfaces Two or three spars had been shot through and nud an occasional furrow urro In a varnished fuselage gave evidence of or fair air shooting shooting shooting shoot shoot- ing b by German Geiman pilots l Fliers Filer Arc Delighted Tho The youngsters came camo tumbling out of ot the planes panes and descended upon the recording officer In an avalanche of at from tram which laughing flying er which excited tacos faces flashed nashed rhe They all an tried to talk at once It had been some somo tI fight ht they thoy sal said Twenty had deliberately got ot otIn In their wa way And when the they started In to show tho the enem enemy what hat ho had hall let himself In for twenty more ers had come do down n from upstairs upstairs upstairs up stairs and taken a hand han hand forty forty against twelve It was a real dogfight dogfight dog fight I ht then The Tho recording officer waited walte IK Ile Knew mcw better than to tr try to force forca tho thu th necessary details They came caino later when notes had hall been exhaustively compared compare when the tho young oung fighters ha had got ot a certain perspective on the morning show The final results rc proved to bo ho twenty destroyed destroyed de de- e- e or shot down out of ot control Tim Tho British casualties were three thic machines missing I |