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been heavy considering the number of aircraft employed. During the week 380 fighter sorties were flown over England: 4 fighters were lost and 15 enemy bombers probably destroyed.

32. In the early part of the week there was little enemy activity apart from meteorological and reconnaissance fights, down Channel and toward the Orkneys and Shetlands. Considerable minelaying was reported on the night of the 16th-17th June, and a ship was reported to have been bombed off the Isle of Wight.

33. On the 18th-19th June about 120 enemy bombers were engaged on widespread night raids over England. Objectives included the oil wharves at Canvey Islands, Scunthorpe iron works and various aerodromes in the eastern counties. Substantial damage was done to the oil wharves, and electrical cables and railway lines were damaged in some areas. One bomb fell on houses near Cambridge and killed several civilians. It is believed that nine of the Enemy were brought down by our fighters, four of which were lost fighters

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34. On the 19th-20th June there was a second raid by about 150 aircraft over a considerably wider area, evidently concentrated on industrial targets. Bombs were dropped in districts as far north as Durham and as far west as Cardiff and Taunton. The I.C.I. Works at Billingham were considerably damaged by blast, but it is stated that production is not affected. Attacks were also made on the South Durham Steel Works at Stockton, where the gasometer and power mains were damaged, and on the armament works at Marchwood, Southamp- ton, where a magazine was set on fire, and on the docks at Cardiff, where a ship was sunk. Casualties do not appear to have been heavy, and from reports so far received, eight persons were killed and sixty injured. Four raiders were shot down by fighters and there are unconfirmed reports that a further two were destroyed, one of which was by anti-aircraft fire.

Western Front.

35. Thirty-eight offensive patrols and bomber escorts were flown by our fighters, involving 496 sorties. These patrols have swept the northern coast of France in search of enemy bombers, and have escorted our own day-bombing raids. Fighting has not on the whole been intensive. Enemy casualties amount to three confirmed and three unconfirmed. Three of our own fighters have been lost.

36. In the early part of the week practically the entire effort of Bomber Command was directed against the German army and its communications in Northern France. In spite of unfavourable weather the medium bombers operating by day on the 13th and 14th June attacked the Seine crossings below Paris, troops on the move near the Seine and near Evereux, and the aerodrome at Merville, where many enemy aircraft were seen on the ground; a number of these are believed to have been damaged. On the night of the 13th-14th June our heavy bombers were intensely active in the areas behind the German lines from Rouen to Rheims; 163 aircraft were engaged, and a very large number of high explosives and incendiary bombs were dropped on road and rail communica- tions. These raids were repeated by twenty-one aircraft on the night of the 14th-15th June. Weather conditions still further deteriorated on the 15th June and both day and night bombing operations were impossible until the night of the 17th June. On the afternoon of the 18th June six Blenheims attacked columns of motorised troops and motor-cyclists advancing on Cherbourg. The head of one column was bombed and machine-gunned, and four or five motor vehicles were overturned; many hits were seen on the roads. On the 19th June thirty Blenheims attacked aerodromes at Rouen and Amiens, at which enemy aircraft were believed to be concentrating for night raids on England; extensive damage was done to runways, hangars and parked aircraft. The attack on Rouen was successfully repeated by twelve Blenheims on the 20th June.

37. During the week Bomber Command carried out 156 day and 163 night sorties against enemy troops and communications on the Western Front; ten aircraft were lost.

38. The bomber squadrons of the Advanced Air Striking Force were with- drawn from France on the 15th June, leaving five squadrons of fighters, two to protect Cherbourg and three the Nantes area. By the evening of the 19th June

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