CAB80-8 — Page 332

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German Air Activity.

North Sea.

32. There has been some German air activity over the North Sea, but comparatively few attacks were made on shipping. On the 16th February enemy aircraft were heard reporting movements of British Naval forces off the north Danish and south Norwegian Coasts, and on the 17th February at least four aircraft were in the vicinity of the naval ships intercepting the Altmark, but they did not interfere. On the 18th at least nine aircraft were active between the Scottish and Norwegian Coasts, but they did not approach within 50 miles of our shores. The following day, reconnaissance aircraft between Shetlands and Bergen were heard giving weather information, and in the afternoon further aircraft, probably bombers acting on reports from the reconnaissance aircraft. were in the same area. On the 20th at least eight, probably eleven, bombers were engaged in attacks on shipping between Shetlands and Lowestoft.

33. In December and January the majority of attacks on shipping took place off the mouth of the Tyne, near Spurn Head, off the Tay, and in the vicinity of Smith's Knoll. The majority of attacks during February were made off the Aberdeenshire Coast, and in the vicinity of the Firth of Forth.

Attacks were invariably discontinued on the approach of British aircraft.

Type of bombs.

The types of bombs and ammunition commonly used by German aircraft for attacks on our shipping are:

50 kg. H.E. G.P.

250 kg. H.E. G.P.

9 kg. Incendiary.

Armour-piercing bullets.

34. The 250-kg. bomb causes considerable damage when dropped near a merchant vessel. The 9-kg. Incendiary bomb has frequently been picked up and thrown overboard after detonation; it does no harm when left to burn out on an iron deck. The H.E. bombs are dropped with a delay action of up to two seconds. A number have failed to explode. The Armour-Piercing Bullets penetrate

-in. steel.

Western Front.

35. On the 20th February German reconnaissance aircraft were active over the French line west of Saarbrucken and messages were intercepted reporting their observations.

Foreign Air Intelligence.

Czech Intelligence.

36. Information has now been received from Prague concerning the dropping of leaflets by British airmen over that city on the night of the 11th-12th January. The reports come from sources closely connected with the Czech Government in Prague. One report states that leaflets were picked up both at Beroun, a town 20 miles from Prague, and in the villages close to Prague itself. They were collected eagerly and distributed with great effect among the workers in the numerous local factories. Another report comes from Prague itself, and, in stressing the excellent spirit of the population, declares that this was very noticeable after the visit of the British airmen, which gave tremendous encouragement to the whole Czech people."

37. The German-controlled Czech press was not allowed to mention the visit except to deny that it had ever taken place, and to comment sarcastically on the vivid imagination of the British airmen. A recent sentence passed by a German court proves that the Germans are fully alive to the dangers of British propaganda in the Protectorate. At Leitmeritz, a mixed Czech-German town now on the frontier between the Protectorate and the Reich, a mason and a shoe- maker were condemned to nine months' imprisonment for listening-in to a British broadcast.

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