20th August - By Alexander Rhodes

BOULOGNE BOMBED AGAIN

20th August 1940

An eyewitness account by the Chronicle’s correspondent in Dover

RAF bombers struck Boulogne last night for the third night in a row. The flashes of exploding bombs were seen from Dover and lit up the clouds over a five mile long stretch of coast. In response, the German defenders shot up an anti-aircraft barrage more powerful than anything yet seen.

The raid lasted for about 20 minutes, with bombs bursting on the ground for the whole period. Sources suggest that the raids were targeting Germany’s invasion supplies, particularly barges and munitions dumps, as part of the overall strategy to prevent an attempt at invasion from taking place.

Searchlights flashed anxiously up through the clouds, desperately hunting for the RAF’s bombers, with the frenetic darting of the beams suggesting they were having great difficulty finding them. Thousands of shells roared up into the sky in an attempt to bring down the British planes.

When a great explosion of white light shot up into the sky, it suggested that a direct hit had been scored on a munitions dump.

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