Inficting of severe damage on two merchant ships yesterday by German reconnaissance Planes is claimed by a German High' Command communi= que, It states that long-range guns shelled "important military objec tives" in "south-east England on Friday and Saturday and German dive bombers attacked British bases in Cyrenaiea with heavy bombs.
Concerning Saturday night's raids Britain, the statement says considerable bomber formations attacked south-east England, Several aerodromes are said to have been de stroyed, Damage to dock install tions on the Thames and in a west coast harbour is claimed, Two merchant ships totalling 8,000 tons are slated to have been sunk and another set ablaze by a bomb. A bomb said to have hit a ight cruiser, Attempts by enemy planes to fly to occupied territory were repulsed fon the coast and 4wo British fighters and three bombers were lost combat, the statement continues, A small number of high explosive and incendiary bombs was dropped " in western Germany last night but no important damage was done, the statement goes on, The communique concludes as follows: "During their Mighty over German territory and night attempts to raid occupied territory German night fighters shot down four planes anil another one was brought down by antiaircraft fre. Thus the total lass to the enemy amounted to ten planes, One German plane is miss~
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.