The Pittsburgh Press (December 11, 1943)
YANK PLANES BATTER BULGARIAN CAPITAL
Sofia attack spurs nation to quit Axis
Resignations of premier, aides reported as crisis mounts
By Edward W. Beattie, United Press staff writer
London, England –
U.S. heavy bombers blasted Sofia yesterday, an Algiers communiqué announced today, as the Bulgarian crisis mounted with the reported resignations of Premier Dobri Bozhilov and two other Bulgarian Cabinet ministers.
In an apparent attempt to hasten Bulgaria’s abandonment of the Axis, a strong force of four-engined Liberators with an escort of Lightings subjected Sofia’s railway yards to an “accurate and effective bombardment,” Allied headquarters in Algiers announced.
Starts before noon
A Budapest dispatch printed in Sweden said the raid, beginning shortly before noon, lasted nearly two hours and caused heavy damage in the vicinity of the central railway station and military barracks. The bombers attacked in several waves and a few persons were killed, the German radio said.
Forty enemy fighters attacked the Liberators over Bulgaria, an Algiers dispatch said, but 11 were shot down. The number of bombers lost on the Sofia raid was not specified, but only two aircraft were lost in all operations of the Northwest African Air Forces yesterday.
Third raid on city
It was the third raid by the Northwest African Air Forces on Sofia and a Budapest broadcast said the city was shaken by three tremendous explosions only 24 hours before the attack when time bombs dropped during the Nov. 24 raid exploded.
The resumption of the air assault on Sofia presumably strengthened the hand of anti-German elements in the capital who were exerting extreme pressure in an attempt to extricate Bulgaria from the Axis orbit.
European reports said tension in the city was already high as a result of the reported closing of the Turkish-Bulgarian border, the Anglo-American-Turkish conference in Cairo and signs that the Allies were planning a Balkan invasion.
Resignation reported
An Istanbul dispatch to the United Press said unconfirmed reports had reached Turkey that Premier Bozhilov, Foreign Minister Shishmanov and Interior Minister Mihailov had resigned as leftist groups gained strength.
Shishmanov’s resignation had previously been reported from Stockholm.
Radio Vichy said the Bulgarian Parliament had been suspended for one week.
Bulgaria, though at war with Britain and the United States, has strong Slavic ties with Russia and still maintains relations with her despite the presence of sizable German forces on her soil.
Drop pamphlets
Yesterday’s raid on Sofia followed the dropping of pamphlets on the city warning that air assaults would be resumed because of the country’s cooperation with Germany and calling upon Bulgarian soldiers to withdraw from occupied Macedonia, the Greek territory given to Bulgaria after the Nazi occupation of Greece, Swedish press dispatches reported.
Bulgarian soldiers were also said to have been warned not to participate in punitive expeditions against the Serbs and Greeks.
Though reports persisted that both German and Turkish reinforcements were drawn up at the Turkish-Bulgarian border, an Ankara dispatch said Allied circles there contended the rumors, at least concerning German troops, were without foundation.