Aero Engine Factory Supplying Luftwaffe Blitzed By U.S. Fortresses. Bomb bursts spread across the adjacent Aerodromes, the Gnome and Rhone plants, and (in the foreground) the southern end of the Hege railway marshalling yards. The Gnome and Rhone aircraft factories at Le Mans, France which not only manufactured aero engines for the Luftwaffe, but also does considerable repair work on F.W 190 engines, was successfully bombed by the 8th Air Force Flying Fortresses on July 4th, 1943. July 6, 1943.