CAIRO--RAF fighter planes shot down or damaged 30 Axis raiders over Malta Sunday and American heavy bombers blasted an enemy convey south of Crete as the Germans, stalled in Russia, showed signs of shifting their weight across the Mediterranean for a possible winter campaign in Africa.

The Axis sent about 250 bombers and fighters against Malta in renewed mass attacks but the British announced that damage was slight and that only one Spitfire fighter plane was lost. Raids on Malta, which sits athwart the Axis supply line to North Africa, usually precede large scale convey operations.