STILL PRESSING

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 62, Issue 7, 20 October 1941, Page 5

STILL PRESSING

AS CRITICAL AS EVER. SITUATION ON MOSCOW FRONT. RUSSIANS COUNTER-ATTACKING. (United Press Association—Copyright.) (Rec. 10.5 a.m.) LONDON, Oct. 19. There seems to *be no slackening of the fighting on the Moscow front, where the situation which is extremely confused, appears to be as critical as ever. While heavy German pressure on the great arc round the west side of the Moscow region continues the Russians are by no means passive and, are counter-attacking at various parts on this front with their usual tenacity and vigour. No new place names appear in the reports from the front, which continue to mention Kalinin, Mojaisk, Vyazma, Kaluga, Bryansk and Orel as centres of heavy fighting.

The immense German concentrations of force against the Russian capital have evidently relieved the pressure on the Russian armies on the northern and Ukraine sectors, where 'no German progress has been reported since the fall of Mariupol.— British Official Wireless.

NO SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS.

GRIM RUSSIAN RESISTANCE

LONDON, October 19

To-day begins the 18th week of the Russian war, and it finds the Germans still battering desperately at Moscow’s outer defences. There is no news of any substantial German progress in any part of the Moscow front. Reports from Moscow speak of grim Russian resistance • and of counterattacks hv the Red Army at various points. The Miscow radio describes one such counter-attack in the Kalinin area, 90 miles north-west of’ the capital, in which the Germans sustained heavy casualties in five days of battle. In the Vyazma area, where the Germans' are making a dangerous frontal assault, the Russians are striking back fiercely. Other Moscow dispatches describe the fighting in the Bryansk and Orel areas, south-west and south of the capital. Yesterday it was reported that the Russians had recaptured Orel, but there is no official confirmation of this •'in Moscow. The “Red Star“ says that the Germans arc launching attack after attack and are turning from ono side to the other in ceaseless efforts to break through at any cost.- ... Germans’ Contradictory Claims. Yesterday a special announcement from Hitler’s headquarters said that the double battle of Vyazma and Bryansk had been successfully ended with the destruction of eight armies under Marshal Timoshenko, but a few hours after this announcement the Germans admitted counter-attacks on the sectors of the front where these armies were said to have been wiped out. Hitler’s headquarters said that 648,196 prisoners had been taken and 1197 tanks and 5229 guns captured or destroved.

There is little fresh news of the renewed German offensive toward the Donets Basin, but reports indicate heavy fighting on the north shore of the Sea of Azov. This morning the Berlin radio said that the Donets Basin had become a fighting zone. • The Stockholm correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” says that the Gormans have advanced slightly on the Pcrckop Isthmus, leading to the Crimea. They stormed a section of the gigantic earth breastwork which extends across the isthmus, but the Russians counter-attacked. A great battle is raging, he says. Seventeen Days’ Offensive. The Stockholm correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” also says that the Russians are reported to hnr’e recaptured Kalinin, where the fighting is exceedingly violent. Ho adds that after 17 days of the greatest offensive in history the Gor'mans are nowhere within 50 miles of the Kremlin. The Germans, however, claim to have pierced the outer defences of Moscow near Mozhaisk, G 5 miles to the .west. Yesterday “Pravda” said: “In the Vyazma sector our troops continue to hold the main fortified positions, and are also counter-attacking in a number of sectors. Both sides are suffering heavy losses. Confidence in the success of our resistance on the sector where the enemy broke through is increasing, although the situatiorf is still grave. The fighting each hour becomes more strenuous and bloodier. The Rod Army has beaten off several violent attacks.

“Our troops and air force have slowed down the German thrust from Orel. One unit killed or wounded 2000 Germans.”

The Moscow radio stated that the Germans had thrown in large forces in attacks against the Donets basin directed at Rostov. After the capture of Mariupol, the Germans attempted to advance along the coast of the Sea of Azov, but they encountered rapidlyadvancing Russian reinforcements, who threw them back 10 miles. The Russians recaptured five important places ‘in this sector, inflicting heavy losses. Last night’s Russian communique said: “To-day our troops wore engaged in especially fierce fighting on the central front, covering Moscow. Several German aircraft were shot down during air attacks on Moscow. On October 17, 42 German aircraft were destroyed. We lost 27.”