TANK BATTLE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 63, Issue 230, 9 July 1943, Page 4

TANK BATTLE

KURSK SALIENT. ONE OF WAR'S BIGGEST. BITTER FIGHTING CONTINUES. (N.Z. Press Association-—Copyright.) : (Roe. 12 noon.) LONDON, July 8. In Russia one of the biggest tank battles of the war has been raging to-day on the flat plains of the Kursk salient. The first three days of this offensive were the costliest of the war for the Germans. News from Russia is still of bitter fighting in the great battle of the Kursk bulge. Alter throe days, in which their guns and aircraft- took heavy toll of the German armour, the Russians have now thrown their own tanks into action, and the flat plain of the Kursk salient is ideal lor tank warfare. The battlefield lies in a rich black holt of vital land, with small villages and patches of forest dotted here and there. Now this once-peaeeful country-» side is shrouded in. the smoke of battle,) and the fog of heavy brown dust clouds hanns over it. Beneath this dust cloud cn-oups of German tanks range north and south of Kursk looking for a gap in the Russian defences. Front-line reports say that German tanks have never before shown such speed in manoeuvre, thrashing about from one sector to another, but the mobile Russian artillery moves just as .swiftly to meet every new attack. Villages Change Hands. It is a grim, relentless struggle. Some villages, important only because of their value as defence points, have changed hands many times in the course of a single day and even when they have been reduced to little moil., than a pile of rubble the battle tor their possession goes on just as fiercely. At the Orel end of the front north of* Kursk one blazing village is still being stubbornly defended to-day, i though all the buildings in it- have been destroyed. While the opposing forces sway bacic- : wards and forwards on the ground the [ skies above are filled with masses oi. J planes locked in an almost endless air battle, swooping down to bomb and shoot up the ground forces. Sometimes as many as 200 planes take part in a single attack. It is difficult to imagine the scale of this vast battle—a- battle which one Berlin, spokesman called to-day “the biggest ever fought on the Russian front.” Some idea of its extent can lie get from to-day’s official statement that : the Germans are using 00 divisions, half of them armoured. This means on the German side alone there is something like 200,000 men in action, hut despite this great concentration _of power the German hopes of smashing their way through in one big blow so far have been frustrated. Blitzkrieg Fails. Reuter’s correspondent says the first three days of battle proved that German blitzkrieg methods had’’failed again. The German Command evidently hoped to smash its way through in the first concentrated blow, but this aim has been so far completely frustrated. There is no sign of German pressure weakening. The Russians on the fourth day of battle for the first time threw in tanks to stem the German armoured onslaught. The Berlin radio says Berlin military circles have claimed that the positions of ihe Russians in the Orel-Byelgorod salient are precarious, but admitted that the Russians are masters of defence. It added that the Russians are still keeping back part of their armoured reserves. The battle has not yet, reached a. climax, i although its violence is increasing. The Russians arc clinging to their fortifications, using a new typo of tank—the 24. Swedish correspondent in Berlin say that the Germans are already obliged to throw in their operative reserves, Ibis being an indication that the resistance is much stronger than was-ex-pected . In four days’ fighting in the Oiel-Ivursk-Byelgorod area the Germans have lost 1843 tanks, and 810 planes. A Russian communique states: “Our forces in this area continued to fight stubborn actions against large enemy infantry and tank forces. As on previous days, the German offensive was supported by a large number of aircraft. Heavy aerial engagements took place throughout the whole day. In the Orel—Kursk direction all enemy attacks were repulsed, and our troops, by successful counter-attacks, dislodged the enemy from a number of points occupied on the first day. Our tioops 1 improved their position. In the Ryeli gored direction a group of enemy tanks • succeeded in driving a wedge into our • positions. During the day our troops ■ destroyed or damaged 304 enemy tanks 1 and 161 enemy planes were brought 1 down by lighters and anti-airciaft.