HALF A MILLION LOST IN SIX MONTHS OF WAR

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 83, 9 April 1942, Page 7

HALF A MILLION LOST IN SIX MONTHS OF WAR

NAZIS IN RUSSIA Trapped Army's Vain Effort To Break Out United Press Association.—Copyright. Rec. 1 p.m. LONDON, April 8. In six months, from October to March, the Germans on the eastern front lost 500,000 killed, wounded and prisoners, including 137,000 killed. Moscow radio, in making this announcement, added that the Russians were killing 3000 to 4000 Germans daily on the central front alone. Stalin is reported to have ordered the Red Air Force into widespread operations against the German reserves who are on their way to the front line and have been brought to a standstill by the thaw. Russian airmen are attacking along the whole front. Moscow claims that they have gained numerous victories against the Luftwaffe in the past few days. The Kuibyshev radio declared that the Germans, during March, lost over 1000 planes on the Eastern Front. The German 16th Army, entrapped at Staraya Russa, attempted a coun-ter-offensive to-day, reports the Red Star. Infantry, supported by 50 tanks and 100 planes, succeeded in driving a wedge into the Russian lines, but were checked before breaking out, leaving 1000 dead in front of the Russian positions. The Germans, after losing several tanks, switched the direction of the attack and sent 32 tanks against a village, but again they failed. Desperate fighting continues. The Russians, after smashing the Germans' attack in the Kalinin sector, pushed back the enemy. One Soviet unit penetrated to the rear, where it struck an unexpected blow, driving the Germans from 20 positions, routing two battalions and killing several hundred. A Soviet communique states that on the north-western front the Russians continued to advance. In one day on this sector the Germans lost 1125 men killed. The Russians, taking advantage of a snowstorm which has been raging for the last few days in the Smolensk sector, crossed the upper Dnieper in a surprise attack against German Eositions between Dorogobuj and •urovo, says a message from Stockholm. They are now only a few miles from Durovo, which is 50 miles east of Smolensk. A Moscow report states that 30 places have been liberated in this sector in two days. The Caspian Sea is now again open. The first group of laden Soviet tankers left Baku for Astrakhan following news that the ice was moving and me water clear at the entrance to the Volga. The new American Ambassador to Russia, Admiral William Standlev. arrived aboard the first United States Army aeroplane to fly across Russian territory. In a statement at Kuibyshev he said the flow of American supplies to Russia will fulfil commitments under the Moscow protocols by the end of April.