LULL IN RUSSIA

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 75, 30 March 1943, Page 3

LULL IN RUSSIA

ON ENTIRE FRONT Enemy Activity In South May Herald Caucasus Drive N.Z. Press Association.—Copyright Rec. 1 p.m. LONDON, Mar. 29. The spring thaw has caused a lull in large-scale operations on almost the entire Russian front, although the Russians driving towards Smolensk continue to achieve gains in local fighting. Showers with alternating cold snaps are rapidly transforming the Smolensk area into a sea of mud, holding up all transport. Moscow correspondents suggest that fighting of any significance is unlikely for weeks. The battle for the Donetz crossings has almost died down, leaving the Russians firmly entrenched on the east bank, also holding several bridgeheads on the west bank. Spring floods are rapidly swelling the northern Donetz, which will be an increasingly difficult barrier for some time. The chief German activity is west of Rostov and in the Lower Kuban, where the Luftwaffe is repeatedly attempting to bomb Russian communications and front line towns. This is interpreted in Moscow as heralding a drive to the Caucasus. The Red Air Force is vigorously opposing the Luftwaffe, which mostly has failed to reach its objectives, losing 47 planes in four days on the Rostov front. Commenting on the general quietude, the Berlin radio commentator, . Captain Sertorius, says the only fighting of more than local significance is on Lake Ladoga and southward of Lake Ilmen, which the Russians do not mention. Captain Sertorius said the Russian attacks at Staraya Russa and Lake Lodoga aim at loosening the German grip on Leningrad because after the thaw Lake Ladoga cannot be used as a supply route to Leningrad and the Russians hold no big railway lines to the city. The Germans have beaten off strong attacks after seven days' fighting, Captain Sertorius added. The Germans, making full use of the lull, have already completely re-equipped the panzer and mechanised units which participated in the Donetz counter-offensive, also the bulk of their infantry divisions. "Whole reserve armies are being built up," said the commentator, "and communications to the front are being improved, enabling the rapid supply of new, effective arms, including Tiger tanks."