GERMANS HELD IN CRIMEA

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23445, 27 September 1941, Page 9

GERMANS HELD IN CRIMEA

Heavy Losses Before Leningrad BUDENNY ESCAPES KIEV TRAP (ITTITED tress ASSOCIATION —COTTRIGHT.) .deceived ScptombtT 26, 11.50 p.m.) LONDON. S('ptcml>cr 26. Rain is falling on all sectors of the Eastern Front, but there is no lull in the heavy fighting. The German drive against the Crimea, according to Moscow, is making no headway. A spokesman in Moscow said that in the Crimean Isthmus the Russians had the situation in hand. Although the German threat to Kharkov and the drive against the Crimea each constitutes a development embracing momentous possibilities, it is the mighty struggle for Leningrad upon which the attention of anxious millions throughout the world is concentrated. Big battles are raging on the south-western and south-eastern approaches, with the Germans massing a vast weight of men and material on a restricted front. The Stockholm correspondent of “The Times,” referring to the fact that not only the Germans but also the Russians mention fighting in the outlying districts of Leningrad, says the most trustworthy information seems to indicate that these encounters are not really in Leningrad’s suburbs but within a dozen miles of them, at Peterhof or Strelna, or both. Both Berlin and Moscow mention gigantic piles of dead, each giving the impression that these are enemy dead. Judging from the latest reports both are right The Stockholm correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” says that Marshal Budenny’s main armies have escaped from the Kiev trap. This fact is not yet officially accepted in London, but Russian circles in Stockholm are less reserved. They estimate that Marshal Budenny has extricated three-quarters of his total, forces from between Kiev and Kremenchug and say that he has successfully consolidated a front just east of Poltava after losing about 200,000 men.

At Poltava Marshal Budenny flung :j In reserves in a counter-attack which cheeked the German pursuit long i enough to allow his weary, shattered i divisions to regroup across the Poli tava-Kharkov railway at Valki. From these positions he was slowly forced back till now he is 35 miles west of Kharkov. Against this line Marshal von Rundstedt is preparing to launch a ■ drive seeking to penetrate the indusi trial heart of the eastern Ukraine. i Simultaneously, Marshal vop Rundi stedt's southern forces are beginning a new advance from Genichesk along the coast of the Sea of Azov, thus prevent- : ing Marshal Budenny from detaching reinforcements from this sector to meet the threat against Kharkov. The battle for Kharkov will be grim and dour. ; Marshal Budenny's army is weakened > but not broken, and is capable of ter- : rific resistance. Marshal Budenny’s army, adds the Stockholm correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph,” is backed by the fully mobilised civil population of 800.000, who have been ceaselessly preparing forti--1 fications for the last two months, i Moreover, big Soviet reserves are ■i held at Kharkov and other centres of ! the Donetz Basin against just such an emergency. German Strength The correspondent declares that the Germans have now exhausted their accumulated supplies of munitions, and are depending on day to day production: but they are still strong enough to maintain an offensive equal to all the previous ones. “Izvestia” reports that a constant stream of Russian troop transports is | pouring through Kharkov as the German drive gains momentum. In the city itself men and women are filling sandbags and erecting barricades. Women are replacing men in the factories. The Germans claim to be continuing the destruction of Marshal Budenny’s forces. “Desperate attempts to break out by the last of the Russian forces in the pocket east of Kiev were defeated with bloody losses,” states the German communique. “The Russian Commander-in-Chief on the southwest front. General Kirponos, was killed, together with his staff, and also the staffs of the sth and 21st Armies. The Hungarian Army Command says that German and Hungarian troops have reached the outskirts of one of the most important industrial towns in the Donetz Basin. The Hungarians also say that _ the i Russians dropped parachutists benmd the Hungarian lines, but all were dealt ■j with. Attack on Crimea The forces the Germans are using against the Crimea are based on the east bank of the Dnieper river. They are believed to be using four divisions totalling 70,000 men—not a large number for an operation of this sort. Before they invest the Crimea, the Germans will have to batter their way across the narrow Perekop Isthmus, ; where they cannot use large numbers i of men. j The Berlin radio stated that the ■ Isthmus had been heavily bombed. Vio- ! lent explosions and fires had been caused. Describing the assault on the Crimea, a spokesman in Moscow said that the operations began at midday on Wednesday. After a heavy artillery bombardment German tanks and mechanised infantry attacked the Isthmus and parachute troops were dropped. The Russians waited behind vast minefields, which caused havoc filming the attackers. The Germans withdrew, to resume their attack just before noon yesterday, One infiltration was made, but this German force was surrounded end annihilated. Odessa Stands Firm To the west. Odessa is standing up well to heavy bombing and shelling. Marines and airmen of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet are assisting in the defence of the city. The Rumanians have suffered further heavy losses. The Russians claim that the air arm of their Black Sea Fleet destroyed 26 German aeroplanes. 22 guns, and * nume; ous lorries and armoured cars.^ Red Armv and regular Home Guard troops continue to deal heavy blows figamst ’he Rumanians on the Odessa front. Tv.- > Rumanian divisions were routed during an attempt to win back j strategic positions from which they had i been elected. j In the central sector there is no ; further news beyond Wednesday's re,i port trat Marshal Timoshenko had | flushed to within 25 miles of Smolensk. i Moscow reports say that four German expeditions against guerrillas in the Minsk area failed completely, i filler:-: l .las in this area in September j filled 2500 Germans, and captured 400 trrles. One unit blew up eight Geri pan munition depots, and also sueI ftMfully attacked supply columns. JPhe Stockholm correspondent of •’The Times” says that the four-day fcattle ] n which the Germans were thrown back across the river Dvina oc-

curred in the hotly-disputed Volikye Luki sector, south of Lake Ilmen, where both sides have alternatively claimed the initiative since August and where the position remains confused. Little is reliably known about the position in the Kiev sector and thence to the Black Sea, he adds, but the Rumanians have again suffered heavily in abortive attempts to reach the approaches to Odessa. “The Times” says that reports from a neutral military source declare that the flood resulting from the destruction of the Dnieproges dam washed away and almost annihilated five Rumanian divisions. In spite of the German forecast that Leningrad would fall within a few days, the defenders have recaptured several fortified points and hold them against all attacks by panzer divisions and infantry. A German tank column, which attempted to infiltrate behind the Russians under a red flag, met with a crushing defeat. It lost 36 tanks and more than 100 German officers and men were killed. Germans Modify Claim The Germans have not repeated their claims to have reached the inner suburbs of Leningrad. They now speak of scattered battles in villages on the approaches to the city. Moscow reports speak of how Russian infantry counter-attacked southwest of Leningrad. German tanks penetrated the front lines, but were hurled back by Russian tanks. The "Red Star” says that local Russian counter-attacks round Leningrad have resulted in the recapture of several villages from the Germans, and in one case an advance of six miles was made. In spite of the heavy rain, the Russian Air Force has intensified its offensive. Heavy raids have been made on German bases and supply columns. The Vichy News Agency reports that Russian warships continue to steam into the Gulf of Finland and heavily shell German positions near Leningrad. Naval Losses The Moscow radio says the Soviet Fleet Air Arm has sunk 50 ships in the Baltic since the outbreak of war. According to Swedish correspondents, the Finns have crossed the Svir river at several points east of Lake Ladoga, and have deprived the Russians of three or four power stations contributing to Leningrad’s supply. Concentric attacks towards Petrozavodsk are continuing, with intensive air support. The Finns evidently aim at control of the Murmansk railway between Petrozavodsk and the Svir. The front on the Karelian Isthmus has been static since the Finns reached the old frontier. Moscow had a six-hour alert on Wednesday night, but no enemy machines succeeded in reaching the capital. Five raiders were shot down by Russian night fighters. Royal Air Force machines have been used to protect Russian bombers in raids on enemy positions. Supply Problems The correspondent in Berlin of a Swiss newspaper estimates that more shells and bombs were used in three months in the Russian-German war than in all the previous 20 months of the other campaigns. The roads to the front on the German side are packed with supply columns, in which horses, in addition to motors, are carrying immense quantities of munitions. The correspondent of "The Times” on the German frontier quotes a German military expert’s estimate that the rolling stock needed on the Eastern Front included 70.000 motor-cars and lorries, 4000 motor-cycles, and between GOOO and 7000 tanks. Everv time the front advances 20 to 25 miles, about half as many vehicles again as for the fighting operations are needed to bring up supplies and reinforcements, indicating that 40.000 to 50.000 lorries must be kept permanently ready behind the lines. The German expert also estimates that each division when advancing consumes 100 to 200 tons of munitions a dav. When rations, fodder and motor fuel are included, each division consumes 300 tons a day. One German panzer division consists of about 1000 motor-vehicles, including tanks, and needs 100 tons of fuel for each 65 miles, SHIP PRODUCTION IN U.S. SIX VESSELS LAUNCHED IN FIVE DAYS NEW YORK, September 25. Six United States ships have been launched in the last five days. This is the greatest rate of output the United States has reached since the Great War. 1