Stalingrad Battle

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23744, 16 September 1942, Page 5

Stalingrad Battle

RUSSIANS STILL CONFIDENT (N.2. Press Association— Copyright.) (Rec. 11 P-Hh) LONDON, September 15. The German assault on Stalingrad is being pressed with acn-sr/itf creasing fury, but with little further success. Fresh German troops and tanks are being thrown into the battle, but they have made only a slight advance, from the south-west. The Soviet midday communique reports continued fierce fighting west and south-west of Stalingrad, where Soviet troops and artillery are taking heavy toll of enemy troops and tanks. Although theie is no confirmation of the German claim that the outer, edge of Stalingrad itself has been penetrated, unofficial information from Moscow indicates that the position , at Stalingrad has further deteriorated. However, there is still no reason to believe that the fall of the city is imminent. Indeed, military quarters in Moscow remain confident that Stalingrad will hold out. The latest German report of the Stalingrad fighting states that penetration has been from the south through the suburbs of the city, where every house is fortified and every foot of ground contested. A German communique claimed that assault troops in the fortified area of Stalingrad penetrated into the fortifications on the outer edge of the city and stormed commanding heights north-west of the centre of the town area. The Berlin radio declared that German and Rumanian troops penetrated the outskirts of Stalingrad itself. The Vichy radio asserted that Marshal von Bock’s troops were approaching the centre of Stalingrad. A German spokesman explained that although the final stage was now definitely initiated Stalingrad’s far-flung lines and scattered houses stretch over a distance of 25 miles. Therefore the storming of the town itself could not be expected immediately.

"To-day our troops fought fierce engagements with the enemy west and south-west of Stalingrad, and at. Mozdok, in the Caucasus,” states the Russian Monday night communique. "There were no important changes on other fronts.’’ The supplement to the communique stated: “West of Stalingrad Russian troops repulsed attacks by enemy infantry and tanks, and German troop concentrations were scattered by artillery fire. South-west of the city Soviet cavalry beat off German at"ln the Caucasus the enemy made further crossings to the south bank of the river at Mozdok and attacked Russian positions. After stubborn fighting the Russians retired to another defence line. In the Voronezh area five enemy attacks were repulsed and heavy losses were inflicted.” Main Thrust Now From South-west The main weight of the German pressure has shifted for the moment from the west to the south-west. Marshal Timoshenko continues to exact a fearful price for every yard of German progress. There are many signs that the Germans are worried about the appalling slaughter this battle is costing, but there is no change in the policy of hurling in more masses of men and machines. Tftc> Stockholm correspondent of sa ys: “ The Stalingrad iLcfe has reached an unprecedented pitch of intensity. Fifty-five major actions have been fought in three days, mostly in the south-western sector. The correspondent believes that the Russian reinforcements now arriving across the Volga are parts of the fresh armies Marshal Voroshilcrv and Marshal Budenny commissioned and organised when they relinquished front line commands at the beginning of last winter. . . The Stockholm correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph” reports that German shock troops, supported by Stukas, yesterday morning vainly attempted to force a crossing of the Volga, south of Stalingrad, in boats driven by powerful outboard motors. Concentrated Russian artillery and machine-gun fire from the eastern bank and from islands smashed the assault, which aimed at cutting Stalingrad’s supply lines. The Germans hoped to use the islands as halfway houses. Instead, they found that the undergrowth on the islands concealed dozens of steel casements and forts, whose guns forced the boats to retire in disorder after at least half of them were sunk. West of Stalingrad violent fighting Is going on day and night. The Germans have brought up fresh troops and equipment south-west of the city, where the Russians, bearing the main weight of the enemy onslaught, have been compelled to give ground Slightly. North-west of Stalingrad, where the Germans launched their original offensive on the city, the position seems to have become stabilised, Moscow radio, referring to fighting in the Kietskaya area, said that there had been no important development in this sector for nine days. Caucasus Danger The threat to the Grozny! oilfields has increased. The Germans yesterday succeeded in getting tanks across the Terek river in the Mozdok region, forcing the Russians to withdraw. The Soviet communique says a group of German tanks broke into an inhabited locality but were being wiped out by Red Guards. The position in the central Caucasus does not appear unfavourable to the Russians. The Germans are encountering tough opposition south of the Terek river. During the constant fighting of the last 11 days the Germans lost 5000 killed and nearly 200 tanks. A bitter day and night struggle is being waged in the western Caucasus

for passes across the mountains to the Black Sea. The Germans captured one pass, but Russian automatic riflemen outflanked the enemy, stormed th- pass from different directions, and dislodged and hurled back the Germans. On the Black Sea coast the. armies are regrouping themselves after the battle for Novorossiisk. Fighting has flared up again on the Don below Voronezh. The Germans are trying to smash the Russian bridgeheads but without success. They have been driven* back with heavy losses, While this battle has been going on the Russians have forced a new river crossing lower down. Reports from Moscow of the fighting in the Voronezh area describe the German and Hungarian thrust as the most ambitious yet launched to regain key positions. Fighting began with an attempt by 100 tanks and a division of infantry to throw back the Russians from the west bank of the Don. All the attacks failed. The Hungarians alone lost about 1000 men in yesterday’s fighting. Severe fighting by the Leningrad garrison to the south-east, and at Sinyavino has already greatly narrowed the neck of occupied territory leading to Schluesselburg, the position of which has become precarious. The Russians are still pressing the enemy hard south of Lake Ilmen and Rzhev. On the Rzhev front, south of Moscow, the Russians are keeping up a heavy pressure on the German line. German Losses Emphasised Information has reached London confirming the “New York Times” message that the Axis losses are such that Hitler has recalled Marshal von Bock for consultation and that Marshal Keitel has at least temporarily taken over the command before Stalingrad. The whole German press, however, is emphasising the stubb irn spirit of Stalingrad’s defenders and the strength of the fortifications. This is apparently designed to prepare the Germans for the revelation of the extent of the slaughter. , , The Axis has now lost 12,000 dead on this front in the last few days, making a total of more than 37,000 in the battle for Stalingrad. The Luftwaffe's losses in the last four weeks were over 1600 aeroplanes, mostly before Stalingrad. The Russian killed and wounded total 4000. The Italians lost 1500 men as prisoners when recently attacked in the Kietskaya area. The Italians’ heavy defeat has embarrassed the German High Command and eased the position for the Russians for the last nine days. An American National Broadcasting Company commentator in Moscow says the war has in some ways proved a blessing in disguise. . The evacuated populations’ of factories, scientific institutions. theatres and museums have converted scores of cities in Siberia and Central Asia into important cultural centres, and brought life to thousands of acres of virgin soil. .The latest development in central Asia is the opening of a 30 miles long irrigation channel in the Uzbekistan and Taiikistan republics. Central Asia's chief pre-war contribution to the Soviet’s national economy was cotton. It is now doing a great deal to make up for the production of grain and sugar beet lost in the Ukraine.