NO CHANGES IN RUSSIA

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23800, 20 November 1942, Page 5

NO CHANGES IN RUSSIA

ENEMY ATTACKS FAIL AT STALINGRAD SOVIET PRESSURE IN CAUCASUS (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright.) (Rec. 11 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 19. To-day’s Moscow communique describes the fighting in Russia with the single phrase, “No change at the fronts.” The supplement to the communique says that the main fighting was again in the northern factory area of Stalingrad. Here, and in other parts of the city, German attacks were thrown back. In the Caucasus the Russians are maintaining steady pressure against the German positions north-east of the Black Sea port of Tuapse. South-east of Nalchik, in the central Caucasus, Russian artillery has again been active. The earlier midnight communique from Moscow said that operations had been in progress round Stalingrad, Nalchik, and Tuapse, but enemy infantry and tank attacks had all been repulsed with heavy losses. A fierce attack, with tanks leading the infantry, was launched against the Soviet defences in the northern part of Stalingrad, but this was beaten off without loss of ground. The correspondent of the “News Chronicle” in Moscow says that the Germans have been swift to take advantage of the presence of ice floes in the Volga. These are hampering the supply system of the Soviet armies, and the Germans have been systematically concentrating on widening their wedge in the factory area. Other reports say that the Germans are again raiding the northern industrial district of Stalingrad, but the situation has changed little. The Russians are maintaining ascendancy from Nalchik to Tuapse on the Caucasus front. The most significant report from either Russian or German sources is a German reference to diminishing air activity against the Russians. Actions on Volkhov Front Berlin has announced that the Germans south-east of, Lake Ilmen are carrying out local attacks with support from the air, which is unusual. Both the Russians and Germans report fierce local actiops on the Volkhov front, each claiming certain successes. There is nothing beyond local activity between the Rzhev-Vyazma area and Voronezh. The Stockholm correspondent of “The Times” says: “It is now revealed that the Germans since late m the summer have been sending to Russia an unusually high proportion of their most youthful troops. An examination of 500 death notices published by relatives shows that one-third of these Germans killed on the Russian front were between 18 and 22 years of age. Observers in Stockholm say the Russian winter offensive will begin when the ground is frozen hard enough to permit armoured operations. British and United States tanks are massed behind the front, waiting for the signal to sttcick “The offensive will have two objectives: first, to raise the seige of Leningrad, and, second, to recapture for the Russians a port on the Baltic coast, especially Riga. The occupation of Riga would have far-reaching consequences, not only in the Leningrad sector, but also in Finland. Some observers believe that with possession of Baltic bases the Red Fleet could cut off communication between Finland and Germany. This would possibly cause a collapse of the whole Axis front between the Karelian Isthmus and Murmansk.”