GERMAN THREAT TO CRIMEA

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 303, 19 September 1941, Page 7

GERMAN THREAT TO CRIMEA

Onslaught In Ukraine COUNTER ASSAULTS IN BATTLES TO NORTH Kiev Now In Graver Danger (By Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright.) - LONDON, September 18. Reports today suggest that the Germans are developing a drive against the Crimea, while in Berlin it is unofficially claimed that German troops have reached the Isthmus of Perekop, the neck of land separating the Crimea from the mainland of the Ukraine. An American broadcaster in Ankara says that reports have been circulating in Turkey for some time that as soon as the German army is in a position to move into the Crimea naval landings will be attempted on the Crimean coast. There have been other persistent reports of strong German forces massing in German ports. The recent Soviet protest to Bulgaria over that country being used as a base for projected action against the Soviet is recalled.

In the Ukraine offensive to the north the Germans claim to have crossed the Dnieper at three more points. Russian counterattacks are mentioned by Berlin. Other reports indicate that Kiev is in serious danger of isolation. Reports from Moscow state that the battle for Leningrad is growing in intensity, with the Germans increasing their pressure and the Russians stiffening their defences on land, at sea and in the air. The Russians have made some successful counter-attacks, in one of which they advanced for nine miles. The Stockholm correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph" says official Russian circles there say that the British fighter planes in the Leningrad area have already destroyed 1 00 enemy aircraft and have appreciably lessened the German pilots desire for combats. [Recent reports stated that these British aircraft were being piloted by Russians, while the base of the Royal Air Force wing was said, though without confirmation, to be in the Crimea.] The Germans appear to be on the defensive under strong pressure in the Smolensk sector. Russian reports yesterday declared that by the Germans’ defeat in a weeks-long battle at Yartsevo, beyond Smolensk on the main road to Moscow, the Red Army is not only in a position to invest Smolensk but also to prevent any further attempt to force the direct route to Moscow.