RUSSIAN FRONT

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 226, 19 June 1943, Page 5

RUSSIAN FRONT

Battle Confined To Orel Salient (Received June 18, 7.20 p.m.) LONDON, June 17.

“Unless Hitler launches another offensive against Russia this year the German morale will sag, causing the gravest internal disquiet,” said the Director of the Office of War Information, Mr. Elmer Davis, at his Press conference in Washington today. He pointed out that the previous Nazi offensive in Russia started in June'.

The Russians have gained more ground in the battle of the Orel bulge, says Moscow radio. Soviet troops drove the Germans from a village in the Mtsensk sector after fierce hand-to-hand fighting. The Germans attempted to recapture the village, launching 14 counter-attacks, all of which were beaten off. The radio added that a German neighbouring garrison was wiped out after refusing to lay down its arms. The Luftwaffe attempted to assist the German land forces with formations of 20 to 40 bombers, but Russian fighters intercepted and broke up the enemy flights. Some

of the German counter-attacks wore supported by panzer divisions under the cover of smoke' screens.

Reuter’s Moscow correspondent reports that this battle went on all last night and appears to be continuing today. The Germans lost about 3000 in killed and wounded since the battle began at the weekend. Russian Bombing Continued. A special Soviet communique states: “A large formation of our aircraft raided enemy aerodromes last night. As a result of the bombing more than 100 fires broke out on the aerodromes and in the areas of fuel and ammunition dumps, followed by fierce explosions. Two of our planes are missing.” Moscow radio says that Soviet longrange planes, without suffering loss, raided railway junctions in the Crimea, wrecking many enemy trains and causing large fires and explosions. A group of German planes attempted to raid Saratov, north-east of Stalingrad, but only single planes broke through to the town. They dropped bombs at random, and no military damage was done. The military correspondent of the Swiss newspaper “La Suisse”’ says that the German strength along the .Russian front does not exceed 170 divisions. He estimates tiiat Russia has available an army at least twice the size of the Germany army which is opposed to it, and that the Russians have far greater power generally for attack than the Axis. The correspondent disagrees with Mr. Churchill's recent estimate of 218 Axis divisions —190 German and 28 satellite divisions —on the Soviet front. He says that the Italians. Rumanians, and Hungarians have withdrawn many of their forces, and it is doubtful whether 10 satellite divisions remain in Russia.