THE REAL REASON

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 142, 12 December 1941, Page 6

THE REAL REASON

GERMAN REVERSES IN

RUSSIA

(Rec. 10.20 a.m.) RUGBY, Dec. 11. Although the Soviet midday war communique merely states that fighting continued during the night along the whole front, it is clear from more detailed information reaching London that the Soviet forces continue to achieve successes in, the north, the. centre, and the south. The recapture of Yelets has relieved the threat to the important railway line from Moscow through Ryazan to the south. Yelets was the most easterly point reached by the Germans. The Russian success in this sector followed shortly after the important success of recapturing Tikhvin, in the north, while in the extreme south the Russians appear to be continuing to drive the Germans westward. The position of Taganrog, though it is probably still in German hands — the Russians have not yet claimed its recapture—is probably serious for the Germans. The German military spokesman has been seeking to explain these repulses to the German people by stating that the withdrawals were necessary for the purpose of taking up more suitable winter defensive positions. However, the very heavy losses inflicted on the retreating. Germans suggest that such withdrawals' were more the result of Russian pressure and the difficulties imposed on the Germans by the rigor- } ous weather than anything else. — 8.0. W.