PINCER INVASION

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 6, 8 January 1942, Page 7

PINCER INVASION

RUSSIANS IN CRIMEA

ENEMY SURPRISED

«By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.) LONDON, January 6. Marshal Timoshenko has launched a giant pincer invasion of the Crimea, says the Stockholm correspondent of the "Daily Tele- j graph." While the Russians are ! pushing on from Kerch and Theodosia, a large fleet of Soviet troop transports arrived off Eupatoria, on the west coast, in darkness on the night of January 5, escorted by motor-torpedo-boats, destroyers, and naval bombers. Landing operations began just before dawn on January 6, with commandos leading the way. The Germans were surprised, but quickly rallied, after which the Russians met a- storm of- automatic rifle fire on the beaches, while dive-bomber fighters of the squadrons from the airfields of Eupatoria and Simferol fought savage dogfights with fighters of the' Russian fleet air arm., A. battle is now raging along the shore. German troops are being rushed up, along the Eupatoria-Simferol railway in order to check the landing, which,, if successful, will sound the death-knell of the 100,000 Axis troops besieging Sebastopol. ■ The Russian Embassy in .Washington today received by cable- a message

from Colonel Tolchenov in Kuibyshev saying that the Russian conquest of Kerch finally blew up the German plans for the conquest of the Caucasus,, and adding: "The belligerents exchanged roles when Russia seized the initiative. Henceforth the Germans will have to take unexpected and frightful blows and fight at the time and place deemed convenient to the Red army, whose growing strength is demonstrated by this change." HEAVY GERMAN LOSSES. A Soviet communique gives details of the recent fighting iri the western Crimea. It says that one Soviet unit inflicted heavy losses on a German unit which attempted to attack defence positions in the Sebastopol sector. The enemy left on the battlefield more than 600 dead officers and men. The Soviet troops captured 80 machine-guns, more than 700 rifles, and a great quantity of other material. The Russians' footing in the eastern Crimea now appears to be firm, says the Stockholm correspondent of "The Times." They are steadily moving westward, with Russian bombers and fighters very active from the re-' occupied aerodrome at Theodosia and also from the other side of the Kerch channel. Russian guerrillas, particularly cavalry, are very busy against the German communications, says the -same correspondent. The Russian progress against the weaker sectors below Kharkov and also between Kharkov and Kursk, coupled with the Russian frontal offensive, appears likely to accelerate the Germans' withdrawal to or westward of the Kharkov-Kursk line, to straighten their front and avoid being caught in a pocket. This would make the German front practically straight between Mariupol and Mojaisk.

The correspondent adds that the food situation in Finland is steadily deteriorating. It is practically certain that if Britain and Airierica could guarantee immediate, adequate, and continuous delivery of shiploads of food, Finland would listen to the already strong inner voice insisting on the expediency of peace.

The Stockholm correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph" quotes a German statement that, despite the intense cold, the Russians on the central front threw in large numbers of heavy tanks burning a special fuel compound apparently impervious to climatic conditions. German military circles describe this as a secret Russian weapon.