DIED DOWN QUICKLY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 111, 13 May 1942, Page 6

DIED DOWN QUICKLY

KERCH OFFENSIVE

NAZI VIEW OF RUSSIAN STRENGTH

(Rec. 2 p.m.) LONDON. May 12

Although the first reports of the German attack in the Kerch Peninsula indicated that their longawaited offensive had begun in earnest, the latest news from Moscow states that the offensive died down as quickly as it flared up.

The Russians are holding the drive,

A military spokesman in Berlin declared: "The German and Rumanian attack was certainly not the beginning of the promised great offensive. It was merely a-limited action designed to prepare for the great event which is coming, but it was the first largescale attack of the year and was of some importance within the limits mentioned, because an Axis victory would mean that the Russians would lose a springboard for carefully-pre-pared operations aimed at the recapturing of the Crimea. The enemy has created in this comparatively narrow space extraordinarily strong fortifications, with an excellent ground organisation for large air formations. He is employing land forces in this _ area which numerically are far superior. "Entirely new weapons which the German and Rumanian forces are using in the Kerch Peninsula completely surprised the Russians. Factories throughout Europe all through the winter not only have improved the existing types of arms, but have worked on inventions. When the large-scale offensive begins arms will be available which will have an effect similar to when the Germans attacked the enemy's defences in France."

The Stockholm correspondent of "The Times" says that the Russians have strengthened their hold on the Peninsula since the new year. They also realise its importance. Therefore, the hardest fighting yet seen in the Crimea may be expected in the near future.

The German reference to the Russian strength is most significant. It is very unusual for such a tone to be adopted before the opening of an offensive.

A German war correspondent claims that dive-bomber formations totalling 2000 planes are operating over the Peninsula. The Germans, soon after the attack opened, achieved complete mastery of the air. German planes operated without respite and in fifteen hours dropped over 2000 bombs.

German sources report great concentrations of Russians near Lake Ilmen and strong enemy thrusts across the Donets River, This is taken in London as an indication that the 'Red Army is completing its positional operations in preparation for the coming struggle.

A Stockholm report from Berlin states that the chief of staff of the Storm Troops, Viktor Lutze, told correspondents that about one million of Germany's 1,400,000 Storm Troops ar<« already at the Russian front, and have suffered heavy losses, including 12 generals and 17 brigadiers killed.