LENINGRAD FRONT

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 136, 11 June 1942, Page 5

LENINGRAD FRONT

HEAVY BOMBARDMENT

LONDON, June 10

Though no important move has begun from Finland, a heavy artillery bombardment of the Russians' positions has been progressing since the weekend, says the Stockholm correspondent of "The Times." This, he adds, does not necessarily mean that a serious drive against Leningrad is immediately impending from this side, but it can be interpreted as covering the

1 taking over of the whole or part of this sector by German divisions which, it is reported, had been ready since the spring to assume this task in connection with the inevitable offensive against Leningrad. The intentions of the Germans in the Svir sector (north-east of Leningrad) are still obscure, but serious preparations are certainly maturing in the north, particularly for a drive to the White Sea near the Arctic Circle, to cut the railway to Murmansk and establish a submarine base in the White Sea so as to harass the British an 4 American summer route while surface warships operate on the broader Arctic waters. The base for these surface ships has been transferred from Trondheim to Narvik, and a few days ago it was inspected by Grand Admiral yon Raeder and the German naval chief of Norway, Admiral Bohn. A message from Moscow yesterday said tha. the Germans had started large-scale attacks between Leningrad and the Valdai Hills. The Red Army was? resisting firmly and counterattacking. The wide area over which, the attacks were being made suggests that this may be part of a major German offensive. The German High Command reported heavy fighting on the Volkhov front, where the Russians, after strong artillery preparation, attacked with infantry and tanks. Bitter fighting flared up in the Bryansk region when the Russians captured two dominant hills and two villages.