LENINGRAD FRONT

Evening Star, Issue 24005, 2 October 1941, Page 7

LENINGRAD FRONT

GERMANS HARD PRESSED SUCCESSFUL SOVIET COUNTER- , ATTACKS (Rec. 12.15 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 1. The Russians continue their counterattacks in the Leningrad area. It is reported in Stockholm that Russian tanks l attacking eastwards of the city recaptured a large town, and that the Germans are hard pressed in other sectors of the Leningrad front. Tho Russians on the central front routed a German infantry division and broke up a German offensive after, three days’ fighting. The Berlin radio claimed that Russian troops again attempting a landing on the coast of Lake Ladoga south-east-wards of' Shlusselburg were repulsed with, heavy losses. The Axis-controlled Lahti (Finland) radio claimed the capture of Petrozavodsk. A German communique says offensive operations eastwards of the Dnieper continue successfully. The Luftwaffe bombed Moscow military installations on the night of September 30. It is reported from Istanbul that General Antonescu has resigned command of the Rumanian forces and has returned to Bucharest. SNOW FALLING LONDON, October 2. Snow is falling in the Leningrad area and in the Ukraine. The battle is raging relentlessly from'the Arctic to the Black Sea. The garrison at Odessa has been smashing (Rumanian attacks and shooting down troop-carrying planes and gliders. If what the Finns say is true they have cut the railway line which is the only link with the troops that are defending Murmansk. WINTER OPERATIONS THE GERMANS PREPARED ZURICH, October 1. Colonel Scherff, a member of the German General Staff, in an article in the German Press, explains, contrary to all other ■ writers, that the (Russian winter will bring German operations on the Eastern Front to a standstill. He stresses the point that the High Command has already counted on this and explains that the Germans in the last war stood through several Russian winters without much suffering. He also states that the situation to-day is favourable because the Germans are not fighting a two-front war. “ When the winter snowfall begins,” he said, “we will have penetrated Russia to.such an extent that she will be unable to organise a spring offensive, even if she succeeds in mobilising and training several millions of men during the winter lull. The German High Command will continue the offensive immediately according to plan, which aims to deprive the Red Army of all territory with modern traffic communications.”

UNABATED VIOLENCE BATTLE FOR LENINGRAD RUSSIANS TAKE INITIATIVE AT SEVERAL POINTS LONDON, October, 1. The paucity of reports from the southern front of the Russo-German war has allowed public interest to swing back to Leningrad, where the struggle continues with unabated violence on the blood-soaked approaches to the city. There is some evidence in support of reports that the Russians, far from concentrating in the mere defence of Leningrad, are actually taking the initiative at several points. The ‘ Red Star ’ reports the recapture of the strategically important town of “ B ” after a 12-hour battle culminating in fierce hand-to-hand fighting. A Russian regiment approached the town and entrenched under cover of darkness. Russian artillery next morning puf an extensive barrage, after which tanks advanced and infantry follewedi and stormed tho defences. By noon the regiment had occupied the southern and western suburbs of the town, while other units reached the north-eastern outskirts. The main Russian forces by six p.m. had forced a passage over an unnamed river, completed_ the recapture of the town, and) driven the Germans back a significant distance from Leningrad. An entire German regiment was destroyed. The Soviet spokesman, M.Lozovsky, stated that the Russian position in Leningrad was better than a month ago. Fighting was proceeding day and night near the Crimea, but outside the peninsula. An enormous battle, with huge losses, was continuing, but German hopes that the major part of the war was settled after the fall of Kiev were dashed to the ground. The Russians, .before evacuating Kiev, destroyed everything that could have been used against them and' evacuated half the civilian population. A remarkably frank admission of Russian tenacity in the Leningrad sector is contained in an article by a war correspondent of the ‘ Berliner Boersen Zeitung.’ The correspondent declares; “The difficulties of our troops on the Leningrad front are interminable, and every advance is possible only with often severe losses owing to the fact that the retreating Russians have mined practically everything. Our troops came into these minefields—mines in rivers, houses, and schools and cornfields—and suffered losses. The High Command was forced to forbid troops to enter any house of lodging. This order was given when, time after time, delayed action bombs had exploded in the town of Luga, where bombs had been hidden under carpets, in stoves, and behind cupboards, thus causing heavy losses. German pioneers discovered in one district in the town of Luga alone 1,500 mines, while the greater part of Luga has still to be cleared of mines.” The writer concluded: “It has become necessary despatch pioneer reinforcements to tho Leningrad front.”