THRUSTS RESISTED

Evening Star, Issue 24007, 4 October 1941, Page 9

THRUSTS RESISTED

Fierce Russian Counter-attacks Bitter Fighting In Ukraine Germans Held In Crimea Drive (British Official Wireless.), Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright (Received 11 a.m.)' RUGBY, October 3. The latest information received in London shows that the German thrust towards Kharkov is being met with fierce counter-attacks from the Russians, and bitter fighting is still proceeding. Fierce resistance. and counter-attacks are also reported from the isthmus joining the Crimea to the mainland, alid the Germans have not succeeded in breaking through. Although they are reported to have advanced seven miles along the isthmus, further progress is rendered more difficult by the fact that as the isthmus widens it is divided by water into three distinct and narrow portions. This part of the isthmus was successfully held for a very long time by Denikin against the earlier Red Army. While unofficial sources in Moscow state that the Germans are making slow progress in the drive towards Kharkov, the Helsinki radio this morning quotes a Berlin war correspondent for a statement that a huge Ukraine tank battle is progressing east of Dnepropetrovsk. It adds that the Germans have already succeeded in getting large infantry units across the Dnieper, and have captured several towns and villages, the , names of which the military censorship docs not reveal. The German troops are advancing along the tributaries of the Dnieper in a swift attacking movement along the line from Kursk to Kharkov. ‘ Pravda ' predicts that this will be a long and weary war, but declares that the Powers with the greatest reserves and resources, namely the Soviet Union, Britain, and America, •re bound to win. An Italian News Agency, from Helsinki, said that when the Finns entered Petrozavodsk they found that the Russians had dynamited factories and set fire to parts of the town. Almost the whole civil population had gone. An Ankara message says that, according to usually well-informed Axis ‘ quarters, preparations for a new offensive on the Russian front have been completed and are bound to start within 48 hours. The direction is not stated.

NEW DRIVES

NAZIS PREPARING GREAT OFFENSIVE VICTORY WANTED BEFORE WINTER RUSSIAN DEFENCE DELAYS OPENING LONDON, October 2. it is widely believed that the German High Command, by withholding fronWine news, aims to conceal to the utmost their preparations for a new and giant-scale offensive with the object of inflicting a paralysing defeat on the whole of the Russian Army before the winter. ‘ The Times ’ correspondent on the German frontier says there are indications that the Germans are preparing great wedge drives towards the Volga and the Caucasus, hoping for quick success to furnish a base from which to execute a direct campaign against the oilfields at Baku, after which they would cut the chief British and American supply line to Russia. If while doing this the Germans could capture Leningrad they would be enabled to pour in from the Baltic new armies advancing eastwards and forming with a drive on the southern front a vast pincer movement converging on Moscow. Marshal Timoshenko is making an effort to prevent this, and- he is maintaining an unceasing offensive in the central sector, forcing the Germans to relax the pressure on Leningrad, which acquired more vital strategical importance after the fall of Kiev and the loss of the eastern Ukraine. This accounts for the grim, unyielding tenacity of the Leningrad defence. The Stockholm correspondent of ‘ The Times ’ says " Indications are that the new offensive against Moscow will be on the largest possible scale, not only from the south-east, but from the west and the south-west. The preparations for this offensive have been long, but it was intended to continue them until General von Leeb was able to cooperate. General von Leeb, however, at the moment appears to be balked and confused. He seems to be fumbling to prevent the initiative from definitely passing to Marshal Voroshilov’s troops inside the Leningrad area and along the Valdai Hills towards Velikiyeluki. “ Much depends on what sort of hammerhead General von Leeb is able to concentrate for the new blow, which ho dare not delay long because a prolonged defensive standstill, would inevitably be converted into a disastrous defeat.” The same correspondent quotes Berlin reports of large-scale preparations For colonising the captured parts of Russia, where it is intended to transport complete German communities and arrange colonies somewhat resembling those now developing in Poland. Numerous organisers and administrative officials have been already selected, and are undergoing special courses of training.

FLUCTUATING FORTUNES. Excepting that the Russians are reported to have recaptured four villages and a strategic hill in the vicinity of Starayarussa, the latest information is couched in only very general terms. It reports local thrusts and counterattacks on fronts which extend for 100 miles and gives little idea of the fluctuations of fortunes. But it is interesting to note that the Germans today admitted that the Russians made another attempt to cross the Dnieper, whereas previously they did their best to give the impression that Soviet forces held no position along the river. German commentators also explained the slow progress of the Rumanians in the Odessa sector, “ where the battlefields are littered with the dead of both sides,” as due to the fact that the Russians still have much artillery which must first be overcome. A noteworthy sequel to the recent statement from the Stockholm correspondent of the ‘ Daily Telegraph ’ that General Bleucher is training a special winter army of 500,000 men is the Berlin claim that a German infantry division has captured 500 Siberian soldiers in the past few days, adding that they were only recently transferred to the sector where they were taken prisoner. RUSSIAN GUERRILLAS ACTIVE BEHIND ENEMY LINES (British Official Wireless.) (Rec. 10.20 a.m.) RUGBY. Oct. 3. A Russian communique states: Our troops were engaged in heavy fighting in one sector of the south-western front for two days. After the battle the ground was strewn with bodies of the enemy troops, over 2,700 German soldiers and officers being killed. Fortyone guns of all calibres. 16 tanks, 17 mortars, 92 machine guns, and several armoursd cars and other war material were captured. Guerrillas in the Chernigov district blew up in the second half of September 11 bridges, destroyed 19 tanks, six armoured cars. 69 lorries with ammunition. and numerous guns and other war material. More than 450 German officers and soldiers were killed by the same group. In the north-western sector large groups of arrived only a short time ago from France. GERMAN CLAIMS (Rec. 11.55 a.m.) LONDON, Oct 3. A German communique states that operations on the Eastern Front are continuing successfully. Ths Luftwaffe last night effectively bombed military objectives in Moscow "nd an important arms works near Kharkov. The German News Agency claimed that the troops in the Leningrad area captured Tsarkoesel.

RUSSIA’S STRENGTH ABILITY TO MAINTAIN STRUGGLE ANGLO-AMERICAN CONFIDENCE LONDON, October 2. Although discretion is necessary concerning the actual goods Britain and the United l States have promised to Russia, they can bo said to include largo amounts of munitions, arras, machine tools, and raw materials, says the special correspondent of ‘ The Times ’ in Moscow. One of the most important results of the conference has been the reaffirmation to Britain and America of Russii’s determination to fight to the end, and wild talk about Moscow keeping the door open for peace can be emphatically discounted while M. Stalin remains head of the Government. Another result has been the renewal of confidence in the English-speaking world over Russia’s ability to maintain the struggle and resist the furious German attacks. Members of the visiting mission were greatly impressed with the moderation of Russian requirements, which apparently demonstrates the success with which the country’s economy is able to withstand and absorb the shock of the initial German impact. The modesty of the Russian requests is one of the' chief contributory factors in the swiftness with which the conference concluded, and to _ this may be added the careful preliminary preparations in London and Washington and M. Stalin’s continual willingness to out through red tape and discuss hard facts at any hour with Lord Beaverbrook and Mr Harriman. How payments are being made has not been announced, but this was not a vital feature of the discussions. ‘The Times,’ in a leader, says: “ This transmission or exchange of the means of making war is not adequately described by the phrase ‘ help to Russia.’ There has been a council of war in Moscow among the staff of the combined foi’ces operating against a single enemy and its immediate response has been to devise a plan for making the maximum resources of the confederacy available at whatever segment in the common line the battle may be most critical. Thus-.the essential purpose of the conference was not commercial, but strategic.. The limits of contribution by the British Empire and the United’States were more likely set by considerations of transport than by production/ Very great differences in social structure and political thought divide the three members of tho. confederacy, The growth of mutual understanding which flows from the process of combined action will moderate the differences, though doubtless they will not obliterate them entirely. We have already learned that these differences are of quite another order to those dividing us from Hitlerism. Common detestation of that barbarous creed has brought home to us what we have in common with oiir new brothers in arms.” PROMISE OF SPEEDY HELP THE RUSSIANS IMPRESSED (British Official Wireless.) (Rec. 11 a.m.) RUGBY, Oct. 3. Messages from Moscow indicate the enthusiasm with which the speedy and successful conclusion of the Three-Power Conference is hailed in Russia. The sum of the comment in the front page leading articles in all influential newspapers is: “The conference is tho decisive turning point in the struggle against Hitler.” ‘ Izvestia ’ says: “ This war is in the interests of the people of the entire world, their liberty, independence, and the defence of modern civilisation against the Nazi barbarians. That is why our struggle could not but meet with the firmest support of the great people of Britain and the United States and their Governments. The conference is one of the best manifestations of the support which will strengthen the anti-Hitler front and hasten the forthcoming victory.” The same paper stresses the importance .of the fact that the conference on the united efforts of the three nations was on a practical basis. “ The delivery of planes, tanks, artillery, and other war supplies and_ materials needed by the Soviet Union in the conduct of the war, which started previously, will now assume an organised and systematic character and volume and will keep on over and ever increasing.” ' All Moscow newspapers publish front page photographs of the signing of the findings and the decisions arrived at. ‘Pravda’ shows M. Molotov signing with Lord Beaverbrook sitting at his right hand and Mr Harriman looking over M. Molotov’s shoulder. A further Moscow message states that Lord Beaverbrook and Mr Harriman and their missions today visited Moscow factories producing war materials. During last night’s alert the chiefs of the missions spent the night in a sub-way shelter, where they continued their dinner uninterrupted bv the sirens. A buffet supper, card tables, and music were provided. GETTING SUPPLIES TO RUSSIA TWO GOOD ROUTES OPEN (British Official Wireless.) (Rec. 11.55 a.m.) RUGBY, Oct 3. While the railroad from Bandar Shapur to Teheran is the natural channel for military stores destined for Russia which came from overseas, and for India’s contributions to the common cause, there is an alternative route, the War Office states. From Quetta the railway runs through northern Baluchistan to the Iranian border, and thence convoys can go by road to Meshed, and so either to the Iranian port of Bandar Shah or to the Russian railway that links Mcrv to the Caspian Sea. More than a week ago consignments of Indian raw materials coming by this route already reached Meshed and have been delivered to the officer commanding the Russian forces there. EX-SHAH OF PERSIA EXPECTED IN BOMBAY (British Official Wireless.) (Rec. 11 a.m.) RUGBY. Oct. 3. The ex-Shah of Persia is expected to arrive in Bombay shortly.