GERMAN PROGRESS

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 July 1941, Page 5

GERMAN PROGRESS

FIGHTING NEAR SMOLENSK t RUSSIAN GAINS IN CENTRE STRUGGLE FOR LENINGRAD

LONDON,. July 17. The Russian communique on the fighting yesterday indicates that the Germans have forced forward the northern arm of their pincers movement in the north of the central front for it speaks of heavy fighting in the Smolensk sector. According to the Official German News Agency, Smolensk is in German hands. Smolensk, an important industrial town on the road from Minsk to Moscow, is about 220 miles west of the capital. The Russians on Tuesday reported fighting in the Vitebsk area. Vitebsk is 80 miles north-west of Smolensk. A gain further south on the central front is claimed by the Russians. They say that yesterday there was fighting in the Bobruisk sector. Bobruisk is about 30 miles west of Rogachev, on the Dnieper river. No details of any developments in the German thrust against the Ukraine in the Novograd Volynsk sector are given by the Russians, who speak only of continued heavy fighting. The only comment on the general situation made by a military spokesman in Berlin was that operations were developing very favourably. The Moscow correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain says there is a general atmosphere of growing confidence in Moscow. The evacuation of women and children has slackened, and workmen have been brought back to their peace-time jobs- m On the Baltic front, Tallinn is reported to be ablaze. The Finnish radio says that Russian steamers are busily evacuating troops from Tallinn, which the Germans have encircled. It is reported from Stockholm that Soviet warships shelled Riga, successfully fighting off attacks by German divebombers. Finnish military circles speak of stubborn Russian resistance. The Germans have thrown in strong reserves on the Estonian frontier, but have made little progress. Marshes and forests are assisting the tenacious Russians. An American correspondent states that the Germans have crossed a river only 75 miles from Leningrad, but a Swiss correspondent, on the other hand, states that not only have the Germans been unable to penetrate the Russians’ lines, but have been forced to retreat. x _ The Berlin radio says that German aeroplanes twice bombed railway marshalling yards at Leningrad and blew up a munition train. COUNTER-OFFENSIVE The Moscow correspondent of the British United Press says that the Russian counter-offensive against German advanced units west of the Dnieper is continuing with all its force. The Vichy correspondent of the same agency quotes a Government spokesman as saying that the German advance is virtually halted. The Germans have suffered heavy losses and the Stalin Line is unbroken. Russian resistance is strengthening and the Russians are counter-attacking over the whole of the central and southern 11 The Germans claim to be close to Kiev and that its fall is imminent. The Germans mention a deep network of pillboxes, and claim to have captured' several hundred. A spokesmen in Moscow described how a Soviet cavalry division, supported on its flanks by infantry and tanks, held a four-mile front for four days against strong enemy forces. The cavalrymen dismounted in the cove;, of woods and fought on foot. They engaged the Germans in bitter hand-to - hand fighting. The Germans left manv dead and tanks, motor-cycles, and guns on the battlefield. Ruthenian guerrillas, the spokesman said, had been very active since the outbreak of war and had destroyed many aeroplanes and blown up petrol dumps.

NINE MILLION MEN ENGAGED. GERMANS CLAIM VICTORY. (Rec. 1.10 p.m.) LONDON, July 17. Nine million men are lacing each other along the whole Russian-Ger-man front in the greatest battle ot history, states a German communique. The Russians have thrown in their last reserves in an attempt to stay the onslaught of the German Army and its Allies. Great successes are approaching. . The German News Agency claims that the Germans have captured Smolensk and Polotsk. A thousand prisoners were captured west oi Smolensk, including the Chief of the General Staff of a Soviet Division. The Agency also claims that the resistance of‘strong Russian rearguard units has been broken. German panzer columns are advancing swiftly towards Moscow. The “Telegraph’s” Stockholm coirespondent says: The battle-stained, shot-pierced panzer units are fighting furiously against desperate Rus- , sian resistance to attempt to gain a foothold in the Kiev outskirts. Russian heavy tanks, including 150 tanners, have been thrown into the battle, which is raging in the suburban streets. Anti-tank and machine-gun fire is meeting the Germans from every window and alley. The Soviet military authorities say the occupation of Kiev would not be a deadly blow, because it is 500 miles from the centre of the Ukraine s industrial mineral wealth. Preparations tor sabotage of the wheatfields east of Kiev, if necessary, are complete. Tallinn has been transformed into an inferno, in accordance . with Stalin’s orders to deprive the invaders of any assistance. Food, machinery, and property are all going ap in smoke. The garrison has been ordered to hold out to the death. m the concrete forts encircling the city. According to the Moscow radio, Soviet troops are still firmly homing Hanko Peninsula, despite daylong and nightlong enemy artillery and infantry attacks. RUSSIAN DENIALS (Rec. 2.5 p.m.) LONDON, July 17. While the fact remains that a num • ber of German armies are fighting mightily on Russian soil, and panzers are probing dangerously at Leningiau and Moscow, latest despatches show that the German claims are again exaggerated. The Russians say that ' Smolensk and Pskov are still in their spokesman in Berlin said that the gigantic battles now raging will probably decide the fate of the war. He admitted that the Russians .were counter-attacking fiercely in the north, but claimed that the attacks had been crushed. “The Times’s” correspondent on the German frontier says that the German authorities appear more optimistic than usual. Neutrals believe that the Germans will claim a victorious conclusion to at least one of the three main thrusts towards Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev, before the weekend. It is considered that the Leningrad objective is the most likely to be attained. ' The “Seveskadag Bladet’s” military correspondent, confirming the determined Soviet resistance at Leningrad, says that the defenders are apparent-

ly still able to maintain their communications between the forces in Estonia and those further east. Nothing has been heard for some days of the German and Finnish forces in the Arctic sector. .Apparently they are still wallowing in the marshes,; some distance from Murmansk. " Russians sources say that there is no change in the position in Bessara - bia, where the Germans claim to have captured Kishinev, and advanced beyond it. —U.P.A. BRITISH OPTIMISM. CONFIDENCE IN RUSSIANS. RUGBY, July 17. While mention for the first time in a Soviet communique of fighting in the Smolensk region indicates some German advance in this sector, there is no evidence that the German troops have yet caught Up with the gains claimed in Hitler’s special communique issued last week-end. The magnificent determined resistance which the Red Army and the Soviet people are putting up against the hard-striking invaders, fills the British people with admiration for their latest allies, and confidence in their fighting ability. That the situation is full of danger is realised, but it is also clear that the German hopes are by no means being fulfilled. Two days ago, the military spokesman in Berlin stated that unless something. went wrong the Nazi troops would occupy Leningrad within 24 hours. More than 48 hours have elapsed, but there is still no indication that the former Russian capital contains any people other than legitimate citizens. Some - thing must have “gone wrong” from the Nazi viewpoint, and it would appear to be that the German thrust in this direction was vigorously dealt with by the Russian Command—a clear indication that the Nazi claims to have exhausted the Russian reserves are at least premature. Again, the week-end claims placed the Nazi troops immediately in front of Kiev, also on the open road to Moscow, following “penetration of the Stalin Line at all important points.” So far as is known, Kiev is still in Russian hands, and the mostadvanced German troops are at least 200 miles from Moscow. All reports received here speak of the high morale both of the Russian fighting forces and the civilian population. The Luftwaffe has by no means obtained mastery of the air, and the Russian Air Force is only too anxious to bring the German pilots to battle. Soviet workers in farm and factory are taking their part in the struggle, and the Russian railways are functioning well. The great “battle block,” which is about 200 miles wide, is certainly still moving eastward, but not at any great speed, and within that block the rival forces are locking in the struggle. Nothing decisive has yet taken place, and from the Nazi point of view, considering the mass of men and materials they are employing, probably nothing even substantial. A typical British view of the whole situation is that given by the “Daily Telegraph” editorially: “The loss of cities and territory, though the suffering will be cruel, will not defeat Russia. So long as her armies hold together and keep in the field, and the factories and transport system furnish them with munitions, she is invincible. We have our part to play, by making such havoc of industries and communications in Germany, that the Reichswehr and Luftwaffe cannot maintain' their strength.”—B.O.W. GERMAN LEADER KILLED. RUGBY, July 17. Moscow reports that Major-Gen-eral Otto Lancelle has been killed on the eastern front. He was founder and member of the Stahhelm, and led the military group in the Munich putsch, but left the Stahlhelm in 1924 and joined the Nazi party. He soon attained rank and high command in the Storm troopers, and was promoted Major-General on the outbreak of war with Poland.—B.O.W. GERMAN TRANSP'ORT TROUBLES

LONDON, July 17. London observers consider that the next two days may be crucial in deciding the effectiveness of the Russian strategy of defence in depth. Much depends on whether the Russians can bring up to the battle front their heavy reserves. Recent information reaching London shows how the war against Russia is intensifying the drain on the German economic and transport systems. Further robbery of resources from occupied countries, not excluding Italy, is seen to be one result. Besides being cut off from Russian trans-Siberian supplies, Germany sees traffic with Sweden, Norway and Finland affected by the war. The tram ferry between Sassnitz and the Swedish port of Trelleborg has oeen suspended, for instance, and it is pretty certain that the German ports of Stettin and Luebeck are temporarily closed or at least traffic is very severely limited. This has resulted in the transfer of traffic to the ccfristantlybombed Hamburg-Bremen-Emden route. GERMAN ACE LONDON, July 17. A special, announcement by the German High Command claims that Wing Commander Moelders is the most successful fighter pilot in the world, with 115 victories. He shot down five Soviet aeroplanes on the eastern front yesterday, making his total for the present war 101. The re.mainder of the victims were shou down in the Spanish civil war. Wing Commander Moelders has been awarded the Oak Leaf, with swords set in diamonds, the highest German decoration for gallantry. DESTRUCTION BATTALIONS. LONDON, July 17. . The Vichy News Agency’s military i correspondent has described the activities of “Battalions of Destruction, which are''carrying out M. Stalins “Scorched Earth” policy. They use flame-throwers, dynamite and special equipment to blow up bridges. They i burn public utility buildings and forests. A special machine, called a I lyre, is used for wrecking railways. I It is towed by a powerful locomotive. It not only rips up rails and sleepers, but tears up the track-bed.