KHARKOV ABLAZE

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 May 1942, Page 5

KHARKOV ABLAZE

RUSSIANS’ NOTABLE ADVANCE GERMAN TANK-LOSSES HEAVY CAUCASUS DRIVE DISORGANISED

LONDON, May 19.

The latest Moscow communique says that Russian troops continued to fight offensive actions in the Kharkov area last night. Fighting also continued in the Kerch area.

The supplement to the communique says that Marshal Timoshenko’s troops on the Kharkov front are still advancing, and have occupied several inhabited localities in one sector. The Germans are still throwing reserves into the breaches made by the Russian advance, and the enemy’s resistance has markedly stiffened. The Moscow radio says: “German counter-attacks on the Kharkov front yesterday and to-day were much fiercer than in the first days of the battle. The fighting is growing more bitter daily. The enemy is bringing up more and more mechanised forces, but Russian gunners, tanks, and infantry are smashing these reinforcements. The Soviet advance is gaining momentum. The Luftwaffe is on the defensive. Crashed Messerschmitts and Heinkels are scattered in the fields of collective farms, and the roads to Kharkov are strewn with the remains of tanks and vehicles.”

A Moscow message says that the Germans arc making an effort to stem Marshal Timoshenko’s ' advance by confusing his rear. They arc launching groups of parachutists, the largest numbering 120. However, they are being wiped out, in most cases before reaching the ground.

The Moscow radio also announces that hourly reports are coming in telling of the liberation of more inhabited places in the Kharkov area. One unit alone, said the announcer, had just driven the enemy out of four villages. The enemy was sustaining enormous losses. One Russian unit had destroyed 43 tanks, another 30 tanks, and an artillery unit had accounted for 18 tanks. A dispatch from Mr. Paul Winterton, the British Broadcasting Corporation observer in Moscow, says that Marshal Timoshenko’s drive for Kharkov is not a move which will begin with a bang and then peter out, because troops and materials are not available. It is now steadily growing. Mr Winterton adds that the drive may go on growing, until there is a general offensive along the whole front, but he says that the Russians still have the hard deep core of the German lines to penetrate. “ZONE LOOKS LIKE HELL.” (Rec. 12.45 p.m.) LONDON, May 19. Von Bock is throwing in all available forces in the attempt to disorganise the Red Army’s advance on Kharkov, now in its ninth day. Observers, however, are of the opinion that Timoshenko has already achieved his principal object,—disorganisation of German preparations for a drive on the Caucasus. The Russians, pressing on, despite continued resistance, penetrated the Kharkov defences to a depth of 30 to 40 miles. According to reports reaching New York, Kharkov is ablaze. The National Broadcasting Corporation's correspondent says the battle zone looks like hell. Roads are littered with hundreds of burnt-out

German tanks. The Russians are mopping up isolated groups of Germans, all of whom are bewildered and appear to have been drugged. “Izvestia” reports that a vast tank battle is raging particularly fiercely north-east of Kharkov. German tanks pierced the Russian positions in one sector, but the Red Army quickly brought in a devastating concentration of anti-tank guns, rifles and Stormoviks, compelling the enemy tanks to withdraw. German despatches state the Russian resistance on the Kerch Peninsula has stiffened since the arrival of fresh Russian units. Berlin admits the battle for Kerch was one of the bloodiest Commentators believe that Von Manstein’s army suffered very heavy losses in men and material during the eleven-day battle for the Peninsula, and considerable reorganisation will be necessary before any attempt can be made to cross the Kerch Strait to the Caucasus.

GERMAN COMMAND SURPRISED

(Recd. 2.5 p.m.) LONDON, May 19. German reports from the Kharkov front now describe the initiation of the Russian offensive, last week, as something terrific and unexpected, says “The Times’s” Stockholm correspondent. They admit that the heaviest fire ever experienced in Russia battered the German positions, which hitherto were considered impregnable, while giant tanks crashed deeply into the German zones. Military spokesmen in Berlin admit that the force of Timoshenko's blows surprised the High Command, adds the correspondent, but declare the Russian effort to secure the initiative in the Summer operations will not appreciably delay, or deflect the High Command from the original plans. Timoshenko had eaten deeply into a densely fortified zone, rather than cracking or breaking through it. The question now is which side will be ready first for the next heavy heave. Chances appear to favour the Russians, since their rear is relatively undisturbed, and the battle began as they designed. A Swiss correspondent in Berlin says: The press to-day, for the first time refers to Russia’s Spring offensive.

The Moscow radio says: The Germans before Kharkov are laying huge minefields to hold up the Russian advance, but pioneer troops are clearing them. Hitler is bringing up reserves from the distant rear and attempting to organise defence in depth. A German High Command special announcement claims that GermanRumanian troops in the Crimea reached the coast of Kerch along the entire length. The last fortified bridge heads on both sides of the town were taken by assault to-day, after stubborn resistance. The battle has now ended, and has resulted in the destruction of three Russian armies.

AID FROM U.S.A

WASHINGTON, May 19

The American Red Cross, which has sent more than 3,500,000 dollars worth of medical supplies and clothing to Russia in recent months, will soon be doubling that assistance.