RUSSIAN RESISTANCE

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 July 1942, Page 5

RUSSIAN RESISTANCE

PROGRESS AT VORONEZH SITUATION GRAVE IN SOUTH LONDON, July 20. The midday Soviet communique states that during last night Russian troops continued to fight the enemy in the Voronezh area. On all other sectors of the front there were no material changes. A supplement to the communique says that Marshal Timoshenko’s troops are fighting stubborn battles in the Voronezh area and have forced the enemy on the defensive. Russian tanks and infantry forced the Germans out of a village. Last night, after a struggle lasting 24 hours, the Russians seized an important bridgehead on the Don River due west of Voronezh. South of Voronezh the Russians by repeated counter-attacks have driven the enemy back to the east bank of the Don. Russian aircraft and mortars paved the way for the infantry. Earlier a small Russian force crossed to the west bank of the Don, where it has continued fighting. _ Further south the position is less satisfactory, and the situation remains grave. A supplement to the communique states that in the area south of Millerovo the Russians have been fighting fierce defensive battles against the enemy. A supplementary communique reports that in stubborn fighting around Voronezh Soviet troops by strong counter-attacks inflicted heavy losses. Fierce fighting took place for one locality. Russian troops penetrated the outskirts and street fighting is now in progress. The enemy lost more than 100 killed in this engagement. In another sector of the same front Russian troops pushed a large enemy unit back to the Don. Infantry routed this unit, annihilating two German infantry regiments and destroying 18 tanks. „ The Moscow radio states that the Red Army’s counter-blows at Voronezh are gaining strength. The Russians have captured an important crossing over the Don and are clearing the enemy from the east bank. A Russian unit south of Voronezh captured an important inhabited locality, causing the remnants of the German 75th Infantry Division to flee to the west bank of the Don. Violent fighting for another enemy crossing is continuing. The 6th and 7th Hungarian Brigades lost a battalion of infantrymen when attempting to counter-attack in another sector.

IN THE SOUTH. A large area south of Millerovo is now the scene of an unabating battle, says the Moscow correspondent of “The Times.” A feature of the fighting has been the rapidity with which the Germans have regrouped and reinforced. The German command is apparently determined to avoid the weakness revealed last year when Soviet counter-attacks found the advanced German units too weak to withstand pressure. Trains, trucks, and transport aircraft are being used to rush troops and supplies up to Millerovo. The correspondent adds that a reverse in the south should not blind us to the major success of the Red Army, which is slowly, and determinedly gaining at Voronezh. There the Russians have stemmed two armies and five or six tank divisions which would have created a very grave position in central Russia it permitted to advance eastwards in the last 10 11l a dispatch to the 8.8. C., Mr. Paul Winterton, correspondent of the “News Chronicle,” states that the Germans are endeavouring to carry out encircling movements in the industrial region of the Donets. He states that the Germans have broken through the Russian lines in some places, and are striking against the flanks of central Soviet units. The situation is described as one of the greatest danger. During last week 211 German aeroplanes were destroyed in aerial combat, by anti-aircraft fire, and on the ground. Russian losses for the same period were 137 aeroplanes.

ADVANCE ON ROSTOV

LONDON, July 20

The Vichy radio states that German vanguards pierced the outer defences of Rostov after German parachutists caused destruction m tne rear of the Russian troops. There is no confirmation of the German claims to be advancing towards Rostov, to have reached the town itself, or to have crossed the Don in its lower reaches. Little is known at present of the fighting south-east of Millerovo or of the German claim to have reached Stalingrad.

RUSSIAN OPERATIONS.

LONDON, July 19

The Russians in the Voronezh area are straining every nerve to throw back the Germans across the Don, and the enemy on this front are definitely pinned down. It is another story south of Millerovo, where the Germans hold the upper hand, despite the stiffening of Russian resistance. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent says the orginal German spearhead which thrust southwards after the fall of Millerovo has been broadened into a wide front on both sides of the main Voronezh-Rostov railway. Many towns and villages were burned, as some result of the Luftwaffe terror raids. Millerovo is a good base from where to threaten different points of the Russian southern front. The Germans here have concentrated masses of aircraft, men, and materials, and have already thrust out exploratory units. Little is known of the German move 'south-eastwards from Millerovo, which could open the war into the fertile grain plans to Stalingrad, where the peasants are racing to gather the harvests. The German attempts to cut off the retreating Russian forces were thwarted by Russian rearguards’ valiant delaying actions under intense pressure. A Russian communique, tonight, announced that the Russians have evacuated Voroshilovgrad. The “Red Star” says: The German offensive has intensified the danger which is overhanging our Motherland. The Germans are now attempting to overthow our armies and to break through to the plain between the Don River and the Volga River. They are attempting to drive on to Rostov, and to capture the Donetz Basin. They threaten the North Caucasus and the industrial heart of the Volga, at Stalingrad.. This battle to the southwards is decisive. It will either increase our danger tenfold, or it will halt the enemy by inflicting such a blow that it will clear the road for our victory.

REPORTS FROM ALL FRONTS.

(Recd. 11.10 p.m.) LONDON, July 20

Although the Russian abandonment of Voroshilovgrad represents a further important withdrawal towards the main defence line on the lower Don, the latest news does not substantiate an earlier Stockholm report that Kamenskaya had been passed by and Shakhtui reached. Very heavy German pressure continues on both sides of the Donetz towards Kamenskaya from the Voroshilovgrad and Millerovo areas, but according to “The Times’s” Stockholm correspondent the Germans are still at least 20 miles from Kamenskaya, where they were checked, by the usual strong Russian *

resistance. Berlin admits that it regards the sector between Voroshilovgrad and the Azov Sea as the most important in the entire Caucasian struggle, but there is no evidence of new German frontal attacks or Russian counter-attacks in force. The Times’s” Stockholm correspondent says that the Russians are inflicting heavy losses on German columns thrusting from Millerovo and Von> shilovgrad, and that if the Russians continue to withstand the ever-in-creasing weight of Von Bock’s hammerblows from the Millerovo region, the Russian forces within the Donetz Basin bulge are in little danger of encirclement, because the right wing is resting on Donet and cannot be outflanked by forces from Voroshilovgr Very fierce fighting occurred between the Don River and the Voronezh River, and the correspondent adds that although several larger German units were driven back into the River Don, Voronezh cannot be considered safe, as the Germans attach such great military prestige to capturing and holding Voronezh, and are now rushing up further reinforcements in an effort to make good their claim on July 7 that Voronezh had fallen. Russian local attacks m the Lake Ilmen area continue to gam weight, especially in the Staraya-Russa region, where the Russians, since the middle of last week, have made territorial progress, despite clogging mud. RUSSIAN PROGRESS (Recd. 1.0 p.m.) LONDON,. July 20. The Germans are continuing to fall back from Voronezh, says a Moscow message. Their losses in men and material are appalling. Russian blows are getting stronger. . . Timoshenko has received big reinforcements for the defence. of the lower Don. Russian parachutists have landed behind German lines at Taganrog, and over a wide area west and north of the main battle zone. The Russians are estimated to number a million well-trained and well-equip-ped men in the north Caucasian region, who have not yet been in action. Russian forces withdrew from Voroshilovgrad after desperate battles in the streets, leaving the city a little more than a flaming bonfire, and with its factories levelled. The “Telegraph’s” Stockholm correspondent says the Russians are in danger of losing the industrial districts of the Donetz and lower Don, including the towns of Shakhtui, Gorlovka, Mekeyevka, Lozovaia and Drematorskaia, and even the great harbour and production- centre of Rostov. According to the German High Command spokesman, strong Russian forces, escorted by tanks and planes, attacking in the past lew days south of Lake Ilmen, achieved breaches in the German positions, but the breaches were immediately closed. OIL FROM CAUCASUS

LONDON, July 20

The fighting in the North Caucasian region is hourly reaching new heights. The ferocity of the battle has spread far beyond the immediate area of the ground fighting. Both the Germans and the Russians are relentlessly attacking supply lines immediately behind the front, and sometimes deep in the rear. The Russians are using every possible conveyance to bring up reinforcements of men and material. They simultaneously are keeping their central and northern fronts supplied with oil. Oil tankers from the Caucasian oilfields are sailing with their decks level with the water. The merchant fleets of the Volga and the Caspian Sea are similarly loaded to the maximum. Tugs, barges and paddle steamers and motor-vessels —every vessel old or new—is ferrying troops, tanks and ammunition and food for the Russian forces on the lower Don. Trains, lorries and carts of all kinds are also being pressed into service. The Luftwaffe is doing its utmost to frustrate this mighty effort. Its main blitzes at the week-end were directed against Rostov and its environs, and also at the important rail junctions of Povorino and Shakhtui. A large force of German paratroops also attacked Shakhtui. GERMAN AERIAL LOSSES. (Rec. 1.30 p.m.) LONDON, July 20. Air battles are flaring up on the Russian front from the Arctic to south of Rostov. Furious ah’ battles were fought on the Voronezh front where, according to the Moscow radio, one Red unit brought down'33 planes in two days. Another unit, patrolling the Don, destroyed more than 30 German planes in three days. The Germans officially claim devastating day and night attacks against railway targets in the Moscow area. The Moscow radio says: Russian fighters in a sector on the central front attacked 23 planes attempting to raid an important military objective. They shot down two and put the rest to flight. The Germans later resumed the attack with 20 planes. The Russians again beat off the attacks, shooting down two more planes. The Russian Baltic Fleet and planes wrought havoc on Finnish fortifications, destroying over 100 machinegun nests and killing many personnel.

The Germans report a heavy attack on Murmansk, starting large fires at dock installations, motor and fuel depots. The newspaper “Red Fleet” reports that Russian warships and planes went to the aid of a British-American convoy attacked by German planes, which dropped over 200 bombs and 14 torpedoes. Several of the attackers were shot down. The attack on the convoy lasted three days.. The Russian commander ordered his destroyers to keep as close as possible to the merchantmen, to create a solid barrage. The warships’ machineguns, automatic rifles, and anti-air-craft guns frustrated every attack. No merchantman was damaged.

RUGBY, July 20. A Soviet communique to-night says: Our troops, to-day, fought in the the region of Voronezh and southeast of Voroshilovgrad. On the other sectors’ front, no important changes took place. The Moscow radio to-night reports two successes by Soviet aircraft against grounded enemy planes. A unit of the Air. Arm of the Soviet Northern Navy attacked an enemy aerodrome, and destroyed eight bombers on the ground. Two German planes attempted to pursue the Russians, but were shot down. A concentration of about 100 German planes, near the' Don, was also successfully attacked, and 28 planes were destroyed or badly damaged. GERMAN PEACE FEELER ?

STOCKHOLM, July 20

A leading article in the Nazi paper, “Voelkischer Beobachter” was considered, in Stockholm, to constitute a peace feeler to Russia. The article says: “Germany knows that Britain remains her real enemy. Neither the Russians nor the Americans could so fill our minds, and stir our fighting instincts.” SUPPLIES FROM BRITAIN. RUGBY, July 10. The British Minister of Production (Mr Oliver Lyttelton), speaking at the inauguration of Anglo-Soviet Week at Aidershot, said that the world might be witnessing the moment of the maximum effort of the German war machine against Russia. The German blow had been foreseen by Russia and Britain and both nations had done their utmost to j>re-

pare against it. Britain had not allowed considerations of her oiyn safety to stand in the way of supplies to Russia. Everything promised had been sent. Tanks had been shipped at the rate of 50 a week, and Britain had actually sent 111 aircraft for every 100 promised. They had been sent in spite of urgent demands for supplies for the Middle East and the preparation of a field force in Britain. “If the Germans are able to turn south and seize some of the Russian oil, they will be strengthened for a long war.” Captain Lyttelton declared. “Britain has never stood ni graver peril since the days of the Battle for Britain than now, and the next 80 days until the beginning of the Russian Winter will be some of the gravest we have ever faced.” BRITISH MT?"CRITICISM LONDON, July 20. Mr. Shinwell, Labour M.P.. in a speech said: “Unless immediate and aggressive steps are taken to aid Russia, there will be a revulsion of feeling throughout Britain which may destroy the Government, and may impair the public confidence in the war effort. What is the use of Mr. Lyttelton talking about sending fifty tanks weekly to Russia? That is mere “chicken-feed” in comparison to the huge reserves that are massed on the Russian front. I am afraid that there is too much of the 1943-44 - spirit in the Government. We should be concerned with 1942 which is the most vital, and critical year of the war.”

CONVOY LOSSES LONDON, July 18. The “Sunday Times” Moscow correspondent reports that a convoy, which he accompanied to Russia, suffered severe losses during six days of air attacks. He says the convoy was poorly escorted. Its antiaircraft defences were totally inadequate. A later convoy, he states, suffered even heavier losses. Its protection was even more inadequate. There seemed. to be something seriously wrong with the organisation of these convoys.

BIG AIR BATTLE.

LONDON, July 19.

Moscow radio reports a gigantic air battle in which 400 German and Russian planes were engaged. It was fought over the Barent Sea, when strong German naval and air forces attacked a convoy en route to Russia.

Russian warships and submarines went to the aid of the convoy. Thirty German planes were shot down.

CORPORAL TO COLONEL

LONDON, July 19.

An Englishman, Lieutenant-Colonel Ernest Martin, who rose to his present rank from a corporal within a year, is now in charge of an important base somewhere in Russia.” He won the D.C.M. at Dunkirk. Because of his knowledge of the Russian language, he was attached to the mission to Russia, whereafter he was rapidly promoted. GERMAN ATROCITIES "LONDON, July 19. The Moscow radio detailing a new series of German atrocities stated that twelve women, arrested in the Crimea, were hung by their hair and fires lighted under their feet. Hundreds of bodies of murdered civilians are lying in the streets of Simferopol, where the invaders destroyed monuments and architectural features. jap. attack - EXPECTED

NEW YORK, July 19. The “New York Times’s” correspondent at Washington says: “Japan is moving more seasoned troops northward to the frontier of Manchukuo and Siberia, according to reports here from private sources in the Orient. Reports coincide with a growing belief in Washington that an understanding exists between Germany and Japan under which the Japanese will attack Siberia, provided that the Germans take specific objectives in Russia, which are probably Rostov and Stalingrad. Officials in Washington declare that there have been many recent indications in the military and diplomatic fields that the Japanese are ready to move against Vladivostock, whose submarine base and surounding aerodromes have always been regarded by the Japanese as a threat to the security of Japan. It would surprise few informed people in Washington if an attack came in the near future.”

(Recd. 1.30 p.m.) LONDON, July 20. The Chungking radio, quoting an unimpeachable source, says the Japanese have begun concentrating fresh waves of troops against Russian Jehol, Chahar, and Suiyuan Provinces. Japanese troops from Formosa, Malaya, Chekiang and Kiangsi are filling new positions, building fortifications, and putting themselves in a position to outflank the eastern extension of outer Mongolia.