STALINGRAD’S DEFENCE

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 October 1942, Page 5

STALINGRAD’S DEFENCE

GERMANS MAKE NO PROGRESS FURTHER HEAVY CASUALTIES LONDON, October 20. The Germans are still flinging wave after wave of men and tanks against the Russian defences in the factory belt in northern Stalingrad in an attempt to extend their earlier gams. All day and during the night battles raged in streets and houses in this part of the town. In spite ol their heavy losses the German have made no further advance. Reporting these events, to-day’s Soviet mid-day communique says time after time the Germans launched attacks on key positions in the factory area of Stalingrad, but all were repulsed with heavy losses of men, tanks, and guns. North-west of the city two enemy infantry companies were practically wiped out. , . ~ • The Germans are still held in then drive towards the Groznyi oilfields. The Germans yesterday .drove a wedge into the Russian positions, but were later thrown out with considerable losses. To-day’s Soviet communique says further German attacks were all repulsed. One inhabited locality changed hands twice before it was finally held by the Russians. One Russian unit in three days destroyed an entire enemy battalion and destroyed or damaged >l7 tanks. Some success has been achieved by the Germans in their drive towards Tuapse, on the Black Sea coast. Advancing south-east of Novorossusk they forced the Soviet defenders to evacuate two localities after heavy lighting. , , .. .. The Moscow correspondent of the “News Chronicle” reports that in the 24 hours up to midday Monday the Germans lost 60 or 70 more tanks at Stalingrad. He emphasises that although the enemy drive has not been checked, the Red Army men have put un greater resistance than at any lime during the last few days The Germans at that time had failed to widen the gap m the northern pait of the cityrand the Russians were attacking fiercely from the west. The Germans had launched numerous offensives on this sector without making any appreciable headway. The Moscow correspondent or ihe Times” states that Russian operations north-west of Stalingrad ar,e still of a local character. The German defences are strong and deep. Small groups of Russians are gnawing their way toi - ward. Each day brings slignt but significant successes. The Red October Metal Works are still holding out. reports the Berlin radio. The vast plant covers several square miles. One of the greatest> difficulties is the way the Russians camouflage positions Bad weathei is preventing dive-bombers giving close support to the ground forces. 11 IT LE R’ S MISC ALCUL AT lON RUGBY, October 19. “For the Russian campaign ol 1942 'the days of major operations are numbered,” states Ihe Times. To find a line that can be held without ruinous cost through the Winter has become an urgent problem toi the German High Command It does not appear that such a line has yet been reached on the southern part ol the front. It seems necessary from the German viewpoint not merely to secure Stalingrad but also to secure a wide front on the Volga, instead ol a wedge thrust out towards the right bank. The battle now waging lor the factory area in the northern pait of the city is indeed a cattle lor the lower Volga rather than for Stalingrad. “However, even if Stalingrad weie yet to fall before the Winter, it is now too late for the Germans to hope lox the-exploitation of such a success as would justify the price that has been, naid. An enormous miscalculation has been made. What Hitler miscalculated is not the march of the seasons or the power ol the Wehrmacht but the courage, tenacity, and skill in war of the armies of the people of Soviet Russia. Outside the city to the north and south Russian forces still hack desperately at the German flanks, making small progress, but keeping the enemy under constant strain. In his present position the enemy would never be free from these menaces. Therefore it seems clear that he must go on trying to improve it. before he establishes a line he can h°“ln the meantime Soviet, military policy must inevitably be cramped lor a long time by the deprivation ol material resources that the German advance has entailed, and it is probably too much to hope that when the Germans go over to the defensive the Russians will be capable ot any immediate counter-attack under the difficult conditions of their Winter climate. They will go forward in due time, but to make their ultimate attack irresistible it must be concerted with a larger plan, for a simultaneous closing in of all the avengers upon Germany. In what should be the last phase of the general Allied defensive, Russia has borne the brunt and discharged her task nobly. The first move in the general counter-offensive is the responsibility of her Allies.'

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE (Recd. 10 a.m.) LONDON, Oct. 20. Russian forces are reported to be massing in an area forming a rough triangle between Rzhev, Vitebsk arid Lake Ilmen, states “The Times s' Stockholm correspondent. Berlin interprets the Russian movements as indicating a resumption of the offensive, which paused before Rzhev, lhe correspondent says the ground generally is soft, and it was questionable whether a large-scale offensive is possible before the frosts, although the Russians have better railway approaches than in any other area. Russian troops in the Vitebsk region have been filtering through the German lines ever since the Spring to ieinforce the guerrillas in forests and; swamps. Russian planes drop ammunition. and food, land in forest aerodromes, and take off the wounded. The guerrillas are now very busy wrecking trains, attacking communications, and ambushing German punitive expeditions. ISSUE IN BALANCE (Recd. 1 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 20. The tffanic battle for Stalingrad if. in the sixtieth day. The issue is still in the balance, but the Russians’ position is daily becoming*, more tense. “The Times’s” Moscow correspondent says the break in the weather has limited air activity, but is not hampering the enemy’s ground forces. Strong tank forces are battering the northern industrial region with undiminished violence. The defenders clearly are very hard pressed. Each fresh attack is preceded by two to three hours’ concentrated bombing, accompanied by mortar and artillery barrage. Nevertheless, each day in which the Russians stand firm, seriously reduces Wehrmacht’s chances of developing subsequent successes, and also has a significant effect on the Allies’ entire strategical situation. Stalingrad is as much a bastion of the Middle East as of Central Russia.

The issue of the whole Stalingrad battle hangs dangerously in the balance, says Reuter’s Moscow’ correspondent. If the Germans once instal themselves in the northern part of the city, the position in the centre will become most precarious. General Rodimtsev’s Guards have not yet said the last word, but the situation still looks very critical. The Vichy radio declared the battle for Stalingrad had reached a culmination point. The Germans laid down on the Red October Works, the last bastion of Russian resistance, the

heaviest bombardment Stalingrad has ever seen. 4 „ The Rome radio claimed that Gei - mans captured the last bridge across the Volga to northern Stalingrad. “The Times’s” Moscow correspondent says that in addition to the gigantic battle on the banks of tne Volga, which spreads , many . ivnles westwards, and encircles Stalingrad in a large arc, a no less momentous battle is being fought out on the river itself. Stalingrad’s late depends on the supply lines. The defenders require hundreds ol tons of shells, bullets and food daily. Every type of craft has been mobilised tor the battle of the Volga crossings. 'lhe motley flotilla is manned by naval cadets, pensioners, gardeners, fishermen, and women. They stick to the jobs and feed the battle's insatiable maw with the greatest fortitude. It is the spirit wherewith, one day, all Russia hopes the people of Britain will mobilise strength and courage to feed the armies across the water.

GERMAN CLAIMS

LONDON, October 20

Berlin radio said that groups of Russian rifleman, entrenched in cellars buried under masses of masonry, are still holding out in the ruins of the Red Barricade Factory. They are being destroyed or forced to surrender. The position of the defenders of the Red October Works has become hopeless. The German occupation of further stretches of the Volga bank has completely stopped the arrival of Russian reinforcements. Women and children, who were forced to stay in the centre of the fighting area inside Stalingrad, are still emerging from their hiding places among the ruins. Berlin radio also stated that continuous rain on the central sector of the Russian front was flooding trenches, and dugouts, and making roads impassable, but that the e Russians continue to attack German advanced positions. “Izvestia” said that the Russian blows in the Sinyavino sector are increasing in force from day to day. One German division after another is being crushed. The Tass Agency, quoting an Istanbul report, says that General Guderian is believed to have been killed on the Russian front. The German High Command is hushing up the news, but it is pointed "out that Guderian’s name has disappeared from newspapers in the past four mouths. RUSSIAN CLAIMS. RUGBY, October 20. To-night’s Moscow communique reports stubborn defensive lighting at Stalingrad. In the area of one factory, an enemy infantry regiment, supported by 40 tanks, launched an attack, which was repulsed. The enemy suffered heavy losses when he brought up new forces and renewed these attacks. Fighting continued in the evening for these positions.

German prisoners report that a German division fighting in the Stalingrad area lost 70 per cent, of its manpower.

North-west of Stalingrad, the Russians consolidated their positions. In the Mozdok area, the Russians dislodged the enemy from one locality, and continued to push forward. Enemy attacks to Novorossiisk have been repulsed. FERRY BOAT TORPEDOED (Recd. Noon.) LONDON, October 20. A Stockholm message says that a Russian submarine torpedoed the German ferryboat Deutschland carrying 1000 German soldiers, returning from leave. Five were killed. 29 injured, and an unknown number drowned. The ferry which was travelling between Sassnitz and Trelleborg, was badly damaged, but managed to reach Trelleborg.