DANGER GROWS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20859, 11 August 1942, Page 3

DANGER GROWS

GERMAN ADVANCE CAUCASUS DRIVE SWEEP TO" THE COAST THREAT TO STALINGRAD (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (11.45 a.m.) LONDON, Aug. 10. The German advance into the Caucasus is spreading out towards Maikop and the south-east and also westward to the Sea of Azov. There appears to be a strip of coast not yet occupied. The absence of German claims to have captured prisoners may be taken as an indication that the Russians have been able to withdraw their forces in good order. Official Soviet reports state that the Germans made determined attacks around Armavir and managed to break through in one sector and that Soviet troops were also engaged in defensive operations in the region of Kropotkin. In the Don Bend enemy tanks and motorised infantry were repulsed. In this region, the Germans are throwing in reinforcements and their tanks are charging along the roads and across the fields till everywhere clouds of dust and smoke hang over the steppes. Soviet anti-tank riflemen are challenging them from hideouts, and are still offering stout resistance and holding firm. The German flanking movement up the railway towards Stalingrad has slowed down. Germans Drive Wedge A Russian communique indicated that the Germans have driven a wedge into the Russian defences on the Don bend near Kletskaya, thus increasing the threat to Stalingrad from the northern pincer which has been held for some time. The Russians are still counter-attacking •against the southern pincer, which forced a wedge northwards from Kotelnikovo. The Moscow radio says .that the Germans are going all out to reach Stalingrad, completely ignoring their enormous losses. Meanwhile, the progressive deterioration on .the southern front continues unchecked. The danger to Novorossisk is now very great. If it is lost, the consequences will be severe as neither Tuapse nor Batum are capable of basing the Black Sea Fleet. Therefore, the sea road to Georgia will be opened for the Germans operating from Rumania and the Crimea, where it is known that they have assembled a formidable fleet of invasion barges and torpedo boats. General Listz is reported to be commanding the invasion army in Rumania awaiting orders to strike. Thus General von Bock’s sweep to the coast opens up disquieting possibilities of attacking the rear of the Russian defences in the Caucasian mountains, besides a threat of cutting off large Russian armies north of Novorossick. Penetrating Foothills Russian reports as well as German claims indicate that the enemy forces are steadily penetrating the foothills of the western Caucasus, where the Germans claimed that Maikop and also Krasnodar were captured. The Axis forces, despite the stout Russian resistance, are reported to be pushing on at a speed of at least 17 miles a day. The Germans obviously are striving their utmost to throw an iron ring around the area containing Novorossisk, Tuapse, .Maikop, and Krasnodar. The fiercest fighting elsewhere on the Russian fronts is reported from Kotelnikov area, where the German drive towards Stalingrad is held up. The Germans continue officially to refer to the Russian attacks around Rjev, but the Russians do not mention this activity. The Moscow correspondent of The Times says that the German attack against Armavir cuts off this important area from all land outlets except the incomplete coastal railway across the Caucasus foothills. General Lvov’s Caucasus army is resisting strongly, but is unable to stem General Kleist’s advance south-west from ■ Salsk. The Cossacks between Kushchovsk and Krasnodar prevented the Germans from advancing south of Rostov, keeping up with their left wing, but despite their courage the Cossacks were forced slowly back. German Pincers Caught General Schwodler’s dusty army of the Don is having a tougher job in its thrusts towards Stalingrad. It attempted to drive through the Kotelnikovo area, but is absolutely held up, while Soviet tank units here vigorously counter-attacked and reduced the enemy troops edging into the defences. The Germans yesterday were reported to be shifting their tanks from sector to sector, feeling for points of least resistance. General Schwodler’s upper pincer, probing for Stalingrad, has been caught by Soviet gunners in broken ground west of the Don. The Germans’ main tank force has been dispersed and hundreds of burned out machines and thousands of dead are littering the cornfields. The great resolute Russian army hereabouts still stands between General von Bock and the Don River. The Berlin radio declared that Krasnodar was captured by the same German units which stormed Rostov and Bataisk. They covered 175 miles in 13 days, continuously fighting and marching.