FRESH CHECK

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20862, 14 August 1942, Page 3

FRESH CHECK

NAZIS M RUSSIA MAIN DRIVE HELD DON BEND DEFENCE RED GAIN AT VORONEJ (By Telegraph— Press Assn. —Copyright.) (.11.30 a.m.) LONDON, Aug. 13 The check to the German offensive north-east of Kotelnikovo has now developed into a counter-attack which, says a Soviet communique, forced the enemy on to the defensive and improved the Russian positions. Inside the Don bend, the Germans continue to attack with large forces and advanced in one place, probably near Kalach. However, the Russians are mainly holding their own. German tanks and motorised infantry continue to advance more slowly along the north-western foothills of the Caucasus.

The communique records a slight German advance in one Kletskaya sector. The Russians north-east of Kotelnikovo and south of Voronej improved their positions. Fierce battles were fought at Krasnodar and heavy engagements in the Maikop and Cherkesk areas against German tank and mechanised forces.

The Red Star says that the Russians in one Maikop sector withdrew into strategic hills. The Germans broke through a sector in the Cherkesk region, forcing the Russians to withdraw to new lines. The Russians gained fresh ground in the Voronej area, capturing considerable booty and prisoners. Bid For Manganese Area The Times Stockholm correspondent forecasts a German effort to cross the Caucasus via the Mamison Pass, running couth-west to Kutais, because it leads past the world’s greatest single source of manganese in the Chiatura district. Manganese is needed in Germany more than oil. The latest informations show that the German steel industry is almost desperate owing to .the lack of manganese. The Moscow correspondent of the British United Press emphasises that the next phase of the Caucasian battles —the mountain campaign—is yet in the early stages and there is still ample time for the Russians to halt their long retreat. He and other correspondents look hopefully towards the indications of stiffening Russian resistance in the Cherkesk area, where the Russian High Command is believed to be throwing in some hardy Caucasian reserves. Faith Unimpaired The Red Star, commenting on the Caucasian fighting, says: “The temporary Russian misfortune has not weakened our faith or our strength, nor the possibility of defeating the enemy.” The Paris radio declared that Russian reserves were being brought up from .the Far East and massing between the Don and the Volga before Stalingrad. An Ankara report claims that the Russians have 60 divisions, totalling 900,000 men stationed in the Kuibyshev area, called .the strategic army, in readiness .to be used when the most urgent crisis develops. Bitter engagements are in progress behind the German lines on the Bryansk front, where the enemy is intensifying his efforts, using many light tanks to liquidate the large partisan army lying uncomfortably close to the vital supply route. Partisans are reported to have killed 2000 and destroyed 19 trains in the past few days.