OREL’S DANGER

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21150, 19 July 1943, Page 3

OREL’S DANGER

RED ARMY DRIVE 37-MILE "ADVANCE THREAT TO RAILWAY GERMANS DISORGANISED (By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright.) ill a.m.) LONDON. July 1«. The Russians continue to pour through the gaps in the German lines in the strongly fortified Orel salient and the great bastion of Orel itself is in great danger, says Reuter’s correspondent in Moscow. Although there is no confirmation so far of the repori that the Russians are in the suburbs of Orel, Moscow despatches show that the Red Army advance has been at least 37 miles since the opening of the offensive. The Germans are showing signs ol' disorganisation throughout the area north-west of Orel. They are throwing in all types of available troops, including sappers, cooks and elderly reservists, using them to guard bridges behind the lighting zone.

Powerful Russian tank columns, rushing ahead, are cutting off the German line of retreat and encircling enemy strongpoints.

Although it is not clear how near the Russians are to Orel, messages from Moscow indicate that the threat io the Orel-Bryansk railway from the north is growing and, to the east, the Russians may have approached within 15 miles from the city. Meanwhile, from the south of the Orel salient, the Russians moved forward to regain what ground they lost in the German offensive. It is not yet clear whether the Russians, for the time being, aim at more than spoiling the German offensive by knocking out the Oi'el salient, which is the base of its northern prong. There is no mention from Moscow of the strong attacks which the German High Command to-day announced the Russians began after a violent bombardment on the Muis River and Donetz River front, that is, from the Sea of Azov, northwards. Tire Germans said the Russians had succeeded in driving wedges. The Moscow correspondent, of the Associated Press reports that the Germans rushed up a new tank and a new infantry division in an attempt to halt the Russian offensive, but the Red Army flung back all counterattacks and continued to advance, strongly supported by the air force despite adverse weather. Threat of Break-Through

The German-controlled S.T.B. News Agencv in Stockholm says that the German military authorities are now 1 admitting that the Russian attack must be regarded as a serious threat of a break-through. Nazi sources in Berlin say that the battle of Orel has reached a pitch of violence .which forebodes streams of blood and an orgv of destruction. The Russian artillery fire is terrific. The Russian guns are placed every seven yards in some sectors north of Orel, The latest indications are that advanced Russian patrols on Friday were operating on the Bryansk-Orei railway, states Reuter’s correspondent in Stockholm. It is likely that the railway has been cut by now. This would mean the disruption of onq of General von Kluge’s two supply line* and that, the German garrison at Orel had lost its best means of retreat. The German overseas radio discounted the Russian claims of deep breaches in the German positions at Orel. American and British Tanks It is reported from Moscow that American General Sherman and British Churchill tanks are in the •mearhead of the Russian offensive al Orel. Large groups of Americanbuilt bombers have joined in the air attacks on all fronts. They have accounted for a large share of the 100 Gorman tanks destroyed from the air in one sector. “By its great counter-stroke eastward and northward of Orel, the Red Army has turned the tables on the Germans with a vengeance,” comments The Times’ military correspondent. “Some German commentators described it as no more than a diversionary attack designed to relieve the pressure against the Kursk salient. The attack, which has mauled 10 German divisions in three days, breached the strongly fortified line on a 48-mile front, threatens to isolate lhe Orel hedgehog, and carry the Russians into, the northern Ukraine, is no mere diversionary attack. It has already converted the German ofienfive from Orel to Bvelgorod into a costly failure. Its further success may involve General von Kluge’s army group in a major disaster. At least 40 Axis divisions, including a number of picked armoured units, have bee iden‘ilied on the front and they arc known to have suffered extremely heavy losses. More than this, the enemy has been out-generalled. Tactically, the enemy’s reversion to the methods of 1940. when infantry were relegated to mere mopping-up behind the charging tanks and diving planes, has been signally unsuccessful.”