GERMAN BASES

Grey River Argus, 23 January 1943, Page 5

GERMAN BASES

MENACED IN RUSSIA

i ENEMY LOSSES i ‘i Growing Greater I [Aust. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] 1 LONDON, Jan. 22. Russians on he Donetz front are advancing against Likhaya Junction from two directions, one column from Kamenskaya and the other westward along the StaLngrad-Krasnodar railway." A number of villages have i been captured on this front in the -. past 24 hours. Three Russian columns ! are closing in on Lugansk, one of • which is only 20 miles away. . Farther north a column which took Byelovodsk is threatening the ! big town and railway station of ( Starobyelsk. i The Russians are reported to he j 25 miles from Voroshilovgrad, centre of the Donetz industrial area I Reuter’s Moscow correspondent says the threat of Rostov has in- | creased with the Russians closing in on Likhaya, Lugansk and Salsk. I Front-line dispatches from the Salsk i sector say that fighting is raging- on j the eastern outskirts of “a large popi ulated place,” which may be Salsk . itself. Russian armies now threaten the most important German communication centres in Southern Russia — Kharkov, Kursk, Lugansk, Rostov, Salsk and Armavir. Kharkov is a strategically vital junction of six railways; Kursk is at an inlersec- < tion of four lines; Rostov is a key town of the Caucasus; Salsk and the other towns are scarcely less important rail centres. There is still no sign that the Russian offensives are slowing down, or of counter-attacks by the enemy anywhere on. a scale big enough to halt the Russian advance. The'Ger- . man positions are very liquid in many j sectors. j Attacks against the encircled Ger- ; mans before Stalingrad continue, I says “The Times” Moscow corresponI dent. It is estimated that 5000 have > been l:\led and nearly 1000 captur- 1 ed since the announcement on January 16 that trapped forces had been reduced to about 50,000. |

Russians Take Towns WEST AND NORTH OF VORONEJ, (Rec. 12.10.) LONDON, Jan. 22. Russian forces captured Siniyelipyagi, which is thirty miles south-west-ward of Voronej, and a railway station at Golofeyevka, which is almost due west of Voronej on the ValuikiYelets railway. Caucasus Fronts FURTHER RUSSIAN GAINS KIAN CAPTURED. (Rec. 12.10.) LONDON, Jan, 22. Russian forces captured Kian, nineteen miles from Nevinomyskaya, on the railway to Armavir, in the Central Caucasus. In the northern Caucasus Soviet forces closed in on Stavropol (Voroshilovsk) and cantured two points, each about 20 miles from this important collective farming centre. A special Moscow announcement reported the capture of Voroshilovsk, an important collective farming centre in the Kuban area, which was occupied after a stubborn battle, m which the Russians captured prisoners and booty.

Nevinomyskaya was taken by a double-thrust.

The capture of Proletarsk, north of the Manich River, brings the Russians below the Don nearer to Salsk, tin important rail junction on the Kuban railway. Russians announce the capture of Nev.nno.nysk, on the Rostov-Baku railway, 50 miles east of Armavir.

The capture of Proletarskaya was achieved by an attack from three sides. The Russians finally drove the Germans out after fierce street fighting. The defenders included an S.S. regiment and remnants of several divisions which were severely handled in the earlier lighting on this front. AXIS LOSSESIN RUSSIA HALF MILLION KILLED SOVIET OFFICIAL’S ACCOUNT LONDON, Jan. 21. The head of the Soviet Information Bureau, M. Scherbakov (Chief of Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union) speaking at the Lenin Day celebration, said that approaches to Stalingrad had become a gigantic graveyard. Annihilation of the surrounded forces was nearing an end. the Germans were thrown back 190 miles from the city. The Russians, routed 36 enemy divisions by the approaches to the city, and twenty-two more were encircled. None of Hitler’s strategic tasks for the summer of 1942 had been achieved. Thousands of localities were recaptured in the Voronezh offensive. In the Caucasus. the Germans were driven back 190 miles. He said the Russians, admittedly, had suffered losses, but had succeeded in overcoming the most difficult problem —the transference of vital industries from threatened areas. Many of the transferred enterprises were producing more than on the previous location. The Germans and their allies lost 600,457 killed and captured in all sectors on the Russian front since the Stalingrad drive began on November 19, comprising 334,000 killed and 266,457 captured. The number of wounded is believed to the about 900,000, making a total loss of effectives of about one and a-half million. It is stated that exhaustion of Axis manpower has particularly shown itself in the Donetz front, where two Generals, Oppel and Hofman, commanded only 3500 combatants.

The Chief of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union added that the enemy during the same period lost 6000 tanks, 12,000 guns, and 3500 planes. He put the number killed, however, at over half a million.

Axis Anxiety OVER EASTERN LONDON, Jan. 21. In an appeal to Germans to aid their troops in Russia, by unity and self-sacrifice, “Voelkischer Beobachter” warns the nation to prepare for a military crisis greater than that in 1918. The British United Press Istanbul correspondent says: According to reports from Budapest the city panicked on Tuesday, after the issue of the Hungarian weekly communique admitting the Russian break-through in a sector on the Voronezh front held by Hungarians. Another announcement cancelled all army leave. Many men will be unable to find their

mauled retreating units. Three Hungarian divisions are reported to have been almost w.ped out. The wording of the German bulletin must cause anxiety even among Italian people, said the Rome radio, commentator. Ansaldo, who is known in Britain as “Woe. Woe, Ansaldo,” from his frequent warnings. “For two months we have not been able to see a pause in the Russian assaults,” he declared, “and there is no sign of any tir ng. The Russian soldiers are showin- exceptional fighting power and supreme courage. The whole world holds its, breath. It is undeniable that the Russians have achieved important successes, and that their forces are determined to beat us.”

A special correspondent of “The Times” says: Himmler has become the Germans’ defence dictator. Hitler secretly appointed Himmler to the post of Reich Defence Commissioner, with immense powers, to organise emergency defence measures. The appointment was made after two significant ' developments in the relations between Germany and her satellite powers. They were, firstly, a meeting with negative results hetween Hitler and Antonescu. Secondly, a point-blank refusal by Admiral Horthy’ to -supply more Hungarian troops. Horthy gave possible developments in the Balkans as the reason for his refusal. Hitler has also launched a new labour - drive of astonishing proportions, says the correspondent. It is clear that what Hitler now demands from Germany is identical with what was planned for a similar national emergency in 1918 by Walter' Rathenau, known as the Rathenau plan. It consisted chiefly of substituting women for men in factories, shortening the German battle line and converting the Reich into a self-support-ing fortress. NORTH FRONT LONDON, Jan. 21. On the northern front the combined Leningrad and Volkhov armies are reported to be advancing southward. The Russians report a battle for an important point on which pivot the German defences over a wide area. The place is being attacked from three sides, and the Germans are rushing reinforcements thither.