ZERO HOUR

Grey River Argus, 10 June 1943, Page 5

ZERO HOUR

NEAR IN RUSSIA More Intense Air Prelude . ENEMY ATTACKS REPULSED. . [Aust. & N.Z. Cable Assn.Y LONDON, June 8. The Moscow correspondent of the British United Press stated: There were further signs to-day that zero hour on the Russian front is only a few days away. Although a deceptive lull hangs over the 2000-mile front there are reports of increasing quantities of men and materials moving up to the battle line on both sides. Major land fighting has virtually died down and is now confined to tentative efforts by both sides to pibble- away against enemy positions, probe ror weak spots and make local improvements to their dispositions. These minor, but significant, movements are continuing at a number of points along the front. According to the Soviet front-line despatches, local lighting has flared up on the northern Donetz front, both north and south of Kharkov. Fresh German attempts to force a Donetz crossing at Balakleya, in the vicinity of the Soviet bridgehead, 50 miles south-east of Kharkov, were smashed and a German attack was also beaten back in bitter hand-to-hand fighting in the Byelgorod area.

Russian Air Raids ON CENTRAL FRONT. (Rec. 6.30) LONDON, June 8. A Soviet communique stated: On Monday night a large number of long-range aircraft attacked German aerodromes, destroying many planes. Ammunition and fuel dumps were also attacked, and there were numerous fires, followed by explosions. All but one Soviet plane returned. (Rec. 1.10) LONDON, June 9. Moscow radio says: Large forces of Soviet long-range planes on Monday night raided enemy .aerodromes in Bryansk and other areas, destroying and damaging many German planes. Ammunition and fuel dumps and airfields were also bombed. Numerous fires and explosions were observed. INTENSE AIR WARFARE. LONDON, June 8. The “Daily Telegraph’s” Moscow correspondent stated: The Allied air offensive in the west is linking up with Russian air attacks of growing intensity. At present, before the Beginning of major land operations on the Eastern Front, the air war is already as intense as anything known during the Voronej and Stalingrad battles last year. Soviet air operations are of two-fold significance—defensive and offensive. Russian fighters are tirelessly and daringly interfering with the Luftwaffe’s attempts to bomb Soviet objectives such as the approaches to Moscow and Leningrad and the cities ,of vital industrial centres like Gorki. In offensive operations the Red Air Force is aiming primarily against vital railway junctions and stations. The latter is part of the 1 Soviet effort to dislocate enemy communications and weaken the imnact of possible German attempts 'to 'take the initiative on land. Guerrillas behind the enemy lines are working towards the same end as the Soviet air offensive by blasting roads, wrecking trains and stripping telephone lines. Guerrillas also co-oper-ate with the Soviet bomber operations by messages transmitted by radio. The correspondent adds that the great bulk of Soviet bombers are Soviet-made, but that British and American planes arriving along the northern route, and also via the Persian Gulf are already making themselves felt.

Reuter’s Moscow correspondent stated: The Red Air Force’s big attack against the rail junction at Unecha on Sunday night, in which fires and explosions were observed among ammunition dumps, arms and fuel stores and military trains, represented the third stage in the systematic disorganisation of the main railway used by the Germans tor feeding the Orel salient. The first stage against Orel last week, which put' out of action this vital junction Bryansk, further down the railway, was heavily' attacked on the l following day, with similar results. Dong lines of trains were then held up at Unecha, 80 miles south-west of Bryansk, which was hammered, in its turn, on Sunday night. If Unecha is fully out of action it will mean serious interference with the crosscountry rail link between the German communications from Orel and those leading to Smolensk. Valuable evidence of the effect of the Soviet air offensive is coming from German prisoners and from Russian guerrillas. The persistency and accuracy of Soviet bombing, is beginning to depress German troops in affected sectors. A large German barracks in one town was reduced to a shambles in a few minutes and 1500 Germans were buried under the ruins.

KUBAN FRONT. (Rec. 1.10.) LONDON, June 9. The Berlin radio stated: Although fighting has slowed down in the Kuban, it should by no means be thought that the Russian operations there have concluded. Berlin radio added: Air.observation shows that the Russians are regrouping for a new assault. RUSSIAN ATTACK IN NORTH. [Au«t. & N.Z. Cnh'c Assn.] (Rec. 1.10.) LONDON, June 9. Rome radio gives the first news of a new Russian attack on the Karelian Isthmus. Recent fighting there has been desultory. GERMAN COMMENT, LONDON, June 8. The Germans are still stressing me effectiveness of their raids on Gorki, which is east of Moscow and is one of the biggest centres of the Molotov tank factory organisations. Berlin claimed to-day that all assembly shops covering 600,000 square yards were very largely destroyed and also that machine and tool shops, press shops and other vital areas are thought to have been very heavily damaged. The German military, spokesman stated after the repulse of four major Soviet offensives against the Kuban bridgehead, a lull had set in on the entire Eastern Front, but the Russians were evidently determined to continue the battle for the bridgehead. r . /o . , The Secretary for War (Sir J. Grigg) answering a Commons question, said the- German Tiger tank weighs 55 to 60 tons. The front armour plates are four inches thick, and the sides three and a quarter. The gun had a calibre of 8.8 centimetres, and weighed about a ton and a-half. It threw an armour-piercing shell weighing twenty pounds twelve ounces, also a high explosive shell. The speed depended greatly on the surface of the ground. RAID MADE AT GORKI. (Rec. 1-10.) LONDON, June 9. Berlin radio stated: The Luftwaffe bombed Gorki. Reconnaissance planes later reported that six hundred thousand square metres of Gorki

have been destroyed. The Gorki river port has been rendered unuseable. ANOTHER GORKY RAID. "LONDON, June 8. A Soviet communique stated: On Monday a group of German planes tried to raid Gorky, the munition centre. 200 miles east of Moscow. They were dispersed by fighters and anti-aircraft defences. Two raiders got through. They dropped bombs on dwellings, causing a fire, which was extinguished. Seven Germans were shot down. The rcussians suffered n 0 losses. 70 German Divisions TO MOVE AGAINST MOSCOW. (Rec. 1.10.) . LONDON, June 9. Reuter’s Ankara correspondent stated: Hitler is reported to. have massed seventy divisions for an offensive against Moscow, in the hope of occupying Moscow, and of forcing the Russians to conclude a separate peace. Moscow confirms the probability of an enemy offensive in a report stating that the Germans are massing big forces at Orel, the southern rampart of the German front, before Moscow. MORE ROUMANIANS. FOR THE FRONT. (Rec. 9.15) "LONDON, June 9. According to information reaching Istanbul from Bucharest, General Antonescu purged the Roumanian Government service, dismissing hundreds of officials also several district governors, whose places are being filled by army officers. It is stated that: the object of the purge is to eliminate officials suspected of antiNazi sentiments, especially those opposing the sending of more' Roumanian troops to Russia. It is reported that in return for more troops Hitler promised General Antonescu a' revision of the Roumanian frontier with Hungary.