“THE RAINS CAME”

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 195, 19 July 1941, Page 7

“THE RAINS CAME”

BLOW TO- BLITZKREIG. NEW FACTOR APPEARS. (United Press Association —Copyright) (Rec. 9 a.m.) RUGBY, July 18. What may prove to be news of first importance is contained in a brief message from the Associated Press correspondent in Moscow.

He says rain is falling over the battlefields of Western Russia, threatening to turn into a vast bog the territory churned up by Hitler’s blitzkrieg vehicles. A Gorman and Rumanian communique claims that strategic key positions in Bessarabia have been captured and that Hotin, Soroea, and Orheiu have been occupied, besides Kishinev. An agreement between the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia has been signed by M. Maisky and M. Masaryk. The Soviet War News, published by the Soviet Embassy, states that it deals with the exchange of diplomatic representatives and the common struggle against Hitlerito Germany. The Russian Government is' reported to have been handed a sharp protest against the establishment of danger zones in Japanese waters. A Russian communique states that, according to incomplete data, 22 enemy planes were shot down in tlio aL and destroyed on the ground on Thursday. The Russian losses were eight planes.—Official Wireless.