ASSAULTS HELD

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXII, Issue 217, 13 August 1942, Page 5

ASSAULTS HELD

STALINGRAD BASTIONS RED ARMY - SUCCEEDS (N.Z. Press Association.—Copyright.) (Rec. 9.35 a.m.) LONDON, Aug. 12. A Russian communique records no further withdrawals by the lied Army, which is holding fierce attacks at Kletskaya and northeast of Kotelnikovo, and fighting defensively in the Caucasian sectors in the face of great pressure. .

A Moscow message says that desperate air battles are raging over the Caucasian front. Junkers machines arc rushing up troops and materials. The Russians are taking a heavy toll of these transports and also plastering the Germans with fire bombs which set the woods ablaze, trapping concentrations of men and material. One report says the whole Kuban Valley is ablaze. The Official Wireless says the German attacks in the Kletskaya and Kotelnikovo areas continue with unabated strength, but no further advance by the enemy in either of these important sectors is reported officially by the Soviet. However, the Red Star says the Germans are throwing fresh troops into the struggle and admits a Russian withdrawal in one place. In the Northern Caucasus the Russians are defending the line of the Kuban River around Krasnodar against superior enemy forces. A Moscow message also says they are battering at the German wedge which they have cut off at its base. The situation in the Maikop region is described as serious, as the Germans are using every effort to push on, probably with the intention of capturing Pyatigorsk, 50 miles east of Cherkesk, which lies about half-way between the Black Sea and the Caspian. It is believed in London that the German progress southwards is slackening as the Caucasus foothills arc reached. Eastwards, where there is no such barrier, the Germans seem to be pushing on fast. It is not yet apparent whether the Soviet command will be able with the forces available to make a stand covering the naval base of Novorossisk and the port of Tuapse, the defence of which would extend their lino by scores of miles. Further slight progress by the Russians south of Voronezh is announced.