Germans Make Little Headway With Vaunted Offensive

Northern Advocate, 8 October 1941, Page 5

Germans Make Little Headway With Vaunted Offensive

Russians “All Out” To Stop Invading Hordes

[British Official Wireless] (Received 12.30 p.m.) RUGBY. October,Y. EXTREMELY FIERCE FIGHTING IS RAGING ON A NUMBER OF SECTORS ON THE CENTRAL RUSSIAN FRONT, WHERE THE GERMANS HAVE DRIVEN PANZER WEDGES INTO POSITIONS OF THE RED ARMY. According' to the “Red Star.” Soviet military journal, German losses in these attacks on three sectors alone number more than 1000 killed wit'll 108 tanks crippled and 31 planes brought down. On one sector. General Goldin, after a long march, burled a Red Army infantry unit, supported by tanks and aircraft, against an enemy concentration. The fierceness of the battle grew hourly. The Russians, armed with automatic, weapons, broke through one of the wedges to a post where the 'Soviet- infantry supported! by tanks and artillery have been resolutely counter-attacking. This attack destroyed 38 enemy tanks and 3.1 planes.

Elf With Tremendous Power

No amount of attention to Russian local counter-attacks, however gallantly and efficiently carried out, can disguise the dangerous fact that the Germans are hitting with tremendous power, not only against the Russians’ weak spots, which are principally on the southern front, but also against Marshal Timoshenko’s powerfully held positions on the central front, where Panzer wedges are reported to be driving in. with continuous air bombing support. “The Germans have thrown in everything they possess." says the “Red Star.” “They have brought from the occupied countries all the war material that can be spared, and the tank columns include many from Holland, Belgium and France.” Neither the Russians nor the Germans mention place names in the movement either directly or indirectly aimed against Moscow, but Italian sources say great battles are raging along the Ugra River, between Viazama and Kaluga and between Kaluga and Orel. A feature of the German claims on the southern and central fronts is the tremendous damage inflicted by the Luftwaffe against Russian communications. The German news agency states that 21 trains were destroyed yesterday, and also direct hits derailed 110 trains laden with troops and supplies.

“The Times” correspondent on the German frontier says the Germans destroy Russian railway material without compunction because it is broadgauged and therefore useless as booty, while most of the Russian rolling stock is obsolete and cumbersome and hence of no value to the Germans. If the rolling stock m the Kharkov area was completely knocked out this would mean that eight main traffic lines diverging from Kharkov would be put out of action. The Germans claim that these tactics have already cut off Marshal Budenny’s chief tank supply from Kharkov, forcing him to obtain renewal from distant sources. Budenny Strikes Back “The Times” correspondent on the German frontier adds that Marshal Budenny has launched a fierce coun-ter-attack from Kursk, 330 miles southwest of Moscow, aimed primarily to hold up the main German advance and secondarily to l'elieve the increasing pressure on Kharkov. According to authoritative Rumanian sources in Istanbul, 12 Rumanian generals have been shot for signing a jckit memorandum to General Antonescu protesting against further participation in the war against Russia. The generals include three recalled from active scivffie on ihe Odessa front.

Russiasa Communique

The Soviet overnight communique states: “During Monday our troops engaged the enemy in stubborn fighting along the whole front. During Saturday 53 enemy aircraft were shot down and 10 destroyed on aerodromes —a total of 63 destroyed. We lost 25. A Gennan transport was sunk. A supplementary communique gives details of the fighting in the central sector, and says a tank unit inflicted heavy losses on a German tank column, 34 enemy tanks being destroyed, 22 by direct hits with bombs from cooperating aircraft and the remainder by Russian tanks. Another large enemy tank unit is reported to have been routed on the scuth-west front on Sunday by Red bombers. Sixty-four German tanks, 113 motor vehicles, 12 guns and two oil tanks were destroyed.

The latest reports from Russia indicate that the Germans have made little progress in their great new offensive. The midday Russian communique speaks of the rout of two Austrian battalions in the Ukraine, success by Russian artillery in the approaches to Leningrad, and successful guerilla activity in the Smolensk sector. Moscow claims that a German division is held up on the western shores of the Sea of Azov. The Germans are reported to have lost heavily in their attack on the Crimea. Hitler is throwing in the whole weight of his armies and the Russian forces are “all out” to stop them. Both sides claim local successes. The Russians claim that the German attempt to break through to the great industrial centre of Kharkov' is being held up near Poltava by Marshal Budenny's forces, which are now attacking the enemy on two fronts.