GERMAN VIEW OF RED ARMY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 29 July 1941, Page 5

GERMAN VIEW OF RED ARMY

TOUGHER THAN EXPECTED Western Methods of no Use ENTIRE NAZI FORCES THROWN INTO BATTLE (Rec. 9.15 am.) London, July 28. Last night s Russian communique states: “On the night of 2 7th28th July fighting operations by our forces in the Nevel, Smolensk and Jitomir directions continued. Nothing of importance has occurred in the other sectors. On the same night our air force in collaboration with land forces attacked enemy units and aerodromes and bombed Constanta. “ 8.0. W. Ihe Russian-German front has become a gigantic, continuous Verdun. Ihe Moscow spokesman, M. Lozovsky, making this statement to-day. said: “We cannot yet give details of the vast Smolensk battle, but we will do so immediately the Germans are finally beaten there. It is a battle which will be studied for many years. 1 he Luftwaffe will not last long if its present losses continue. Plans by the Germans to seize aerodromes near Moscow have been frustrated, and the Germans are obliged to operate against the capital from a distance because of the continuous Soviet bombing of their ! advanced aerodromes. “Some people thought we exaggerated when we said that the j loss of certain territories earlier was not decisive, but the Soviet j Union, with its numerous industrial centres, can afford to lose a small , proportion of its territory.”—U.P.A. A Russian night communique reported that a direct hit with a 500 kilogram bomb was scored on a Finnish armoured vessel of the coastal service. Large explosions were observed. A Russian afternoon communique refers to the bombing of a Finnish battle-cruiser. Soviet pilots report direct hits, followed by powerful explosions, while one German transport and a barge proceeding to Finland with war materials were sunk by the Air Force. A Soviet patrol boat found four enemy fliers in a rubber boat in the Baltic. When captured they said their plane made a forced landing after being damaged by shore defence batteries.—B.O.W.

M. Lazovsky added that the guerrilla units are daily growing in numbers and strength, and they often act in communication with the Red Army. Cne unit recaptured Slutsk (near the centre of the old Soviet frontier), killing off the entire German garrison and destroying the German stocks and retiring only when German reinforcements arrived. A guerrilla unit at Luniniec, Eastern Poland, destroyed 3000 tons of grain which the Germans had stolen and also petrol stores and blew up 10 bridges. Another unit destroyed 30 tanks and armoured vehicles. The guerrillas’ tricks, the spokesman sa;d. are causing panic among the j Germans. Wires are stretched across j roads at nights to knock off motor- j cyclists and spiked bars puncture 1 enemy tyr:j. The Germans are making reprisals by killing captured guerrillas with horrible tortures. The distinct sobering of the German view of the war is shown in a review : in the “Frankfurter Zeitung" of the , first five weeks of fighting. “The war in the east has developed quite differ- , ently from that in the west last year and has become the most adventurous war in history,’ ’it states. “A front line no longer exists. Our tanks are often separated from the infantry units which fight in confidence that our Luft- 1 v.affe and motorised forces will come t»- their desperate need. “Our tanks realise that after break ing an oncoming wave of enemy troops the enemy will ever and again close behind them, but ours do not retreat. Everything depends o:i whether reinforcements arrive in time. DEEP RUSSIAN THRUSTS “The Russians have lately developed J t; ctics of deeply penetrating our lines, and therefore it is difficult to desig- , nate our exact positions. Actually the front is split into many confused fight- . ing centres. “Nothing is more incorrect than to ( assume that our western methods can j be applied agaist the Russians, who , have proved themselves tougher than , we expected. Everything shows that J the Red Army General Staff is determined to oppose us not merely on the ( defensive but with its own offensive.” General Liebemann in an article in the “Berliner Boerscn Zeitung’’ says that the Russian resistance has necessitated throwing- in the entire German army, the majority of which consists of non-motorised infantry and horse-drawn waggons and batteries. The war correspondent of the j “Investia.” Moscow, describes a night j raid which was made against the head- j quarters of a German tank division, the whereabouts of which was discovered by scouts. Soviet infantry, sup- 1 ported by a light artillery battery, silently surrounded the headquarters at dusk and attacked simultaneously from three sides. The Germans attempted lo resist but were soon put to flight. Members of the divisional staff jumped from 1 windows in panic, abandoning important documents. The Russians took ! 300 prisoners, including eight divisional and 10 battalion staff members. CLAIM OF RED ARMY PURGE A Hensinki message reports that captured Russian documents revealed j that M. Stalin has inaugurated a fresh j purg6 in the Red Army, “liquidating” j nine generals.

SOVIET PROTEST TO SWEDEN

DETENTION OF OFFICIALS t (Ree 10.20 a.m.) Moscow, July 28. j The Foreign Office affirming that the i , Finnish Government is retaining on J . various pretexts Soviet consular and j ( commercial representatives, besides j ( engineers and other officials who were | v in Finland before the war, asked the I ( Swedish Government to intervene and | \ make representations to the Finnish ' , Government concerning the detention f —U.P.A.

GERMAN CASUALTIES

PAGES OF DEATH NOTICES NO OFFICIAL LISTS PUBLISHED WORKERS STRIKE IN PROTEST j (Rec. 12.5 p.m.) London, July 28., Pages of death notices in German papers reaching Turkey confirm reports that Germany is paying a terrific price on the Russian front. Mr G. E. R. Gedye, in a message to the “Daily Express ’ from Istanbul says j that casualty lists are not published in Germany but Hitler found himself obliged to provide an outlet for the ponular anguish by allowing relatives ! and friends of prominent party members to publish at their own expense, notices of death in action. Every day ' whole pages now record the deaths of important Nazi party members. Those mourned include Hans Dietcl, commandant of the crack Gestapo college for training "supermen,” Rudi Kranz. the German ski champion. Rudolf Amann, son of the Nazi press chief, and ! Otto Schramm, one of Hitler’s cronies since the birth of the Nazi party. The Moscow radio announced* that a

strike occurred in the naval shipyard at Hamburg as a protest by workers against non-publication of casualty lists from the Russian front. The workers demand for casualty lists was at first granted but patent inaccuracies in the lists so incensed them that the strike pon tinned.— U.P.A.