RAID BY U.S. BOMBERS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 15 June 1942, Page 5

RAID BY U.S. BOMBERS

ENEMY-OCCUPIED BLACK SEA PORTS FIERCE LAND FIGHTING ON ALL FRONTS London, June 1 5. United States bombers are believed to have attacked the enemy-occupied Russian ports of Odessa and Nikolaev on the Black Sea and also points in Rumania, says Reuter’s correspondent in Ankara, Turkey. The bombers were reported to be based on Kgypt (1100 miles away). Three bombers made a forced landing without damage at the aerodrome at Ankara and another made a forced landing in a district in Smyrna, western Turkey. The members of the crew refused to give details of their operation, merely saying it was a Black Sea mission. All the planes are four-engined Douglas bombers. It is reported from Vichy that a fifth United States bomber landed in Turkey. Ihe planes, after fulfilling a mission in the Balkans, are reported to have tried to reach Sebastopol, but the Luftwaffe forced them to turn back and the bombers ran out of petrol over Turkey.

The bombing by the Luftwaffe has] prevented the Russian tanks from getting clos% enough to the German tanks to engage them. The Russian tanks are' striking hard at the enemy’s flanks. The Germans on the Sebastopolj fiont are using more Rumanians in an j effort to break through on the northern sector after a failure of attacks 1 from the south-east and north-east. The Germans at great cost succeeded ■■ in driving a wedge in one small sector. The defenders are trading blow lor blow, though the enemy pressure is as great as ever and fresh reserves are being piled in. The Russian artillery is very effective, and has knocked out 50 tanks and damaged 12. The fighting is becoming more and more intense, and the Germans lost 5500 killed in one sector in two days’ fighting. “BREACH WIDENED” A report from Vichy says a battle of! extreme violence is raging at Sebasto-| pol. The Germans for the first time have flung monster tanks into the preaches north-east and south-east of; the city and flame-throwing detachments have widened the north-east breach. The latest reports from Sebastopol i state that the position of the Russians has improved after a series of counter-] attacks in which the Germans were! flung back from a number of points. ■ The enemy are said to have main j tained one wedge in a small sector at enormous cost. “MUST EVENTUALLY FALL” i Pro-Russian sources yesterday were obviously impressed by the immense Axis forces arrayed on the arc spanning Sebastopol’s relatively small area, from sea to sea. and expressed the be. lief that they must eventually wear] down any fortress. Moscow officially announced that on, Friday the Russians at Sebastopol destroyed 50 enemy tanks and put out of" ■ction a further 12. Moscow radio gave descriptions of important guerrilla activities in support of the hard-pressed defenders of Sebastopol. ATTACK REPELLED AT KHARKOV A Russian communique states that on the Kharkov front yesterday Russian troops fought against enemy tanks and infantry and repelled enemy attacking troops. On the Sebastopol front the Russians successfully repelled numerous enemy attacks and held their positions. On other fronts fighting of local importance and activity by reconnaissance units took place. One Soviet naval unit sank an enemy transport of K'OO tons off Odessa. The first detailed report from the Kharkav f-ont show that Axis forces have not succeeded in ntaking a surprise break-through. Most of the attacks have been beaten off, and where f he enemy has gained some ground he > now held. The Germans are continually bringing in fresh troops, and have lost thousands dead in the last few days. The Moscow “Red Star” says that the Kharkov* zone is at present the scene of the heaviest fighting in Russia this year. The enemy is hurling in fresh masses of infantry, tanks, and planes seeking to breach the Russian defences at the narrowest sector, but the Russians are maintaining their positions practically everywhere. THOUSAND-PLANE ATTACK The importance which the Germans attach to the new fighting on the Kharkov front can be gauged from Moscow messages describing how in one sector an enemy attack by tanks was supported by 1000 planes in waves. This is considered in Moscow as a strong enemy attempt to paralyse the Russian air forces and drive the Russian tanks from the battlefield. The German air assault was followed by a tank charge, but the tanks were met by aeadly fire from Soviet tanks, artillery, anti-tank rifles an 1 bottles of inflammable liquid, and the enemy suffered heavy losses. In another sector of the Kharkov front 60 enemy tanks were destroyed yesterday. The Stockholm correspondent of “The Times” said yesterday that heavy clashes between detachments which ] were striving to probe their opponents' j strength were occurring in the Khar-] kov-Donetz region. A hard general ! battle was expected to be resumed here.! hut reports of a large-scale German of-j fensive were premature and inflated. New intense activity is occurring in the Isyum sector (south-west of Kharkov. Powerful artillery duels are going on along the Donetz river line. Operations in the Lake Ilmen and in the Volkhov region beyond appear to be growing in scope. The Russians are throwing in heavier units than the Germans, including tanks, particularly ui the sector in the vicinity of Novgorod. The central front is relatively quiet, but the Germans betray uneasiness about the Volkhonsky forest, between Kalinin and Velikiyeluki. for they have had evidence that unusual Russian ■ forces have long been massing there, j A German communique yesterday: claimed that the Germans on Thursday j occupied a wide strip of territory in the Volkhov* sector. AMBULANCE TRAINS A Moscow message states that Geriran ambulance trains sometimes take as long as three weeks to travel from Smolensk to Warsaw. One train recently arrived with only 280 out of 400 men alive because they did not receive • edical attention en route. —8.0. W. and P.A. ENEMY CLAIMS PROGRESS AT SEBASTOPOL AND KHARKOV '11.20 p.m.) London, June 14. The Germans for three days have been battering at the outer defences .f the whole Sebastopol front, but have ailed to capture them, says "Pravda “ '•’hey have paid the price ot thousands '•filed, 160 planes lost and dozens of tanks destroyed. A German communique claims that after bitter hand to

sand fighting German forces occupied a modern strong fort, named Stalin situated on a dominating height above Sebastopol. While the Russians say they are holding German attacks on the Kharkov front, the German High Command claims the Donetz was crossed at •nan;* new points and several important heights on the west bank were captured. It adds that the boggy ground is making progress very difficult.—P.A