BLACK SEA PORT IN GREAT DANGER

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 11 August 1942, Page 5

BLACK SEA PORT IN GREAT DANGER

Wedge Driven in Don Bend Defences (Rec. 10.20 a.m.) London, Aug. 10. The German advance into the Caucasus is spreading out towards Maikop and south-east and also westward to the Sea of Azov, where there appears to be a strip of coast not yet occupied. Ihe absence of German claims to have captured prisoners may be takfcn as an indication that the Russians have been able to withdraw their forces in good order. Official Soviet reports state that the Germans made determined attacks around Armavir and managed to break through in one sector, and Soviet troops also engaged in defensive operations in the region of Kropotkin. In the Don bend enemy tanks and motorised infantry were repulsed. In this region the Germans are throwing in reinforcements and their tanks are charging along roads and across fields till everywhere clouds of dust and smoke hang over the steppes. Soviet anti-tank riflemen are challenging them from hideouts and are still offering stout resistance and holding firm. The Germans’ flanking movement up the railway towards Stalingrad has slowed down. A Russian communique indicated that the Germans have driven a wedge in the Russian defences in the Don bend near Kletskaya, thus increasing the threat to Stalingrad from the northern pincer which has been held for some time. The Russians are still counter-attacking against the southern pincer which forced a wedge northwards from Kotelnokovo. Moscow radio says the Germans are going all out to reach Stalingrad, completely ignoring enormous losses. Meanwhile the progressive deterioration on the southern front continues unchecked. The danger to Novorossiisk (on the Black Sea) is now very great. If it is lost the consequences will be severe, as neither Tuapse nor Batum is capable of basing a fleet. Therefore the sea road to Georgia will be opened for the Germans operating from Rumania and the Crimea, where it is known they have assembled a formidable fleet of invasion barges and torpedo-boats. General Liszt is reported to be commanding the invasion army and Rumania is awaiting orders to strike. Thus Marshal von Bock’s sweep to the coast opens up disquieting possibilities of attacking the rear Russian defences in the Caucasian mountains besides the threat of cutting off the large Russian armies north of Novorossiisk. Russian reports as well as German claims indicate that enemy forces are steadily penetrating the foothills of the western Caucasus, where the Germans claimed that Maikop and also Krasnodar have been captured. Axis forces despite stout Russian resistance are reported to b* pushing on at a speed of at least 1 7 miles daily. The Germans are obviously striving their utmost to throw an iron ring around the area containing Novorossiisk, Tuapse, Maikop and Krasnodar.

Fiercest fighting elsewhere on the Russian fronts is reported from the Kotelnokovo area, where the German drive towards Stalingrad is held up. The Germans continue officially to refer to Russian attacks around Rjev, but the Russians do not mention this activity. The Moscow correspondent of ‘The Times” says the German attack against Armavir cuts off this important area from all land outlets except the incomplete coastal railway across the Caucasus foothills at Lvovs, The Caucasus army is resisting strongly but is unable to stem General von Kleist’s advance south-west from Salsk. Cossacks between Kushchovskaya and Krasnodar prevented the Germans advancing south from Rostov keeping up with their left wing, but despite their courage the Cossacks were forced slowly back. General Schwodler’s army of the Don is having a tougher job. In thrusts towards Stalingrad it attempted to drive through Kotelnokovo area but was resolutely held up, while Soviet tank units here vigorously counter-attacked ar l reduced the enemy troops edging into the defences. The Germans yesterday were reported to be shifting tanks from sector to sector feeling for points of least resistance. General Schwodler’s upper pincer probing for Stalingrad has been caught by Soviet gunners in broken ground west of the Don. The Germans main tank force has been dispersed and hundreds of burned-out machines and thousands of dead are littering the cornfields. A great resolute Russian army hereabouts still stands between Marshal von Bock and the Don River. Berlin radio declared that Krasnodar was captured by the same German units which stormed Rostov and Bataisk. They covered 175 miles in 13 days, continuously fighting and marching.