BITTER WEATHER

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24102, 22 October 1941, Page 7

BITTER WEATHER

THE SOUTHERN FRONT DRIVE FOR ROSTOV ENEMY CLAIM ADVANCE LONDON, Oct. 20 Snow covers the southern battlefront and, as on the central front, the temperature is frequently belowzero Fahrenheit. However, it would be wiser to attribute any diminution of fury in the German onslaughts purely to military causes, such as the tenacity of the Russian resistance and the German necessity for the constant reorganisation inseparable from such vast and intense operations. Marshal Budenny's armies defending Rostov and the Donetz basin share the limelight with the troops and workers defying the Germans around Moscow. Von Rundstedt is focusing all his resources against Rostov, the fall of which would not only cut off the pipeline terminus and an important junction of railways, but would open the doorway to the Donetz basin. The German claim to have captured Taganrog lacks confirmation, but if true it would undoubtedly increase the danger to Rostov. A Budapest message claims that Axis forces have crossed the railway between Kharkov and Pavlograd, in the Ukraine. A German communique states that German. Italian, Hungarian and Slovak divisions in the southern sector of the eastern front are irresistibly advancing toward the "industrial region of the Donetz basin, and that operations on other sectors are proceeding successfully. NAZI LEADER SHOT INCIDENT IN FRANCE EARLY MORNING ATTACK (Reed. 6.32 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 21 Lieutenant-Colonel Dr. Karl Friedrich Holtz, German commander of the Nantes region in occupied France, was shot dead early this morning in the principal square on his way to his headquarters. Two men fired shots and escaped in the resulting confusion. The German High Command, confirming the shooting, stated that Holtz was field commander of the Nantes area (which confers powers far exceeding those usually held by a lieutenantcolonel). The British United Press correspondent at Vichy says Holtz was killed instantly, two bullets entering his back. German patrols immediately rounded up scores of people who were on the quays and streets in spite of the curfew. The police believe that the assassination was carefully planned and that Holtz was trailed for a long time before he was caught alone in a quiet and darkened square near the cathedral.

Another source states that the shooting occurred in a total blackout. Six shots were fired, allegedly by two Communist terrorists, thereby reviving the Communist agitation which has been quiet for the last three weeks.

Curfew in occupied France begins at 6 p.m. as from to-night, instead of 9 p.m., as the first reprisal for the shooting of Holtz. The Lyons radio says a' fire destroyed the whole of the harvest and a number of farm buildings in Faix, the damage being estimated at 1,000,000 francs.

DRUGS SENT BY AIR SUPPLIES FOR MIDDLE EAST (Reed. 6.32 p.m. LONDON, Oct, 20 The United States is sending to the Middle East by air rare drugs which Britain is unable to spare, reports the Daily Telegraph. An American Red Cross aircraft has just delivered in Cairo an emergency supply of 101b. of sulphatiozol, a drug used in brain operations. The last drop of the drug available in Cairo was being used when the supply arrived. NAVAL EXPANSION FACILITIES FOR RATINGS LONDON, Oct. 20 The personnel of the Royal Navy in the past 18 months has more than doubled itself. Tens of thousands of men and boys from every trade and profession have joined the Services, says the Admiralty, describing the amenities, which include a canteen at nearly all bases around the coasts. Two of the largest bases have theatres with lighting equipment on West End standards. Mansions in country towns have been taken over to provide hostels where tired men can get a sound night's sleep. ,