SOVIET MOVES

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24249, 15 April 1942, Page 5

SOVIET MOVES

SEVERAL SECTORS HEAVY JFIGHTING "OFFENSIVE BATTLES" (Reed. 11.20 p.m.) LONDON, April 14 In Russia the Red Army was engaged yesterday in what Moscow describes as offensive battles in several sectors of- the front, and a number of towns and villages were taken. It is the first time for 10 days that a Moscow communique has suggested any material change. This is interesting, because all reports from the front tell of the great difficulties of any active operations. Moscow does not disclose where the fighting is going on, but supplementary reports show that the Russians are

pressing hard at all points where fighting is possible. Some of the heaviest fighting has taken place on the socalled Kalinin front. It is clear that the Germans are still losing plenty of troops in the central region, and some of them at least were intended for the spring offensive. In the Leningrad sector also the Germans are suffering heavy losses. Fresh German reserves occupy the greater part of the front, replacing the winter-worn men, who have been withdrawn or are withdrawing for a spell and recuperation. The Russians, however, are still employing their winter troops, whose nerves are unshaken and whose spirit has been stimulated by the operations in which they took the initiative throughout the winter. Russia's new armies remain fresh to meet the German onslaught. Berlin dwells on the continued Russian tank attacks from the Kerch Peninsula, in the Crimea, alleging that they have all been repulsed. Berlin, however, admits that Russian ships are relatively free to enter or leave Sebastopol Harbour, having at present an easier period as the waterlogged aerodromes hamper Axis air activity, and the Russian Black Sea Fleet has practically undisputed command of the adjacent waters. British naval specialists, including dockyard personnel and torpedo and gunnery experts, are reported to be cooperating with the Soviet Black Sea Fleet at Novorossisk and Batum, says the Stockholm correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. The Moscow radio says that Soviet cavalry divisions have thrust deeply into the German positions on the Leningrad front, cutting part of the supply lines, after two days of savage infantry fighting. The initiative on this front is firmly in the hands of the Red Army, in proof of which the prisoners taken include men from several German divisions, who all say that their units have suffered heavy losses. Nine-tenths of the Moscow coal basin is again functioning after a gigantic reconstruction since the German flooding, blasting and burning.

SECOND FRONT URGED "INESCAPABLE TASK" (Reed. 9.50 p.m.) NEW YORK. April 14 The Dean of Canterbury, Dr. Hewlett Johnson, to-day asserted that it was the plain duty and inescapable task of the United Nations to open a second war front. He was addressing by Atlantic telephone a victory rally being held in New York in honour of the Soviet Army. "Germany and her allies are hammering at Russia in Europe," he said. "Japan will soon be hammering at Russia on the eastern side. We must hammer at Germany on the western side. A bold plan alone will bring a speedy peace.' ORDER BY VICHY BRITISH NATIONALS MOVED (Reed. 7.10 p.m.) LONDON, April 14 A message from Vichy states that British nationals remaining in the Riviera, excepting the sick and infirm or those married to French citizens, have been ordered to move to an inland zone within five days.