STANDING FIRM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24950, 24 June 1942, Page 5

STANDING FIRM

HEROIC SEBASTOPOL MASSIVE ASSAULT FRANTIC GERMAN EFFORTS (Rec. 9 p.m.) LONDON, June 22. Iron resolution and the greatest organisation will be needed to push the enemy from Sebastopol, says the Soviet Army newspaper, Red Star. The withdrawal of the defenders was unavoidable on the southern sector when four German regiments, supported by tanks, attacked for 24 hours. The Russians from the heights took heavy toll of the advancing Germans with artillery. The attacks on the northern sector were repulsed, the Germans losing 1500 killed during the day, but in spite of losses, there is no sign of any pause in the assault against the fortress. The Moscow correspondent of The Times says that not one of the least of the trials the defenders of Sebastopol have to bear is the smell from 10,000 corpses exposed on the rocky ground around the town. The battle has not flagged sufficiently since it started to allow time for the burial of the corpses. To-night's Soviet communique reveals that the frantic German endeavours to capture the important Crimean naval base of Sebastopol by or on June 22 have been thwarted to the extent that they have been hurling thousands of men into the attack regardless of losses, but the losses have certainly been heavy. One report from Moscow suggested that the Axis has been losing about 3000 troops a day, making a total of about 40,000 men since the offensive began. The communique states that on the Sebastopol front fierce fighting continues. On other sectors of the front no important changes have taken place. The Moscow radio reported that the Germans a few days ago on the Kharkov front threw in 200 tanks with the object of breaking the Russian defence line and gaining a strategic point. The Germans were thrown back and lost 109 tanks and over 500 men killed.