DON VALLEY BATTLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24969, 16 July 1942, Page 5

DON VALLEY BATTLE

SEVERE ENEMY PRESSURE GRAVITY INCREASES HOURLY 4* (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) 1 (Rec. 1 a.m.) LONDON, July 15. The latest news from Moscow makes it clear that the whole position on the Don Valley battlefront, ranging from Voronezh to the south of Bogutchar, is one of hourly increasing gravity. The mid-day Russian communique says that during the night Soviet troops fought fierce engagements at Voronezh and south of Bogutchar. There were no material changes on other sectors of the front. Reports from correspondents state that stubborn, non-stop fighting is taking place in the town of Voronezh itself. According to Izvestia, the Germans are doing thlir utmost to encircle the town from the north and south. Fierce counter-attacks are, however, being made by the Russians, who are inflicting tremendous losses on the Germans. The roads are crowded with blazing tanks and shattered guns. South of Bogutchar the Germans are pressing towards the Don from two directions in a pincer movement, in which they are employing superior numbers of tanks and mechanised infantry. Here the Nazi aim is the capture of the important industrial centre of Stalingrad. In this area the Russian armies saved themselves from an encircling movement by withdrawing to new positions under heavy pressure. It is also evident that the German drive against Rostov is gathering weight. The German forces in this sector are Holder the command of Marshal Mannstein, who transferred his headquarters to Taganrog following the fall of Sebastopol. He is using three armoured divisions and seven infantry divisions and the heavy howitzers which attacked Sebastopol are now pounding Rostov. The Moscow correspondent of The Times says that bitter scrambling tank fights are raging between the Don region. The tanks for the most part face each other in groups of from 40 to 50. The Russians in one sector, after their counter-attack in the Voronezh area, were compelled to withdraw. The latest enemy claims include a Berlin report received at Stockholm that a German panzer group pierced the defences of Pikrocsk and is now six miles from Rostov. The Paris radio claims that the Germans are fighting in the suburbs of Voroshilovgrad. At a luncheon in Moscow to the representatives of the British and American press, the chief of the Soviet Information Bureau, M. Lozovsky, likened the Russian-German war to a boxing match. “In the first round,” he said, “the Germans advanced. In the second round the Russians advanced. In the third round the Germans are again advancing, and in the fourth round Germany will get a knock-out blow.”