DAY BY DAY

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLXI, Issue 15236, 29 December 1942, Page 2

DAY BY DAY

♦ A REVIEW OF THE WAR NEW’S ! The cables bring no news of the .Nazis’ ability to stem the irresistible j advance of the .Russian armies. Marshal Timoshenko’s plans which are only now becoming evident arc undoubtedly ambitious and seek to encircle, it is said, some 55 German divisions. There has been no major ; set-back to the prosecution oi those j plans as yet and the vastiness oL the j offensive may be guaged by the in- 1 telljgence found in a message today that an area of no less than 20,000 [ square miles is covered by the Retl j Armies’ initial advances. Territory ! has not been Timoshenko’s ouiy j gain, the speedy progress of Ins ! forces enabling them to capture enormous quantities of material. The j German propaganda seeks to allay ! the fears oi the German people by assuring them that the retirement j ijj “according to plan. Nazi subter- j fuge to condone defeat is a contradiction to the boastful broadcasts when all was going well with Hitler’s forces.

Rain has converted the North African battlefield into a quagmire with the result that the Allies contemplated offensive to driv© the enemy from the scene has been delay - ed. The Eighth Army has as yet received no major check in its speedy pursuit of the Airika K-orps

The war of attrition continues in New Guinea wher© no attempt >*s being made to force the issue if a furious onslaught should be at the expense of heavy Allied losses. In the Solomons Seas, the Allied air i nits are giving Japanese shipping uo respite. Today’s cables telL ui the sinking of Japanese ships and severe losses of aircraft by the enemy.