NEW NAZI DRIVE FROM OREL

Southland Times, Issue 24597, 20 November 1941, Page 5

NEW NAZI DRIVE FROM OREL

Strong Resistance By

Russians

LONDON, November 18.

The Russians are sternly resisting a new German drive eastwards from Orel, 200 miles south of Moscow, in which two German tank divisions are taking part. The Soviet commander was forced to withdraw his men under the first German attack which began last Thursday. The Germans, following up, captured certain villages. The Germans have suffered heavily for these initial gains and the question is how soon their drive will lose its momentum. The objective of this thrust, which is accompanied by an attempt to move eastwards from Kursk, is obviously to reach the vital railway running from Rostov to Moscow through Voronej. This bid to separate Moscow from the southern front js the corollary of the pushes in the Tikhvin and Volkhov regions aiming to separate Moscow from the Leningrad front. The Russian Army newspaper Red Star emphasizes the danger of these operations and says it would suit Hitler’s purpose admirably if he could split the present 1500 miles front into a number of small fronts, each with its own specific objective. This would mean that Hitler could hold such, fronts as he wished to keep quiet with the minimum number of men and to reduce the number of troops compelled to endure the hardships of the winter campaign in the open. Simultaneously Hitler would not lose the general initiative on tire Eastern Front. CALL FOR RUSSIAN ACTIVITY Emphasizing this, the Red Star affirms the necessity of compelling the enemy to freeze by wintering in the open fields and adds: “It is wrong, however, to think the winter itselt might exhaust the Germans. It might make the scope of the operations narrower, but it cannot halt the German offensive. Only Russian activity and steadiness can do that.” The Berlin radio military commentator said that the German drive on Moscow itself is at a standstill. The Russians recognized in time the danger threatening Moscow . and brought up fresh forces to man the outer defence ring. “This resulted in a heavy engagement in which we are still involved, he said.

The Russian newspaper Pravda reports that two attempts by German infantry, supported by tanks, to. break through the Soviet defences in the approaches to Rostov have been repulsed with heavy losses. The position at Tula has considerably improved after a successful Soviet counterA message from Berlin states: The Russians are using new planes so strongly armoured that they are called ‘flying tanks.’ The planes radiators, cockpits and other’ vulnerable points are particularly heavily protected. German pilots fired enormous quantities of bullets into the flying tanks’ without setting them on fire or bringing them down. The plane is designed for low-level work, being used for ground strafing and attacks against aerodromes.” GERMANS FROZEN TO DEATH It is authoritatively stated in London that quite a number of German soldiers have been found frozen to death on the Russian battlefields. Very few of them were properly equipped. Many were rigged out in women s furs and other makeshifts. On the other hand, the Russians defending Moscow are well-equipped and their morale is of the highest. It appears that the intense cold is proving a valuable ally to the heroic defenders of Moscow in front of which —as in a German broadcast Colonel Bade admitted to German listeners—the attackers are “held up by the adversities of the weather.” All the information reaching authoritative quarters in London goes to show that the Germans are suffering terribly. Very few arc nroperly equipped to withstand the rigours of the Russian winter. Life in Moscow, however, is proceeding normally and, though the people naturally show a serious attitude, there is no despondency and morale is very high. The food situation, in particular, is satisfactory. “SYMBOLIC” LANDING BY BRITISH LONDON, November' 18. Two “symbolic” landings by the British on the Continent this year—one in northern Norway and the other on the French coast—are mentioned in the Russian newspaper Pravda, which in a leading article declares that what astounded the Germans most in M. Stalin’s recent speech was the confident statement that a second front must be established in Europe. Pravda adds that German propagandists after the speech redoubled their efforts to prove that a second front cannot be created. After expressing the opinion that the entire Continental coast-line is fully accessible for landings by air, also by naval parties, Pravda says the establishment of a second front would be greatly faciliated by “inter-action” between the British and American navies and by the constantly increasing American aid for Britain and Russia.