NAZI THRUST INTO UKRAINE

Timaru Herald, Volume CL, Issue 22042, 15 August 1941, Page 5

NAZI THRUST INTO UKRAINE

BUDENNY AVOIDS ENCIRCLEMENT Smolensk Evacuated By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Rec. 9.41) LONDON, Aug. 14. A special correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” in Stockholm says that Marshal Budenny has succeeded in avoiding encirclement by the German thrust into the Ukraine, while at the same time leaving behind a force approaching 106,000 men to defend isolated Odessa. His main armies, reinforced by 10 crack Soviet divisions hitherto held in reserve, now stand regrouped solidly and orderly eastward of Uman on the east bank of the Bug where they are increasingly resisting the German southern drive. German casualties in the last few lays of fighting around Uman are reported to exceed 10,000. A communique states: “Fighting continued to-day in the directions of Kakiualmi, Starsyarussa, Smolensk, Byelaya and Tserkov. Our troops evacuated Smolensk a few days ago. Our submarines sank a 15,000 ton German tanker in the Baltic. In the last few days warships and aeroplanes of the Baltic fleet sank four German torpedo-boats, also several transports carrying a large German infantry unit, guns, tanks, aircraft and other equipment.

An officer from the War Office, reviewing the situation on the Eastern front, stresses the gravity of the position in the Ukraine, which certainly has deteriorated in the last week. “This south-easterly drive is very dangerous,”- he said. “If it is successful and the Dnieper is crossed east of Odessa the position of the Russian forces in this area would be precarious, although there is a possibility of a seaborne evacuation in view of the fact that the Russian fleet dominates the Black Sea and there would be little chance of a Nazi attack by sea from Constanta. At the same time, the Russian force likely to be affected is not thought to be large, as there had already been the possibility of this threat to cut them off.”

Dealing generally with the position, the officer said that all reports of the fighting, except those in the communiques, must be treated with suspicion and there was no knowledge of the sources from which Helsinki. Stockholm and Ankara obtain some of the most sensational reports. No doubt the Germans had had a large measure of success territorially, having occupied a stretch of country equal in size to the old Gerlnany, but no doubt also the German High Command expected more and was greatly surprised by the stubborn Russian resistance If the Red Army succeeded in extricating Itself from all the pincer movements and

made a slow and methodical withdrawal the Germans would gain very little, even if occupying Leningrad and Moscow, but the speed of modem mechanised units and methods of present-day warfare makes a slow withdrawal Impossible A Berlin military spokesman claimed that 1,090,000 Russians have so far been taken prisoner, the bulk of whom are being classified for work chiefly as farm labourers He added that it is expected that the Russian defenders of Odessa will fight bitterly to a finish. The Germans are advancing on the city from three sides. Finns Tired Of War The Stockholm correspondent of “The Times” says the Germans on Tuesday apparently gained some ground in Central Esthonia as a result of a new and determined attempt to reach the Gul. of Finland and isolate Paldiskl and Tallinn. This diversion from the general offensive against Leningrad is largely due to the necessity for re-establishing the shaken prestige of the Germans in Finland where there is distinct and widespread psychological reaction to the disappointingly ineffective results of the German aid. The bulk of the small German Expeditionary Force in Finland is virtually marooned in the undra after a vain attempt to seize Murmansk, which the Germans persuaded the Finns would be child’s play for General Dietl’s seasoned warriors from Norway and other German troops which were checked within Finland’s 1939 boundaries near the battlefield of Salla where the Finns gained fame and glory during the terrible winter war. The Germans are better equipped than the ad’ ’ring Finns who have now ceased > admire. The correspondent adds that death notices in newspapers and crowded hospitals are contributing tc make the Finns heartily sick of war. It is a Finnish custom to send all recoverable bodies home for burial. The number of these homecomers is already appalling making Finland a country of grid. Soviet military circles, replying to the German claims, of a sweeping advance in the Ukraine, say that nothing of importance occurred on the war fronts throughout the way. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent advances the opinion that it would be absurd for the Russians to use such a phrase if something very important had happened and the absence of new place names in the Soviet communique to-day is a clear indication that the main German farces have not advanced. This does not mean that the German advance units may not again have ventured to push ahead, possibly toward Nikolayev, whose gigantic silos doubtlessly conjure up visions of vast grain stock for the Germans. There is every reason to suppose that the Russians will move this grain inland if Nikolayev is seriously threatened, which it is not. The correspondent of “The Times”

on the German frontier says that the mere fact that no exact particulars can be obtained of what is happening around Odessa justifies doubting the German claims that Odessa is isolated. The correspondent refers to Moscow’s mention of a great battle 40 miles from Nikolayev, where the Axis forces are numerically superior to those of Marshal Budenny, but he points out that the German statement on Sunday that 25 of Marshal Budenny's divisions had been annihilated is still unconfirmed. As against this, onslaughts by Marshal Budenny’s Cossacks in many places released the encircled Russians. Desperate fighting continues around Smolensk. The Russians encircled westward of Smolensk are far from annihilated, or even checkmated and constitute the heaviest encumbrance to the German advance.

“The Daily Mail’s” correspondent at Stockholm paints a grim picture of desolation, which awaits the invaders in the Ukraine as a result of the “scorched earth” policy. He says that millions of peasants released from the fields are swelling the guerrilla ranks to proportions which will create a serious menace to the Germans. Fifteen million of the Ukraine’s 31,000,000 people who have been living in the areas ravaged by the Germans are making the greatest trek in history, destroying everything as they go, until the area, which is vital to the European granary, is now desolation of desolations.