RUSSIANS PRESS ONWARD

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 115, 19 May 1942, Page 5

RUSSIANS PRESS ONWARD

KHARKOV FORTS PENETRATED KERCH PENINSULA BATTLE (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) London, May 17. Marshal Timoshenko’s armies are still pressing hard toward Kharkov, the key city of the Donetz Basin. One source, quoting dispatches received in Moscow from the front, says that the Soviet forces have now penetrated well into the German fortifications, while another declares that the fighting is rapidly approaching Kharkov and Krasnograd, 60 miles to the south-west, and that the dm of battle can now be heard in both places. Fighting is still going on in the Kerch Peninsula. It was reported from Moscow this evening that fighting was proceeding in the town of Kerch itself, and the Red Star said to-day that a large number of enemy tanks and armoured cars had been destroyed on the peninsula. A Stockholm message states that the Russians on the Kerch Peninsula launched massed attacks in waves. The battle raged throughout the day on the extreme north-west of the peninsula, says a Berlin military spokesman. The Russians also landed troops nt fno i-nni* nf flin Unrm*ii> linnv

at the rear ot the German lines. An earlier message said that the main Soviet forces, driving toward Kharkov, preceded by tanks and cava-.ry, had occupied a large number of settlements. Une of these, a vital centre m the enemy's defence system, was captured after an hour and a-half of street lighting. One correspondent says that the German commander is mining wave after wave ot tanks into the outlie in an attempt to stem tne advance ot the Soviet troops, who are attacking under the slogan. ‘ Our spring has come.” A special dispatch to the 8.8. C. this afternoon from Moscow describes the complete breakdown of enemy resistance in one sector of the Kharkov front. In this sector the Germans are retreating in disorder and the Russians are using cavalry to break through tne fleeing enemy and destroy material in his rear. As an example of the exceptionally heavy losses inflicted on the enemy, it is stated that in a single day the Russians virtually wiped out the 375th Regiment, the second battalion of the 602nd Regiment, and various other enemy units. Orders found on captured Germans told them to resist in certain fortified points to the last man. Further Russian successes are reported from the Kalinin sector, northwest of Moscow. A dispatch from that sector received in Moscow this evening NAZI LOSSES AT KHARKOV (Recd. 9.30 p.m.) Moscow. May 17. A special communique claims that 12,000 Germans have been killed in the Kharkov offensive. Great booty was captured, including 365 guns. More than 300 inhabited localities have been liberated. says that : t cavalry dislodged the enemy from six towns or villages in a. one-aay sweep. The Germans lost 900 men killed and wounded, as well as a: large quantity of equipment. A dispatch from the central front, reports that the Russians have re-| pulsed two large-scale counter-attacks, in the Bryansk sector, south-east of Smolensk. SUBURBS IN FLAMES RED ARTILLERY BOMBARDS ' KHARKOV (Recd. 6.30 p.m * London. May 17. The Russian forces’ rate of progress in the advance against Kharkov decreased as the heart of the German • fortifications was reached. Longrange Ru jombarding the city itself, and the eastern suburbs, which the Germans and . prisoners partly rebuilt during Uv> < winter, are blazing fiercely. The Red ; Army has broken through the German I defences at Losavoya. 75 miles south- : west of Kharkov, and is driving on to Kransnograd. This advance, in con- j junction with Russian pressure at Byelgorod. northwards of Kharkov, indicates the beginning of a possible encircling movement. i Berlin reports admit that Russian I pursuit planes appear'd en masse over the front, engaging in terr.fi? 1 dog-fights against German fighters trying to protect the ground farces. The German* claim that practically tlw whole of tho Kerch Peninsula is in their hands, says the Times’ Stock- I holm correspondent. The Germans ; planned a demonstrative blitz not 1 expecting that the Russians would be 1 aide to resist more than two or three * ■ days, whereas after eight days the > Sovb • fee os ’a« re still dispu’ing parts of Kerch itself and the penin- j sula’ Q north-eastern tip. Tne Red Star says that while the ; regular army is making progress i acr-'s. 1 the Ukiain-. guerrilla lighting has been intensified in White Russia, I where partisms penetrated Vitebsk. ; Russian cavalry on th° Kalinin front j north-east of Smolensk, in a one-dav I ■ swoop, dislodged the Germans from 1 six towns, killing over 900. EVACUATION OF KERCH RUSSIANS PROTECTED BY FIGHTER PLANES (Recd. 11.30 p.m.) London. May 18. The latest reports indicate that the Russians are evacuating Kerch under the protection of Soviet fighters based on the Caucasus, says the Stockholm correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. GERMAN LOSSES IN RUSSIA EARLY OPERATIONS REVIEWED (Recd 11 p.m.) Moscow. May 18. A leaflet printed in German for distribution on the front states that the Grmans between December and April lost in Russia 800.000 killed and 300,000 wounded, frostbitten or taken This forced the Germans to reform 35 infantry divisions and three armoured divisions intended for spring! operations. Twenty-five of these divisions have already been substantially battered. The Luftwaffe lost 16.000! planes and 38.000 airmen in the first nine months of the war. GREATER JOINT EFFORT

URGED BY RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR (Recd. 7. p.m.) London, May 17. “The struggle in which we are engaged has reached a stage when it is necessary for a much greater joint effort to be made by our two countries 1

In order to achieve an early and decisive victory,” said M. Leon Maisky Russian Ambassador, in a letter read at a meeting addressed by Mr. Shin well. He added that the greatest possible collaboration was an essential j factor. ...