BATTLE IN HEART OF GERMAN DEFENCES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 118, 21 May 1942, Page 7

BATTLE IN HEART OF GERMAN DEFENCES

KHARKOV WRECKAGE

Germans Impressed By Big

Russian Tank

U.P.A. ana BrtMsfh Wireless. Rec. 2 pjn. LONDON, May 20. 1 It is announced in Moscow that fierce fighting is still raging on the Kerch front, but the German communique reiterates the claim that the Germans have reached the Straits of Kerch over their whole length. The Germans claim that the last two strongly-fortified bridgeheads have been captured.

An Ankara report states that Marshal Timoshenko has begun a new counter-attack at Isyum, 80 miles south-east of Kharkov. Big tank battles are raging.

The Moscow radio says the Germans on the Kharkov front are falling back with ever-growing rapidity. The battles have moved into the heart of the German defences. The Russians are driving wedges into the enemy positions at unexpected points* The debris of the German planes, burnt-out tank, smashed guns and wrecked lorries marks' the retreat of the enemy.

A message from Berlin, cabled from Stockholm, states that the German public is greatly impressed by details of the Russian 52-ton tank, particulars of which are revealed in the Press. It is stated that a single tank would fill the ground floor of a small house, the gun turret reaching to the second storey. Ita length is 23 feet, its height 10 feet, and its breadth 11 feet. The thickness of the forward armour is 4in and the side armour 3in. It carries a 6in gun. Its maximum speed is 16 miles an hour.

Enemy's Flank Offenslre

The Germans under General von Bock launched an offensive on the Isyum-Barvenkova front, southeast of Kharkov, according to an earlier Soviet communique. The move is seen as a threat to the flank and rear of Marshal Timoshenko s armies. Isyum is on the Donetz River, and at the base of the Russian bulge to the south of that city. Barvenkova is 30 miles south-west of Isyum.

The Germans are probably seeking to cut in behind the Russians left wing. Alternatively, their new drive may be an attempt to relieve the tremendous Russian pressure on Kharkov, upon which city all von Bock's advanced communications pivot. Some Russian # units are reported to be only eight miles from the centre of Kharkov.

Messages from Moscow indicate that the Germans are hurling an increasing number of tanks into the fray. In a battle in one sector yesterday the Germans threw in 90 tanks, 46 of which were destroyed; An especially fierce battle is stated to be raging for two vital highways where the Russians are pressing the Germans to the north and to the south-west.

A considerable amount of use appears to be made of the Russian cavalry which, besides pursuing the retreating Germans and inflicting heavy casualties, captured a large settlement which was strongly held by the enemy. The Rumanian Fourth Division counter-attacked laW, but was repulsed.

Other reports speak of severe fighting on the north-west front where, following the Russian advance, the Germans are trying desperately to wrest the initiative from the Red Army.