KHARKOV FIGHTING GROWS IN VIOLENCE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 119, 22 May 1942, Page 5

KHARKOV FIGHTING GROWS IN VIOLENCE

EItORMOUS LOSSES

Nazi Tanks Stagger Blindlv Out Of Battle

United Press Association —Copyright Rec. 1 p.m. LONDON, May 21 The Russians last night continnpri their offensive operations "n "the vicinity of Kharkov. The Russian forces at some points have penetrated the Kharkov defences tn* depth of 40 miles. A correswndent of the newspaper Pravda reports that, the fields round the citv arp a blazing inferno with crippled Nari tanks staggering blindly out of battle and panzer divisions locked so inextricably with Russian tanks that the planes of either side can no longer bomb or distinguish friend from foe A communique adds that the Germans on the Kharkov front disregarding enormous losses, were unsuccessfully counter-attacking in an attempt to hold up the Russia;offensive. The Russians had killed over 700 in one sector alone The Russians In one sector'on the Leningi ad front cut a road between two German strong points of resistance and the enemy counter-attack cost him 800 troopsf Russian artillery on the north-western front was pounding the enemy day and night destroying men and war material ' It was announced earlier that the fighting along the Kharkov front was growing in violence. The German radio said Russian forces were attacking in wave after wave A big new tank battle had' been launched by the Soviet forces but the Red Star said it was too early yet to say how it was going. Neither side stated just where this was taking place. It was thought that Marshall Timoshenko's attack had been deepest to the north. Paul Winterton, the 8.8.C. correspondent with the Russian forces says that the Germans are hurling in a mass of machinery, but although it has slowed down Russian advance, it has not stopped

Fighting in Open Country

As a result of the break through of the German line of defence, the Red Army is fighting in open countrv containing no strongly fortified points. An illustration of the Soviet pressure is given in the case of one strongly fortified point. The Soviet forces at once attacked this point and at the end of 40 minutes had taken it and exterminated the German garrison. By the end of the day they had advanced more than six miles and cleared the Germans out of five inhabited places. In one German thrust, because of the numerical superiority of the enemy tanks, the Russians used artillery and infantry to check the first onslaught. Then Russian tanks, superior in quality to the German were thrown in to finish the job. In this way the 23rd German Tank Division lost 250 tanks in a few days.

Commenting on the Kharkov battles, the newspaper Izvestia savs a new and important thing is happening which will influence the whole course of events. German tanks, which overran Poland and France, and ironed out half of Europe, have ceased to be a terror to the Soviet force. The newspaper declared that not only did the Russian artillerymen fire on the enemy tanks over open sights, but ordinary Infantrymen also dealt confidently with them.

MOSCOW MAYOR WARNS FURTHER RAIDS LIKELY Rec. 1.30 p.m. LONDON, May 21. A Moscow communique states that ngntlng is at Its height on the eastern part of the Keren Peninsula. The Mayor of Moscow warns the people to be prepared for further German raids. He said that the city's air defences were stronger than ever. There had been no alert in Moscow for two months.

Berlin radio does not refer to the Kharkov front, but claims that German tank divisions advanced considerably in the central sector and that the Russian counter-attacks failed.