GREATEST DANGER TO REDS IN SOUTH

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 172, 23 July 1942, Page 5

GREATEST DANGER TO REDS IN SOUTH

STRONG AT VORONEZH

Huns Roughly Mauled In Fighting On Don U.P.A. and British Wireless. Rec. 1 p.m. LONDON, July 22. On the southern part of the Don front the Russians have made further withdrawals. A correspondent of Red Star states that the Germans are approaching the borders of the Stalingrad Province. Stalingrad is within 80 miles of the provincial border line. An agency message states that the Axis forces massed in the south have been considerably increased and that the enemy advance continues. In the southern drive the enemy is using large forces of the Luftwaffe and the planes are stated to be playing a part in the establishment of bridgeheads across the Don. There is no confirmation of the claim that the Germans have crossed the river. In the Voronezh sector the Germans are on the defensive and are having a bad time of it. The Russians control a number of bridges across the Don. North-west of Voronezh, where the Russians cut off a large force of the enemy from the river, the Red Army is still attacking. Further south, where Axis forces threatened to make a wide sweep round the Russians, the situation has been restored after many days of hard fighting. Voronezh Successes The Moscow radio says the Russians on Tuesday captured two important river crossings between the Donetz and the Don, near the fork of the rivers. Russian artillery southwards of Voronezh is already firing on a third crossing, while the Red Air Force is attacking a fourth. The Russians on the southern approaches to Voronezh have captured a large populated place and have also broke into the outskirts of a populated place at the junction of six roads north-westwards of the city. The Moscow newspaper Pravda states that the Germans are putting up a furious resistance in the Voronezh town area, and a big battle is in progress southward of Voronezh. The Germans have been thrown out of a strategic point and have retreated to the west bank of the Don. Although the Germans set fire to the bridge, the pursuing Russians crossed the river and engaged the enemy. A German infantry division which the Russians routed on the Voronezh front has been reinforced and is again attempting to stem the Russian advance. The Germans north-westward of Voronezh are hastily constructing earthworks, and a German infantry division. which penetrated this sector at the beginning of the Voronezh offensive, has now retreated to its initial positions. The Russians are practically holding the initiative along the Don. Fierce Struggle on Rostov Front The Germans are throwing fresh forces into the battle for Rostov, according to the Soviet news agency, which says that enemy pressure is increasing. The Russian defence is ferocious. At one point yesterday Soviet troops made several bayonet charges and, by the evening," had regained their original positions. Moscow has given no official news about the position of the enemy forces driving toward Rostov and it is not clear how close to the southern keypoint the fighting is now taking Dlace.

The German radio claims that the days of Rostov are numbered. Other enemy reports say that Rostov is burning and that the bridges over the Don have been destroyed. A German communique says that the Nazi forces are attacking the city from three sides. The claim is also made that the Germans are 50 miles west of Stalingrad, the big tank and industrial centre on the Volga. There is no confirmation of these claims. An energetic counter-attack in which Don Cossack cavalry took part, says Reuter's correspondent in Moscow, defeated a determined attempt by the Germans to encircle an important body of Red Army troops south-east of Voroshilovgrad. The Germans not once succeeded in penetrating to the rear of the Russian forces.

The Germans have lost 3000 tanks in the past nine weeks, this correspondent adds, but they are still concentrating great tank strength, also a huge air fleet, for their drive south.

Moscow Front More Active

What appears to be activity preliminary to major operations on General Zhukoff's front defending Moscow has been growing in intensity since the week-end. savs the Moscow correspondent of The Times. Particularly noted are German bombings of railway centres immediately behind the Russian positions. Heavy artillery action on both sides also is increasing.

Activity near Leningrad is reported in a Moscow communique. In one area the Russians have driven the enemy from several stronglyfortified defence points. Enemv counter-attacks have been beaten off.

The diplomatic correspondent of The Times says there is no truth in the suggestion that the Germans have seriously diminished their garrisons in France in order to reinforce the Russian front. If some divisions from France have been identified in Russia, he says, others have taken their place, and the German force in France remains at 25 divisions.