FORCES MASS IN RUSSIA

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23969, 9 June 1943, Page 3

FORCES MASS IN RUSSIA

Concentrations On Central Front INCREASED AIR ACTIVITY (N.Z. Press Association —Copyright) (Rec. 11.30 p.m.) LONDON. June 8. Massive land forces continue to gather on the Russian front as the Luftwaffe and the Red Air Force engage in bigger raids behind the lines and fierce dogfights, says the Moscow correspondent of the Associated Press. The fact that the greatest aerial activity is concentrated in the Bry-ansk-Orel and Kursk-Orel area, only 250 to 300 miles south-west of Moscow, is of the greatest significance, he adds. It means that enormous forces are facing each other in this area. Germany’s great offensive of 1943 may well begin here, with its objective the capture of Moscow. The Moscow radio says that on Sunday night Soviet long-range aircraft carried out a mass raid against the railway junction of Unecha, in the Orel district. Ammunition, arms, and fuel dumps and trains were bombed. Many fires broke out, followed by huge explosions. One Soviet aeroplane failed to return. The Moscow radio also says that the Luftwaffe attempted to raid Gorki, 200 miles east of Moscow, on Sunday night. About 100 German aeroplanes took part. The greater number of the enemy aeroplanes were scattered by night fighters and anti-aircraft batteries, and only a few broke through to the city. They dropped bombs at random on residential districts, causing some material damage and a number of civilian casualties. Twelve German aeroplanes were shot down. The Soviet Air Force suffered no loss. The Berlin radio claimed that more than 1000 tons of bombs were dropped on armament works at Gorki. - Last night’s Soviet communique said: “To-day there was no important change.” A supplement to the communique said: “Soviet aircraft sank a German transport in the Gulf of Riga. In the Black Sea three enemy barges and five cutters with troops and army supplies were sunk. On Sunday units of the Soviet Air Force on various sectors of the front destroyed or damaged 66 lorries carrying troops and army supplies, blew up five dumps, and dispersed and partly annihilated two infantry companies.” Attacks and counter-attacks on a small scale are the only news of the ground fighting. The Germans were repelled in an attack in the Kursk sector. and two attempts to cross the Donets were foiled by Russian gunfire. The Italian Stefani News Agency says it is announced from Berlin that Russian troops broke through the first line of German defences in new attacks on the Orel sector. Berlin claimed that the Russian troops were encircled and wiped out in a bayonet charge. . , Great numbers of Russian-manned Spitfires. Hurricanes. Tomahawks, and Douglas aircraft are being used in the air war in the Kuban, according to reports from Berlin, says Reuter’s correspondent in Stockholm. The reports say that the efficiency of the Russian airmen has increased and they admit that the Germans have suffered losses. Reuter’s correspondent in Moscow says that f.e latest figures show that the Germans have lost nearly 5000 aeroplanes in Russia in the last three months. MEETING ALLIED INVASION GERMANS EMPHASISE PREPAREDNESS COAST DEFENCES ON MEDITERRANEAN LONDON, June 7. The Germans are keeping up their propaganda emphasising their preparations to resist an Allied invasion of the Continent. The military commentator of the German News Agency said: “The German forces on land, sea, and in the air are ready for offensive and also for defensive action, as regards numerical strength, equipment, and training.” , The commentator said that German war potential, which had been considerably increased in x’ecent months and was still increasing, permitted large-scale offensive plans. German and Italian war material would be brought into action surprisingly quickly if Britain and America attempted to open a second front in Europe, if the Russians started a summer offensive, or if the enemy should combine both these possibilities. He added: “Germany is continuously re-examining her armament pro. duction in the light of recent military events, resulting in the preparation of an adequate reply to the enemy’s air terror. The decentralisation and transfer of German industry is almost completed. The enemy, in this respect, cannot expect any success in limiting German war strategy’s freedom of decision. New and spacious workshops have been constructed in parts of Europe under Axis control. Based on experiences in the air war, these factories are showing an output excelling anything hoped for. The armies, air squadrons, and naval units of Germany and her allies are ready.” “Continent Organised” Axis radio stations to-day quoted an article in the German army newspaper, “Die Wehrmacht,” disc9unting invasion dangers and mentioning tor the first time the “Northern Wall” created in Norway, in addition to the Atlantic and Mediterranean walls. The newspaper states; “Talk about the soft under-belly of the Axis is absurd. If the Allies should attempt a landing anywhere in Europe they would be confronted, not by comparatively weak expeditionary forces, but, in spite of the Eastern Front, by a tremendous army comprising millions. We have organised the entire Continent in preparation for such a possibility. The Mediterranean coast fortifications are of similar quality to those of the west wall and the Atlantic wall. “Concerning the possibility of an invasion of Norway, the enemy has given us three valuable years in which to strengthen our defences. The northern wall has taken shape. Enormous quantities of war material have been transported to Norway and hundreds of thousands of soldiers stand ready there.” Measures in Holland Messages from neutral sources report that the Germans, as an invasion precaution, have blown up a large area of The Hague. A strip three miles long and 300 yards deep has been dynamited through the city, which is two miles from the coast. Houses, offices, and public buildings have been blown up, causing the evacuation of about 100,000 people. This fire belt for German guns runs parallel with the coast and deep tank traps have been cut within it. All non-commissioned officers and men of the former Dutch Army who were ordered by the Germans to regis. ter on April 29 in preparation for reimprisonment have now been ordered to report immediately to the German military authorities in Amsterdam, with minimum personal belongings. Only those in possession of certificates declaring that they are doing essential work for the Germans are excepted, it is learned in Dutch circles in London. The Dutch Government in London has learned that patriots killed the notorious Dutch Quisling, Posthuma. who was Nazi Delegate for Agriculture. Posthuma was Minister of Agriculture in the last war and he was a well known Nazi sympathiser. He is the third delegate of Mussert’s council of eight members to be shot.