RED ARMY GAINS AT STALINGRAD

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 18, 16 October 1942, Page 5

RED ARMY GAINS AT STALINGRAD

Inside City And On Both Flanks AXIS TANKS REPELLED (By Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright.) (Received October 15, 7 p.m.) LONDON, October 14. After a further advance north-west of Stalingrad, troops of Marshal Timoshenko’s relief army are now within sight of the city. The Russians have also captured an important strongpoint south of Stalingrad, and within the city they have captured five large buildings and a school. it , The Moscow correspondent of ‘‘The Times says the Germans are still exerting pressure against the north-western outskirts, where short, sharp battles with thrust and counter-thrust are taking place along the battered streets. mn/ipfc' nnw iinnlV

Fierce hand-to-hand struggles are occurring iu factories and other buildings. The Germans launched tank attacks supported by planes in the open country fringing the city, but these attacks were repelled. The operations in the Caucasus have been characterized by a marked increase in the German air activity and the beating of their ground forces to a standstill. The Russians are maintaining silence regarding the Germans’ claims of progress along the Tuapse Road. Paris radio stated that the Germans have reached the Black Sea coast and are now only 12 miles from Tuapse. The Russians have advanced on one sector south of Mosdok, and beaten off attacks on other sectors in. the Mosdok area. Armoured Trains. The Russians in the northern Caucasus are reported to be making extensive use of armoured trains in co-or-diuation with cavalry, infantry, and the air force. In one battle an armoured train, along with cavalry, killed 1300 Germans. In another engagement two trains killed 1400. A German communique states :“Tlie German army, supported by the Luftwaffe, has captured more dominating chains of heights and mountain positions ou the highway from Maikop to Tuapse. We repulsed several Russian counter-attacks and thrusts from Stalingrad and also on the Don front.” Axis reports again mention Russian offensive concentrations in the Rzhev aud Smolensk areas. WILL GERMANS MAKE FINAL BID? Signs At Stalingrad LONDON, October 15. A big new battle is in progress in the Mosdok area, where the Germans have again regrouped for a drive to the Grozny oilfields. Some correspondents and observers, discussing Hitler’s likely plans regarding the Stalingrad front, hint that the Germans are preparing for the defensive, but others say that there is far more evidence that the enemy will make a final grand assault on the city before the winter.

German official reports now imply that the German operations in the Stalingrad area have assumed a defensive character. Berlin says that the Russians are planning to free Stalingrad by an encircling movement from the south. Today’s Moscow communique again does not mention the Stalingrad front, but a supplement reports that German tank and infantry attacks in the northwestern suburbs were repelled. A Moscoxy correspondent says that the euemy were thrown back beyond their original positions. 'At a plenary meeting of the Stalingrad branch of the Communist Party, held in the city of Chuyanov, the chairman of the city defence council reported on the situation. The meeting appealed to all Communists to strengthen further the city’s defences, and gave a pledge to defend Stalingrad at any cost and to rout the enemy. The meeting praised the work of the Communists at the tractor plant and also at the “Red October” and “Barricades” factories, as well as that of the railway and water transport workers.

FULL BRITISH SUPPLY TO RUSSIA

Apart From Losses At Sea

(British Official Wireless.) (Received October 15, 7 p.m.) RUGBY, October 14.

The Foreign Under-Secretary, Mr. Law, replied in the affirmative, when asked in the House of Commons if Britain had maintained the supplies agreed upon to Russia. He added that all possible steps would be taken to speed up delivery.

He did not think the losses of our ships carrying munitions could be regarded as failure on our part to fulfill our obligations, though he was not prepared to say offhand whether the Government was under any formal obligation to replace such losses.

VON BOCK REPORTEDLY UNDER ARREST LONDON, October 14.

The Tass news agency quotes reports from Geneva that Field-Marshal von Bock, who commanded the offensive in southern Russia, has been arrested. Several German generals and heads of motorized and infantry corps have been dismissed and others have been reduced in rank.