LONG FRUSTRATION

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 32, 2 November 1942, Page 5

LONG FRUSTRATION

Nazis’ Worries In Russia ; Hopes In Caucasus

(By Telegraph.—Erese Assn.— Copyright.) (Received November 1,11.10 p.m.) LONDON, November 1, The battle for Stalingrad in the last 24 hours seems to have been restricted to local engagements. A Moscow correspondent says that the German activity against the factory area has lost some of its momentum because of exhaustion. The Moscow Pravda gives the warning, however, that the situation is still strained. The stubborn defence against strong enemy forces continues in the Nalchik region in the Caucasus. The Russians have gained ground north-east of Tuapse.

The Moscow correspondent of “The Times” says that the Russians believe that Stalingrad’s resistance ■ has brought about the collapse of Hitler’s summer and autumn offensive. Whatever happens now cannot compensate the German High Command for the last 10 weeks’ frustration. Observers consider that the Germans must completely reduce Stalingrad within a fortnight or the entire campaign will be jeopardized. That the Red Army will launch a counter-offensive when the Allies strike in the west, was the hint given by M. Alexandrov, a member of the executive of the Communist Party, in an article in “Pravda.” Powerful reserves which will then be thrown against the Germans will assist the Allied forces to consolidate their hold on the Continent, he said. M. Alexandrov said that the Stalingrad fighting was significant because it was causing severe casualties to the Germans. Also, it was completely dislocating the Germans’ strategic plan for 1942. Axis Drives in Caucasus? Herr Hitler is planning a winter campaign in the Caucasus, with twin drives against Batum and Baku, designed to break through toward Teheran, Kirkuk and Mosul, according to information received by the Istanbul correspondent of the “New York Times,” Ray Brock, from a neutral observer just arrived from Germany. The German armies on the eastern front, he says, are facing a serious shortage of oil and petrol which has not been relieved despite the reassembling of dismantled refineries transported from Western Europe and the beginning of the utilization of the Maikop and Krasnodar oilfields. The Germans, he adds, have abandoned the almost hopeless programme of driving over the Caucasus range, and will concentrate on campaigns on the Black Sea and Caspian coasts. The timetable • for the break-through into the Middle East is reported to be New Year’s Day. CAUCASUS FIGHTING German Initiative At Nalchik (Received November 1, 9 p.m.) LONDOfN, October 31. The Germans are using large forces at Nalchik, where they retain the initiative, pressing the Russians hard. A Moscow report says that the Germans yesterday saturated the sky over Nalchik with bombers and dive-bomb-ers in an effort to break through to Vladikavkaz, which is the starting point of the highway across the Georgian mountains to Tiflis. The Russians yesterday reported, for the second successive day, that they withdrew in the Nalchik salient.