STOP PRESS

Evening Star, Issue 24281, 24 August 1942, Page 6

STOP PRESS

etc; store gutted. One of tho largest stores at Blenheim’- riverside wharves was totally destroyed hy fire this morning, together with a small quantity of haled wool, hay, ana straw. With storage space at a premium, the fire is particularly unfortunate, hut the loss would have been greater later in the shearing season when the store would have been full of wool. The building, constructed of corrugated iron, was a seething mass of flames when the brigade arrived, and a good save was impossible. It was owned by the WaiVan Harbour Board. The store was insured for £1,400. The hay and wool were owned by the C. W. Parker Co.. Levin.—Blenheim. Association telegram. GENERAL BRETT LX IJ.S.A. NEW YORK, August 23.—The commander of the Allied Air Forces in the South-west Pacific (General Brett) has arrived in America. His arrival was a closely-kept military secret until he landed at ■Miami, Florida, to address a graduating class of-the Army Air Force Technical Training Command. General Brett declined to discuss his plans or say when he was returning to Australia. RUSSIAN FRONT. LONDON, August 23.—The battle for the approaches to Stalingrad continued throughout the week-end with unabated fury, and the manner in which the Germans met counter-attacks, also the stubborn nature of the Russian counter-attacks, confirm observers’ opinions that each side regards the battle for Stalingrad as the most vital factor of this year’s East Front campaign. ‘ The Times ’ Stockholm correspondent says there is no question of any sudden Russian collapse before Stalingrad. It is now a fight to exhaustion. The huge forces engaged on both sides suggest that the battle may continue for weeks, even at its present intensity. Estimates of the Axis troops engaged vary between 500,000 and 1,000,000. The Germans at the week-end made further territorial progress in the Western Caucasus, where Krymskaya junction is claimed. Fighting along the Caucasus towards the Caspian is reported to be going on in the va'lleyd and gorges among the foothills. Russian alping-trained troops occupy strong defensive positions in many places. The Germans have already fallen into some carefully prepared traps in the Pyatigorsk sector, but the Russians are still withdrawing.