OUTLOOK DISQUIETING

Evening Star, Issue 24283, 26 August 1942, Page 5

OUTLOOK DISQUIETING

EARLIER REPORTS ON FIGHTING

BEST AXIS RESERVES THROWN IN

LONDON, August 24. A very grave view of the Stalingrad situation seems justified by reports from Moscow and Stockholm. The Axis forces are gradually enclosing Stalingrad and the Volga area in their iron grip. If the Russians now succeed in beating off the German pincers groping towards Stalingrad from the south and the south-west, they will have achieved a surprising feat of arms. The Russian forces, .especially those under Marshal Timoshenko, are always unbeaten until the last, hut the Stalingrad outlook is most disquieting. The Moscow radio to-night issued a warning that the loss of Stalingrad and Grozny wauld have most serious consequences for the Soviet people and for all the freedom-loving world. It would separate the Russian armies and cut off the rest of Russia from the main Caucasian oil supply. The Stockholm correspondent of the ‘ Daily Express ’ says that a powerful German panzer force is moving in from the Kotelnikovo sector, and is reported to be fighting around Kurnakov, about 50 miles from Stalingrad. Hitler is believed to have reached the front in an armoured train to direct the final assault against Stalingrad. According to the Moscow correspondent of the ‘ Daily Telegraph,’ the Germans have flung in their best reserve divisions against Stalingrad. German tanks meanwhile are striking towards the railway from Moscow in an attempt to cut the communications. Despatches from Stalingrad report that Red divisions are furiously coun-ter-attacking the advancing Germans. The plain between the Don and the Volga is reported to be sown with minefields, tank traps, and pjllboxes, from which a storm of fire is being concentrated on the Germans. The situation there is similar to that before Moscow last autumn. The opposing armies then also strained their resources to the utmost and fought themselves almost to a standstill before a decision was reached. The position before Stalingrad is different in one most important detail—at. least two mouths of- good campaigning weather remain before the winter, the onset of which contributed to the defeat of the Germans before Moscow.

The Moscow correspondent of ‘ The Times ’ says the Germans are already within 10 minutes’ flying range of the Volga bend in which Stalingrad lies, and anti-aircraft protection is necessary for river traffic.

Newspaper comment in both London and New York reflects the gravity of -the war situation in view of the plight of Russia.

The ‘ Daily Mail ’ says that if the Germans reach the Volga Russia will be cut off from her sources of oil, and adequate British supplies cannot reach her from Persia. The New York ‘ Herald-Tribune ’ says that, though success in the Solomons battle promises much, its present value is only that of a holding action. “We have not yet begun to win the war, and the immediate picture is very serious. It is idle to shout for a second front as if that would alter the situation. The issue is grim, and we must be prepared to face it at its worst.”