NO MARKED RELIEF

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20875, 29 August 1942, Page 3

NO MARKED RELIEF

STALINGRAD AREA ATTACKS - REPULSED POSITION VERY CRITICAL (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) <11.30 a.m.) LONDON. Aug. 28. Although the Russian drive on the central front continues to progress encouragingly, there is still no evidence that it has brought any marked relief for Marshal Timoshenko's hard-pressed forces before Stalingrad ■ and in the Caucasus. Stalingrad's position remains very critical, even discounting the Vichy report that German advanced units have reached the Volga and Dubovka and are advancing southwards. The Russians yesterday threw back 10 German attacks north-westward of Stalingrad and 11 to the south-west-ward.

Latest reports of the ground fighting in the Stalingrad area speak of the very bitter fighting in the vicinity of an important military objective. A huge group of enemy tanks and infantry broke through, but a Soviet unit counter-attacked, permitting Soviet tanks and artillery to arrive on the scene and destroy 60 enemy tanks in the first engagement. The second engagement started with the Russians cutting off the enemy wedge from the south and the Germans, deprived of reinforcements and supply lines, hastily turned to the defensive. The Red Army increased its pressure, seeking to wipe out the entire group. The battle continues. Trying to wrest the initiative from the Russians, the Germans threw cavalry into the Kletskaya battle for the first time in the fighting on the southern front, but the horsemen refused to face the Russian tanks and fled as the iron monsters advanced. The Red Army is pressing hard upon the enemy at many points in this area. As part of their offensive against Stalingrad, the Germans are launching numerous heavy air attacks against the city. A Moscow message says that 90 German aircraft were shot clown in two days, but the Luftwaffe succeeded in dropping hundreds of bombs in the centre of the city. The message adds, however, that the aircraft were unable to break through the Russian anti-aircraft defences guarding vital military objectives. Claims In Berlin The latest German High Command statement on the operations in this area claims that a German tank division yesterday drove 25 miles into heavily-fortified positions south-west-wards of Stalingrad, but there 'is no indication that this brings the invaders closer to Stalingrad than was earlier reported. The Germans on this sector are hurling more and more reinforcements into the battles, whose ferocity correspondents report are unparalleled throughout the war in Russia. Berlin reports, which a few days ago were confidently proclaiming that the fall of Stalingrad was only a question of days, are now more cautious and refer to the extremely difficult fighting before the city. Indeed, a Berlin military spokesman warned journalists not to expect Stalingrad to fall quickly, adding: “The Russians have many times shown a surprising aptitude to bring in large reinforcements at the last minute and have succeeded in converting apparently already accomplished defeats into long and stagnant deadlocks, notably before Leningrad and Moscow in 1941.” , The Germans’ chief effort in the Caucasus is now seemingly directed towards the Caspian, and they are now probably within 50 miles of Grozny. The Russians, who are greatly outnumbered, continue stoutly to prevent German efforts to cross the river in the vicinity of Mosdok.

The British United Press correspondent reports that the Germans are also pushing down the main railway to the Caspian in an effort to reach Gudermes, where the Germans would then control a branch line to Grozny. The Moscow correspondent of the Daily Telegraph points out that the German progress to Mosdok represents an advance of 35 miles in three days. ______________