EVE OF BIG CLASHES

Grey River Argus, 7 June 1943, Page 5

EVE OF BIG CLASHES

ON RUSSIAN FRONTS

Great Air Activity RUSSIANS DOING WELL [Aust. & N.Z. Cable Assn.Y (Rec. 7.30) LONDON, June 6. A Soviet communique stated: — There have been no important changes on the land fronts. There has been local activity on the,central front, the Kalinin front, the' Leningrad front, and the Lisichansk area, and west of Rostov. Over a thousand Germans were killed. Much equipment was destroyed. Many prisoners were captured. Seven German planes were shot down in the Leningrad area. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent says: “There is tension along the whole front, with an air of expectancy everywhere. Detailing the sectors, the correspondent declares: —• The Red Army on the Kalinin front holds the initiative, and in the past 24 hours improved its line. Russians there struck forward in a new local attack, capturing another village .and a dominant hill. The Germans made attempts to restore the position, but failed. The Russians are giving finishing touches to their defences at Voroshilovgrad. For example, the whole population recently has been working on fortifications. Russian artillery has systematically been weakening German positions. Guns have been roaring all day and night at the Lisichansk bridgehead. A big German drive is expected there. The Germans are maintaining permanent night dive-bombing attacks against a swaying potoon bridge across the Donetz River, over which Russian lorries still trundle.

A special Soviet communique stated: On Friday night Soviet longrange aircraft carried out .a mass raid against a railway junction, Briansk-Karachev, direct hits being observed, followed by large fires and explosions. A special announcement over the Moscow radio stated: “During Friday night Soviet long-range air force planes carried out a mass raid on a railway junction at Orel and the surrounding area. Five hundred and twenty planes took part. As a result of devastating bombing of a railway junction, great fires broke out. Railway trains, ammunition and oil dumps were burning. Fires were accompanied by powerful explosions. One Soviet plane failed to return. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent says: A battle for mastery of the air on the Russian front is continuing day and night in what is believed to be the prelude to a flare-up of land fighting. Russian bombers continue to smash vital German communications and supply centres in night attacks, which are reaching new levels of power and concentration. The Luftwaffe, which has made thousands of sorties in the last few l days, is paving a heavy price. The Red Air Force is daily revealing itself as more powerful than at any time since the start of the RussianGerman war. One result of the Russian air offensive is a change of opinion regarding where the Germans will launch an attack. It is claimed that Russian bombers inter'ferred with original enemy plans to strike from Briansk with Moscow as the target. It is believed that the Germans will now strike in the Ukraine and in the Donbas. Moscow radio says: Hitler has lost the air battle with the Russians. Germany’s greatest air defeat of the war'occurred last Wednesday, . when the Luftwaffe, in addition to losing 162 planes over KurSk, lost the same day 19 in the Lisichansk area, 25 in the Leningrad area, and 37 in the Kuban area. The Germans in May alone lost 2069 planes on the Russian front. These losses, with those our allies have inflicted, represent a much larger number than the Germans can build in a month. The Russian Air Force is using a new divebomber, the “Petrikov Two,” known as PR2.

RED ARMY REORGANISED NEW YORK. J'une 6. The “New York Times” Moscow correspondent, Mi’ Sulzberger, in a despatch says: The Red Army is preparing for what, it is generally believed, will be the last critical campaign in the eastern war. A final decision will be forced. The Soviet Command, by drawing on enormous resources in manpower, stepping up production, and utilising mounting Allied material, has been able to remodel the Red Army since 1941, and to render it more modern, more efficient, and better equipped. The resilience which permitted the reorganisation and improvement is a tribute to wise Soviet strategy, described as “active defence,” and meaning, according to a prominent ■ Russian strategist, Professor Minz, fighting for every inch of territory, holding on to every village and town as long as possible to gain tim e and bleeding the enemy as much as possible. The world is aware that this strategy was satisfactorily carried out in the first summer of the eastern warfare, but is less aware of the extent of reorganisation and improvement in the efficiency of the Red Army, and its offensive-defen-sive tactics. Outstanding changes since the start of the war include a complete alteration in the High Command, revamping generally with submergence of the old-timers and an emergence of new younger figures such as General Zhukov. However, the most important factor of improvement is the emergency of a hew type of officei’ as an individually powerful figure in each unit, who can and does effect quick decisions, not being afraid to take responsibility.

German Attacks KURSK AND KUBAN (Rec. 9.10) LONDON, June 6. Ground fighting in Russia is ’ at present on a restricted scale, except in the Kuban area. The German defences in the Kuban continue to hold up the Russians, mainly because of the nature of the terrain which is most difficult for fighting. On Saturday night the Germans in a report emphasised, earlier, that Kuban fighting had again flared up, with a Russian attack. T’he Germans /also report ijlieir .recapture of a height. The Berlin radio states: German reserve formations made a counterthrust early yesterday. A large number of batteries and bombs. from several hundred planes, displaced Russian forces from an important hill position. The Berlin radio says: More than a thousand German planes again attacked Kursk yesterday, subjecting the city to thirty-six hours of a continuous bbtz.