NO MATERIAL CHANGES REPORTED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 2 September 1942, Page 5

NO MATERIAL CHANGES REPORTED

(Rec. 11.35 a.m.) London, Sept. !. Marshal Timoshenko's main force after pushing back, the Italians in the Kletskaya region crossed by night to the west bank of the Don. The Russians recaptured five villages in the Kletskaya area. Field-Marshal von Bock is rushing troops from neighbouring sectors in an attempt to hold the Russians, but he is reported to be failing. Reuter s Moscow correspondent says the Red Army started a counter-offensive in the Prokhladnaya region with the object of restoring Russian positions. The Russians have broken into Prokhladnaya itself and are steadily routing the enemy from every house. The Russians are forging ahead step by step on the central front. German prisoners state that German losses are tremendous. Thirteen hundred were killed in one action alone. Hand-to-hand fighting often occurred in the counter-attacks, all of which resulted in Russian successes. Moscow radio stated that Russian planes on the Briansk front attacked two German aerodromes on which about 60 German planes were concentrated. About 45 were destroyed and four Messerschmitt 1 1 B’s were shot down in combat. The German High Command claims that Kalach was captured. A German communique states that further advance was made towards Stalingrad. Germans and Rumanians south of the lower Kuban overcame stubborn resistance and broke through along the eastern coast to the Black Sea. Rumanians took the town and harbour of Anapa, adds the report.

No material changes have taken place on the front according to a morning Soviet communique.

The Germans still appear to be held on the Stalingrad front, though they are continuing to attack strongly in one sector in the north-west.

“Pravda” reports that one Soviet guard unit after repelling an attack assumed the offensive and recaptured two localities. The Germans are reported to have suffered enormous casualties in men and material on this sector. On another sector of this front the Germans attacked with 64 tanks, nine of which were put out of action, the rest withdrawing. The most dangerous sector is that north-west of Kotelnokovo, where the Germans are exercising terrific pressure, and in one sector have advanced.

A Moscow report says Soviet troops are continuously being reinforced and as a result of the Italian defeat yesterday the Russians retook five settlements. Very fierce fighting continues south of Krasnodar, where the Germans are striking towards the Black Sea. One locality was reoccupied by Cossack cavalry. In the far south the Germans are held up on an unnamed river in the Mozdok area. Moscow radio says enemy ships are appearing in increasing numbers in the Sea of Azov, and are being engaged by the Soviet flotilla. Fighting is still raging for the eastern shores. EARLIER MESSAGES London, Aug. 31. The situation at Stalingrad, where the Germans are making gains from an enormous effort, is duplicated at Rjev, where the Russians are slowly increasing the area under their control in the face of very tough resistance. The German propaganda machine today claimed a new advance towards Stalingrad, but warned journalists’ not to assume that the city’s fall was only a matter of days. The Russians, however, have displayed confidence regarding the outcome of the Rjev battle by permitting foreign journalists for the first time to see the actual fighting. British journalists report that the Russian offensive against Rjev has developed in two main thrusts north and south of the city, which have swung inward, but have not yet joined up. The Russians have cut the railway leading westward from Rjev. Thus the German garrison, estimated at 90,000 picked troops, has lost the last connection with its supporting points. Russians west of Rjev are slowly forcing the Germans south-eastward along the right bank of the Volga. The Germans are repeatedly launching heavy counter-attacks on all sectors.

BIG GERMAN LOSSES Correspondents state that Germans on some sectors last 60 per cent, of their personnel under Russian barrages in which a new Russian gun, the Katyusha, figured largely. Correspondents saw craters 30 feet deep in diameter and 15 feet deep where the Katyusha's projectiles had exploded. The Katyusha is a big mortar. Before opening the central front offensive the Russian doubled and in some places tripled the main highway going westward from Volokolamsk to give military traffic the required momentum. An unusually wet summer left the heavy clay terrain waterlogged. whicA threatened to impede the advance. Soviet sappers felled thousands of trees along the forest road after which they nailed great boards across the logs at chassis width. Logfellers cleared a wide strip on each side, which served as a tank highway. —P.A. and 8.0. W. BLACK SEA FLEET (Rec. 11.20 a.m.) Moscow, Sept. 1. The Black Sea fleet without loss raided by night a port in which the Germans had accumulated a small fleet apparently intended for use in landing in the northern Caucasus. Planes dropped flares after which the Russian warships launched a bombardment, sank a number of vessels, and destroyed a big oil dump. The Black Sea Fleet, still a fighting force, is valiantly aiding the Red Army i n the Caucasus and has carried out raid after raid on enemy-held ports. The fleet’s guns are smashing up German landing parties attempting to cut in behind Russian forces barring the way to Tuapse and Novorossiisk.—P.A.