ALL ATTACKS REPULSED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 22 October 1942, Page 5

ALL ATTACKS REPULSED

Germans Use Fresh Reserves FIGHTING IN NORTH STALINGRAD London, Oct. 2 I. Considerable Soviet forces have crossed the Volga and arc now battling with a big formation of German and Rumanian tanks and infantry in northern Stalingrad, states a report from Istanbul quoted by Vichy radio. Moscow radio says the Germans all day long threw in fresh reserves against Stalingrad and launched attack after attack, but all were repulsed. According to Berlin radio, the Germans have occupied the who*e Volga bank behind Stalingrad factory, first cutting off the garrison from supplies. Two German columns, attacking north and south of the road which leads over a pass to I uapse, have joined up.

London, Oct. 20. j Strong tank forces are battering the } northern industrial region with un- j are clearly very hard pressed. Each fresh attack is preceded by two 1 to three hours’ concentrated bombing J accompanied by a mortar and artillery | barrage. Nevertheless each day in 1 which the Russians stand firm seriously j reduces the Wehrmacht’s chances of developing subsequent successes and also has a significant effect on the Allies’ entire strategical situation. Stalingrad is as much a bastion of the Mid- j die East as central Russia. The issue of the whole Stalingrad battle hangs dangerously in the balance, says Reuter’s Moscow correspondent. If the Germans once instal themselves in the northern part of the city the position in the centre will become most precarious. General Rodimtsev’s Guards have not yet said the last word, but the situation still looks very critical. BATTLE OF VOLGA CROSSINGS Rome radio claimetf that the Germans captured the last bridge across the Volga to northern Stalingrad. The Moscow correspondent of "The Times” says that in addition to a gigantic battle on the banks of the Volga which has spread many miles westwards and encircles Stalingrad in a large arc, a no less momentous battle is being fought out on the river itself. Stalingrad’s fate depends on the supply lines. The defenders require hundreds of tons of shells, bullets and food daily. Every type of craft has been mobilised for the battle of the Volga crossings. The motley flotilla is manned by naval cadets, pensioners, gardeners, fishermen and women. They stick to their jobs and feed the battle’s insatiable maw with the greatest fortitude. It is the spirit wherewith one day all Russia hopes the people of Britain will mobilise their strength and courage to feed the armies across the water. ENEMY ATTACKS REPELLED To-night's Moscow communique reports stubborn defensive fighting in Stalingrad. In the area of one factory an enemy infantry regiment supported by 40 tanks launched an attack which was repelled. The enemy suffered heavy losses when he brought up new forces and renewed these attacks. Fighting continued in the evening for these positions. German prisoners report that a Ger man division fighting in the Stalingrad area lost 70 per cent, of its manpower. North-west of Stalingrad the Russians consolidated their positions. In the Mosdok area the Russians dislodged the enemy from one locality and continued to push forward. Enemy attacks in the Novorossiisk area have been repulsed. Berlin radio said groups of Russian riflemen entrenched in cellars and buried under masses of masonry are still holding out in the ruins of the Red barricade factory. They are being destroyed or forced to surrender. The position of defenders of the Red October works has become hopeless. German occupation of further stretches of the Volga bank has completely stopped the arrival of Russian reinforcements. Women and children who were forced to stay in the centre of the fighting area inside Stalingrad are still emerging from their hiding places amongst Berlin radio also stated that continuous rain on the central sector of the Russian front was flooding trenches and dug-outs and making roads impassable, but the Russians continue to attack German advanced positions. The newspaper “Izvestia” said that Russian blows in the Sinyavino sector are increasing in force from day to day. One German division after another is being crushed.

The Tass agency, quoting an Istanbul report, says that General Guderian is believed to have been killed on the Russian front. The German High Command is hushing up the news, but it is pointed out that General Guderian’s name has disappeared from the j newspapers in the past four months. SCENES OF DESOLATION Two pictures from different sources vividly describe the hell Stalingrad has become. Moscow radio says Stalingrad quakes under incessant bombing from the air. Soviet fighter pilots continue to fight against numerically superior forces and with the utmost gallantry to prevent the enemy bombing Soviet troops. Rome radio, quoting an Italian spe cial correspondent, says the road leading to Stalingrad can be compared with a huge crater. The course of the battle is marked with an uninterrupted chain of cemeteries of machines and artillery. Flying over the area one sees enormous masses of tanks destroyed in battle and by bombers. Miles of columns of motor vehicles are nailed down to the ground and parts of light, medium and heavy artillery are all converted into a shapeless mass of iron. Stalingrad has become a permanent furnace. The sky over the city is dark because of dark clouds of smoke reaching 6500 feet Heat from the fur- , nace is felt several miles away. Even , the rains of the last few days have not , lowered the temperature or decreased , the extent of the fires which fighting , continually alights anew. THE KALININ FRONT There is evidence, says the Stockholm correspondent of "The Times,” that the Germans are taking seriously Russian concentrations on the Kalinin front. There is brisk transport of German re- * inforcements along the railways to , Smolensk. Russian preparations have ; the Germans guessing. The Russians . may aim U* pinch out the Viazma-Rjev- i Gjatsk pocket, but the present concentration can equally be directed east- , ward and north-eastward or aim to outflank the Germans before Leningrad.— ' P.A.

FORMIDABLE TASK

GERMANS IN CAUCASUS BROADCAST FROM BERLIN j Loudon, Ort. 21 Dietrnar. broadcasting on Berlin radio, said; “The task of German troops in the Caucasus is to protect the rich territories between the Don and the Kuban basin, without which the Soviet Union is unable to survive. The enemy is using many fresh troops, including trainee? and Ogptiites. We face a for : midable task. There is no question of j storming forward and over-running ! enemy positions We can only advance j yard by yard through seemingly end- i less Soviet fortifications.”—P.A.