FIGHTING AT ARMAVIR

Southland Times, Issue 24819, 11 August 1942, Page 5

FIGHTING AT ARMAVIR

SOVIET ADMITS WITHDRAWAL (Rec. 1.5 a.m.) LONDON, Aug. 10. Russian forces in the Armavir area have withdrawn to new defence positions after bloody fighting, according to the latest Russian communique. In the adjoining area the enemy has broken through the Russian defences and heavy fighting is reported from the Krapotkin area. Berlin claims the capture of Krasnodar, an oil refining centre, and Maikop, which is in the centre of one of the Caucasus oil-bearing areas. The .Germans are throwing in more and more reserves along the front, but there have been no Russian withdrawals north of the Don. Russian reports, as well as German claims, indicate that the enemy forces are steadily penetrating the foothills of the Western Caucasus. The Axis forces, despite stout Russian resistance, are reported to be pushing on at a speed of at least 17 miles daily. The Germans are obviously striving their utmost to throw an iron ring around the area containing Novorossisk, Tuapse, Maikop and Krasnodar. GERMAN DRIVE HELD UP

The fiercest fighting elsewhere on the Russian front is reported from the Kotelnikov area, where the German drive towards Stalingrad is held up. The Germans continue officially to refer to Russian attacks around Rjev, but the Russians do not mention this activity. The Moscow correspondent of The Times says the German attack against Armavir cuts off this important area from all land outlets except the incomplete coastal railway across the Caucasus foothills. General Lvov's Caucasus Army is resisting strongly, but it is unable to stem General von Kleist’s advance south-west from Salsk. Cossacks between Kushchovskaya and Krasnodar prevented the Germans advancing south from Rostov from keeping up with their left wing, but despite their courage the Cossacks have been forced slowly back. General Schwodler’s busy army of the Don is having a tougher job in its thrusts towards Stalingrad. It attempted to drive through the Kotelnikovo area, but was resolutely held up while Soviet tank units here vigorously counter-attacked and reduced the enemy troops edging into the defences. The Germans yesterday were reported to be shifting tanks from sector to sector feeling for points of least resistance. General Schwodler’s upper pincer probing for Stalingrad has been caught by Soviet gunners in broken ground west of the Don. The Germans’ main tank force has been dispersed and hundreds of bumed-out machines and thousands of dead are littering the cornfields. The great and resolute Russian army hereabouts still stands between Field-Marshal Fedor von Bock and the Don river. Berlin radio declared that Krasnodar was captured by the same German units which stormed Rostov and Bataisk. They covered 175 miles in 13 days, continuously fighting and marching.