BOMBING OF STALINGRAD

Southland Times, Issue 24885, 27 October 1942, Page 5

BOMBING OF STALINGRAD

INDIAN SUMMER WEATHER (Rec. 9.40 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 25. Dispatches from Moscow tonight all refer to the freak Indian summer weather which has favoured the Germans attacking Stalingrad during the past three days. The Moscow correspondent of The Times says this has enabled a resumption of violent activity by the Luftwaffe, but the Germans nowhere have made appreciable gains. There were rarely fewer than 50 divebombers over Stalingrad yesterday. Bitter fighting is continuing in the north-western suburbs. The “Red October” factory’s defences are proving exceptionally strong. The Russians are also slipping strong reinforcements across the Volga nightly. The Germans state that Marshal Semion Timoshenko’s attacks against the panzer wall north-west of Stalingrad are becoming more violent. The Germans in colder weather are persisting in their attempt to break through to the river valley in the Western Caucasus leading to the main highway, where they could cut off the Russians fighting on the coast. Intense air fighting has flared up anew, but the Russians are holding their own throughout the Caucasus. Both sides mention locally important fighting between the Don Elbow and Leningrad, particularly the Voronej, Volkhov and Leningrad sectors. GERMANS SURPRISED

With snow falling north-west of Stalingrad, observers are predicting that the city’s danger will pass. Today, the 64th day of the direct assault on Stalingrad, the Germans themselves are now admitting they have been surprised by the tenacity of the Russian defence. The Germans admit that the Russians defending parts of Stalingrad have achieved some successes in the last two days, but claim that these are merely locally important and incapable of influencing the fate of the city. The Russians clearly are fighting on with undiminished courage and the Germans are maintaining the intensity of the attack against the city, from which fires are visible 40 miles away. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent reports that the Russians threw the Germans out of the wedge pushed to the factory district, but the Russian position hereabouts is still very difficult. In the factory area which borders on the Volga the Russian defence line in some places is not more than 600 yards from the river. The Russians have no concrete defences on which they are able to fall back, so they are using the ruins of the great factory buildings as forts. One gap in the defence line was held for three days by 900 Home Guardsmen.

Russian factories working underground inside the besieged sections are repairing tanks, guns and lorries. They are also using them against the Germans when called on. WORKERS MAN GUNS

The Moscow correspondent of the British United Press says that one factory repaired 200 guns in a single 24 hour shift. They delivered the guns to the front, found a temporary shortage of artillerymen and so stayed and manned the guns themselves. Heavy fighting is continuing north and south of Stalingrad, but the Rusians are silent about these operations. Marshal Timoshenko’s relief army continues slowly to push its way from the north-west. One report says that this force made a breach in the enmy’s fortified positions, captured an important strong-point and improved its positions. German casualties were heavy. SECOND FRONT RUMOUR Possible Action In Balkans NEW YORK, October 25. The possibility of a second front in the Balkans next spring, is widely canvassed, says The Christian Science Monitor’s Istanbul correspondent. Informed quarters point out that the Balkans—where armed revolt is still continuing in Yugo-slavia and even in Greece—constitute the weakest point of the Axis in Europe. A Balkan front against the Axis will become a distinct probability if the United Nations are able to smash Field-Marshal Rommel.

Diplomats in Turkey have learned that King Boris of Bulgaria is increasingly nervous about Bulgaria’s future and is preparing the way for an aboutface in favour of the United Nations, but whether the Allies would accept his offer is another question.

Travellers report that many Bulgarian officers openly state that they would fight with the Allies against Hitler if they landed. The Balkan peoples are beginning to ask when the United Nations are going to land troops. PEOPLE IN DOMINIONS Mr Willkie’s High Regard (Rec. 7 p.m.) NEW YORK, October 25. Mr Wendell Willkie said he would like, when possible, to visit New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific front. He added that he likes the New Zealanders and Australians, feeling with them the same bond of western activism that he finds with the Canadians.

Mr Willkie, interviewed by The New York Times, commented on the reaction in the United States to his “second front” statements from Moscow. “The old diehard Tory crowd who believe that men after the war will still live by the old cliches saw red, but those knowing that America is inseparable from the rest of the world remained true blue,” he said. “Russia is fighting our fight. Therefore, it is high time we went quickly to her aid. Whatever the cost Russia will not be defeated under M. Stalin, who is a very able man and a complete realist.”