Stalingrad Bombed As German Forces Press Still Closer

Taranaki Daily News, 29 August 1942, Page 3

Stalingrad Bombed As German Forces Press Still Closer

Successful Rzhev offensive fails to brmg . relief to southern sectors. Rec. 11.30 p.m. London, Aug. 28. ALTHOUGH the Russian drive on the central front continues to progress encouragingly, there is still no evidence that it has brought any marked relief for Marshal Timoshenko's hardpressed forces before Stalingrad and in the Caucasus. New wedges have been driven into the defences of Stalingrad, the Russians admit. Fierce fighting has been taking place south-west of the city, the Russians destroying men and equipment, but they did not succeed in holding off the attacks of enemy tanks and infantry. Great air battles took place all day over the battlefront. Mass air raids were also made on the residential area of Stalingrad, on which hundreds of high explosive bombs were systematically dropped on area after area. West of Moscow the Russian offensive continues and, Rzhev is reported to be in imminent danger from Russian attacks. The northern suburbs are reported to be in Russian hands. In the Caucasus the position has deteriorated.

' Stalingrad's position remains very critical, even discounting a Vichy report that German advanced units have reached the Volga and Dubovka and are advancing southwards. The latest German High Command 6tatement on. operations in this area claims that a German tank division yesterday drove 25 miles into heavily fortified positions south-westwards of Stalingrad, but there is no indication that this brings the invaders closer to Stalingrad than was earlier ^reported. The Germans in this sector are hiirling more and more reinforcements into the battles, whose ferocity correspondents report to be unparalleled throughout the war in Russia. Berlin reports, which a few days ago were confidently proclaiming the fall of, Stalingrad was only a question of days, are now more cautious and ref er to extremely difficult fighting before the city. Indeed, the Berlin military spokesman warned journalists not to expect Stalingrad to fall quickly, adding: "The Russians have many times shown surprising. aptitude to bring in large reinforcements at the last minute and succeed in converting apparently already accomplished

— ■ ■ ■» m m » def eats into long, atagnant deadlocks, notably at* Leningrad and Moscow in 1941." The Germans' chief Caucasus effort is now seemingly directed towards the Caspian and they are now probably within 50 miles of Grozny. The Russians, who are greatly outnumbered, continue stoutly to prevent German efforts to cross the river in the vicinity of Mosdok. The British United Press reports that the Germans are also pushing down the main railway to the Caspian in an effort to reach Gudermes, where the Germans would then control the branch line to Grozny. The Moscow correspondent of - the Daily Telegraph points out that the German ■ progress to Mosdok represents an advance of 35 miles in three days. The Russians operating on the central front promise complete liquidation of the dangerous Rzhev pocket— dangerous because Rzhev is a potential springboard

for the resumption of attacks against Kalinin and Moscow. Bitter street fighting is raging at Rzhev, the Germans putting up desperate resistance for the city, upon whose very high strategical importance all correspondents agree. Russians from the northern outskirts are steadily working their way towards the centre of the town but it is a slow, grim job. Moscow newspapers dp not hide the sanguinary character of the fighting nor the bitterness of the German resistance, which is described as "the strength of despair." ' Villages Liberated. Meanwhile, other Russian forces .are battering southwards against the Rzhev bulge liberating village after village and steadily overcoming what the Telegraph's Stockholm correspondent describes as the world's strongest and deepest system of fortifications. The Times Stockholm representative describes the Rzhev offensive at of , the greatest importance since Marshal Timoshenko's spring move against Kharkov. The correspondent points out that heavy Russian pressure extends southwards beyond Kaluga to the Orel region. The British United Press Moscow correspondent says the scope of the Russian offensive is widening both northwards and southwards of Rzhev and the envelopment of the powerful German garrison at Gjatsk is now threatened. The Iszvestia stresses , that the Russian reserves are far from exhaustion and only part of those available for central front operations are at present being used. The Moscow correspondent of the Times declares that when the Russian offensive began the Germans had 150,000 first-grade troops epsconced in strong positions. In the Caucasus, the German reinforcements soem to be endless. The Russians here are ambushing the Germans with anti-tank guns, and artillery, destroying men and materiai and . repellihg' eonstant attacks, but the position reimains serious. Fierce fighting is raging along the railway to Grozny. Grozny 's peril is increased by the German advance to Mozdok, from which roads. lead tp' Grozny and also to Vladikavkaz and' thence to Tiflis. These rbads are mountainous but are suitable for the type of operations now in progress. The Moscow radio said that General von Bock now has 1,000,000 men concentrated for the Stalingrad offensive. The Vichy radio declared that the Germans have captured Mozdok. The Rome radio reported that fighting in the western Caucasus is going on in snowstorms at a height of 9000 feet. In the Caucasus the main fighting is now going on round Prokhladnaya, 80 miles west of the Grozny oilfields and Mozdok, 30 miles nearer the oilfields. The Germans claim that Mozdok is m their hands and further heights in the foothills have been stormed but there is no confirmation of this.