Action equivalent to what it was hoped Allies would do.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 September 1942, Page 3

Action equivalent to what it was hoped Allies would do.

Rec. 10.15 p.m. London, Aug. 30. ^HERE have been no spectacular territorial changes in Russia in the past 72 hours but mammoth battles of attrition rage with unab«Hed fury in the Stalingrad-Klietskaya-Kotelnikov triangle and at Rzhev, dwarfing the bitter conflicts at many other points on the 1200-mile front between Leningrad and the Caucasus. -

The Russian front falls into two halves. The whole outcome of the campaign depends on the Russians' ability to make the halves interdependent. The German commanders at Rzhev, Gjatsk and Viazma are exhorting their men to fight so resolutely that there will be no need to transfer troops from the south. On the contrary, the Russians on those sectors have been told they are fighting for Stalingrad and the Caucasus. The Russian counter-offensive aims at doing what it was hoped the Allies would be doing by now— drawing off the German pressure from the south. The Red army*s counter-offensive is progressing slowly because the terrain, unlike the southern tank country, requires the capture of each town to control the highways radiating from them,

otherwise the attackers are handicapped by swamps and forests. The Russians have enabled General Zhukov to swing his troops in three directions against Gjatsk, Viazma and also due west athwart Rzhev Viazma communications. There have. been no significant changes on the Stalingrad front in the past five days and the 1 rot has apparently been stopped in the Caucasus, whvere the Russians, with their back to the mountain wall, are holding off the Germans froir. the Grozny oilfields and from the naval bases at Novorossisk and Tuapse. However, Russian reports state thai the Germans are bringing up considerable reinforcements to the Rzhev, Stalingrad and Caucasus fronts— an indication that Herr Hitler still commands a great reserve pool of men and machines. The Times Moscow correspondent says the Russian resistance has stiffened from Voronezh to the Caucasus. The Red army appears to hold the initiative northwards of Voronezh and continues to develop its successes west and northwest of Moscow and at Leningrad, and

also to consolidate slight gains at Bryansk. The Times . Stockholm correspondent says: "Further Axis reserves are arriving before Stalingrad, where a supreme Axis attempt is impending. German spokesmen betray markedly diminished confidence, one stating: "Only heavy artillery and mortars will be able to chift the Russians from their formidable strongholds and underground bastions which engirdle htalingrad like a smaller Maginot Line. It is impossible to think in miles, but only yards, each of which costs material and lives, Tha Russian air resistance has stpikingly hardened." Persistent local activity continues around Lake Ilmen and along the Volkhov. Russian operations from Leningrad continue. The Red army broke into an unnamed town and so far has beaten off nine counter-at^acks. The Finnis report heavy Russian attacks were beaten off between Lakes Ladoga and Onega.