OPENING IN EASTERN FRONT BATTLES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 July 1941, Page 5

OPENING IN EASTERN FRONT BATTLES

Germans Predict More Violent Fighting RUSSIANS REPORT STRONG RESISTANCE IN ALL AREAS FULL PRESSURE TO BE MAINTAINED ON ENEMY LONDON, July 7. A Russian communique reports continued resistance to the Germans all along the battlefront. Berlin states that the battle is now entering on a new phase and violent fighting is to be expected. The Germans speak of their advance having reached the Stalin Line on a wide front and claim that if these positions are taken, the road to the heart of Russia might be open to their troops. Reference to the Stalin Line seems to be clearly preparings the German people for a longer and more costly campaign than they had expected. The expectation of a major clash between the Russian and German armies might have been implied by M. Stalin last Thursday, when he said that the main forces of the Russian army, supported by tanks and planes, were going into action. In the Murmansk area, the Russian forces appear to be putting up a very strong fight. The German claim that they had occupied Murmansk has not been repeated. The Russians report hard fighting where the German thrust is directed towards Leningrad, and claim that the German advance is stemmed. '. . . In the central sector there are further indications that the Germans are developing a new pincer movement towards Smolensk, on the road to Moscow. The Germans appear to have reached the Dneiper and the Upper Dvina. Heavy fighting throughout last night is reported in both areas. Further south the Russians claim that the German drive towards Kiev has been stopped. Heavy fighting continues. The Moscow radio reports a big battle between Russian and German tanks in this area. Three hundred German tanks are said to have been destroyed and 500 prisoners taken. In Bessarabia, the Russians also claim to have inflicted serious losses on the Germans and to have hurled them back to their original positions. The Vice-Chancellor of the Soviet Information Bureau denied that the Russians were using battalions of women. It was not necessary to do so, he said, as the Russians had three times more men than the Germans. They would not give the Germans a chance to take a breather. As soon as they stopped the Russians would attack.