BITTER FIGHTING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 July 1941, Page 5

BITTER FIGHTING

SOME OF THE BLOODIEST OF WAR RAGING IN NORTHERLY SECTORS. LITTLE PROGRESS IN THRUST TOWARDS MOSCOW. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright i LONDON, July 9. Some of the Moodiest fighting of the war is now going on in the northerly sectors of the RussianGerman front as a result of an accelerated German effort to overwhelm Leningrad and all territory tc the north of it. The German news agency, after claiming the occupation of Ostrov (north-east of Latvia), Pernau (Latvia) and Fellin (30 miles east of Pernau), announced that the Germans after heavy fighting have occupied the strongly-fortified town of Salla (a few , miles inside- the section of the waist of Finland which was ceded to the Soviet last year). The Finnish radio declares that German and Russian forces on the south-' east frontier of Estonia are locked in the bitterest battle of the war between Ostrov and Lake Peipus. The Russians are resisting heroically and German reports refer to huge Soviet forces being flung against the advancing Germans. The Stockholm correspondent of “The Times” tonight says the most trustworthy news shows that though the Germans penetrated very deeply 'in a direct line toward Moscow they have not increased the penetration appreciably since the end of last week. The most advanced points are now approximately on a line from Polotsk to Borisov, just inside the real Russian frontier, which leaves the Stalin de-, fences scarcely touched. Tank thrusts have penetrated still; deeper, but even the Germans do not claim that these have maintained their positions, the correspondent says. Their repulse and effective isolation or destruction in this area is perhaps unique, as efforts to cope with such tank penetration in the west and elsewhere have never succeeded. It is idle to pretend that the advance on Smolensk is not serious, but the fact emerges that the Germans attempted and failed to break through in this sector with their first general onslaught. FRESH DEFENDING TROOPS. It is generally believed that the main Stalin defences are manned by firstclass troops, who are all fresh, not having participated in the frontier fighting except in the Minsk .and Ostrov sectors. If this is true the Germans have a very stiff task ahead, as the Russians have greater reinforcing facilities than the Germans for the impending new struggles. Officials in Berlin declare that the war is on the second decisive stage. The Russians, they say, have taken up new strategic positions, and the Ger’'Tnans are seeking to encircle these main Soviet armies. There appears to be some slackening in the fighting on the central and southern fronts, and the Berlin spokesman said that reports of fierce battles raging along the whole front were untrue. AIR FORCE ACTIVE. Both the Russian and German air forces continue to concentrate mostly on objectives close to the lines, though it is officially announced in Helsinki that at least 17 persons were killed and 156 wounded in an air raid on Helsinki this morning.

The Stockholm correspondent of the “Daily Express” says that the battle for Moscow has become a. battle for air superiority, with both sides flinging in alTthe available air might. A decision in favour of Germany would send the Panzers dashing forward again. Moscow radio claimed that Soviet bombers have destroyed the oil centres in Rumania, and it stated, “The port of Constanta, including enormous oil reserves have virtually ceased to exist.” Travellers arriving in Istanbul confirm that Constanta has been devastated. They report that all available Axis shipping has been moved from Rumanian to Bulgarian ports.