SWEEPING CLAIMS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 July 1941, Page 5

SWEEPING CLAIMS

MADE BY THE GERMANS STALIN LINE BROKEN RUSSIANS TELL ANOTHER STORY. NO IMPORTANT RECENT CHANGE. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) LONDON, July 12. ' Though the Germans have put out reports that they have renewed the offensive and broken the Stalin line at important points, the latest Russian communique says that no military activity of importance has taken place in .recent hours. In the air the Russians state that their aircraft have delivered more smashing blows at enemy 'supplies, troop concentrations and harbours. The Russians also state that guerrilla warfare is still continuing and causing considerable trouble to the Germans. The Moscow radio announced that after halting the German panzer attack, the Russian armies had begun counter-offensives. The spokesman of the Soviet Information Bureau, M. Lozovsky, declared that the war was only now beginning. The latest Russian communique says German . motorised columns have been heavily pounded by Soviet bombers over a wide front. • Ankara radio reports “that 8,000,000 newly-mobilised Russian .troops are moving up to the front to meet the next big German offensive. The Berlin news agency says that the heavy rains of the past few days have increased the difficulty of the terrain in the southern sector of the eastern front, but the German troops made.a considerable advance in this sector yesterday and repulsed Soviet tanks and infantry formations which put up a hard fight. In the northern sector shock troops had been storming the fortifications of the Stalin line. It is reported from Helsinki that the Germans bombed Leningrad and started big fires. NAZI COMMUNIQUE. The German High Command says: “In a daring onslaught we have broken through the Stalin Line at all important points. German and Rumanian troops from Moldavia have thrown back the Russians on a wide front on to and beyond the Dniester River. German, Hungarian and Slovak troops from Galicia are pursuing the fleeing Russians. North-east of the Dniester our troops are before Kiev. North of the Pripet marshes we have captured a strong zone of fortifications on the Dnieper. Thus in the central sector our troops are already 125 miles east of Minsk. We have found signs of disorganisation and disintegration among many enemy units. “Vitebsk has been in our hands since July 11 and east of Lake Peipus our tank units are advancing toward Leningrad. The Luftwaffe, by destroying railway communications, has prevented any large-scale Russian coun-ter-attacks.’’ The Rome radio says Hungarians have broken the Russian resistance at the River Zbruch and are continuing their advance. It says they have also occupied Kamenentz and Podolsk. RUSSIAN AIR ACTIVITY. A Moscow communique states: “Stubborn fighting on July 12 in the directions of Pskov, Vitebsk, Novograd

Volynsk, caused no important change in the front. Our air force attacked enemy mechanised units and aerodromes and covered the operations of our troops. We bombed the harbour works and a transport at Constant, and also Sulina and Ploesti. “Guerrilla detachments behind the German lines are incessantly attacking communications, destroying munitions and fuel trains and exterminating whole groups and units of German troops. Seventy Soviet sympathisers crept on a school in which a Fascist company was quartered. The attack? ers killed the sentries and trained machine-guns on the school, killing and wounding many. Another detachment surrounded a farm which the Germans were plundering. The Germans barricaded themselves in a barn and opened machine-gun fire. ■ The' Soviet commander was wounded, but crawled to a hayrick near the barn, and set it on fire. The barn caught fire and the Germans came out. All were killed or captured.” The morning Russian communique stated: “During the night of July 1112 no important changes occurred in the position of the troops at the front. Our air force during the night continued to inflict smashing blows on the tank and motorised units of the enemy. It carried out raids on enemy aerodromes and bombed the oil base of Ploesti. During July 11 our air force shot down 55 German planes, 19 of ours being lost.”