UNPLEASANT TRUTH

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 July 1941, Page 5

UNPLEASANT TRUTH

MUST BE SWALLOWED BY GERMANS SECOND WAVE OF OFFENSIVE SPENT. CALL ON PRECIOUS NAZI RESERVES. LONDON, July 23. The unpleasant truth about the Eastern Front which the German public must digest is that the second great wave of the German offensive is spent, says the “Daily Telegraph’s” Stockholm correspondent. The German panzer armies are now desperately regrouping and repairing their machines in readiness for a third push, which if it does not reach Leningrad or Moscow may have a decisive effect on the final result of the war. The German High Command knows that the Russians still have big reserves, and if the war goes on on this scale for another three weeks the Germans will be cdmpelled to draw onprecious reserves, the correspondent adds. The “Times” Stockholm correspondent endorses the “Telegraph’s” assessment of the situation and adds that the Russian reserves of men and machines, if efficiently mobilised and directed, will be capable of checking and even beating the Germans. The Russians believe that the Germans on the other hand are perilously near the employment of their chief effective reserves. Then- whole war machine has been badly mauled, explaining why they are unable to proceed more rapidly. A Moscow communique states: “In fighting near Pskov we captured parcels of secret documents, including instructions for use of poison gas distributed by mines. The document proves that the Germans, realising the unavoidable failure of the blitzkrieg, are preparing large-scale gas attacks.” THREAT TO KIEV. The battle continues to rage. Moscow last night reported heavy fighting in the Porkhov and Smolensk sectors. Instead of the usual reference to the Novograd-Volynsk sector, the communique reports a battle in the Jitomir area, which is 25 miles south-east and 85 miles from Kiev. A German account suggests that there is a more serious threat to Kiev from the south. Moscow also announces an enemy advance on the sector between Lake Ladoga and the White Sea. It states that there is heavy fighting at Petrozavodsk, which is on the LeningradMurmansk railway and 200 miles from Leningrad. A continued enemy drive through this area would serve two purposes: to endanger the Russian forces in Karelia and the Arctic, as well as threaten the rear of Leningrad. The Germans speak of all-night bombing of communications in the Leningrad neighbourhood. The Moscow radio says that a tank battalion, after routing a force of Germans and Rumanians, captured 350 prisoners and 472 motor-cycles. Cavalry surrounded and annihilated a retreating German and Rumanian infantry battalion. The Radio also announced that Soviet E-boats operating in the Baltic sank four enemy transports and one destroyer in a convoy. One of the E-boats’ torpedoes sank the destroyer, and other sank large merchantmen, including a transport laden with troops and arms.

WINTER COMING BAD OUTLOOK FOR NAZIS. BRITISH ECONOMIST’S VIEW. MONTREAL, July 23. The belief that Russia can defeat Germany was expressed by the noted British economist, Sir George Paish, in an interview with the Canadian Press. He said, “Russia has a strong army, a very strong air fleet, and excellent navies in the Baltic and Black Seas. The Russian morale is high. If winter comes the Germans will be beaten.” Sir George Paish said he saw no world menace of Communism in the event of a Russian victory. “Communism has been abandoned by the Russians because it will not work,’ he added. “Russia is now a co-operative State; large wages are paid to those who are worthy of them, and the farm co-operative schemes give the workers a share of the profits.”