ALONG MOST OF THE EASTERN BATTLEFRONT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 August 1941, Page 6

ALONG MOST OF THE EASTERN BATTLEFRONT

Significance of New Nazi Thrust in North

HITLER SAID TO BE AT ODDS WITH GENERALS

FAILURE TO PRESS OFFENSIVE TOWARDS ODESSA

(Received This Day, 12.15 p.m.) LONDON, August G. The “Daily Telegraph’s’’ Stockholm correspondent says the Nazi offensive in the area around Kholm, the German capture of which is not confirmed, should be welcomed as an admission that the Russians are correct in claiming that a stalemate has been reached everywhere else along the huge battlefront. It is believed that it is still Hitler’s dream to end the campaign \ by occupying Moscow from Smolensk, but there is evidence that his generals are trying to force an alteration in his plans. The Kholm thrust probably results from the generals’ pressure. It may seem too early to say whether the Germans will find a weak spot at .Kholm, but there is good authority for saying that they will not. Kholm lies between two natural barriers, the River Lovat and the Valdai heights. Even if the Germans force the well-defended Lovat, they v/ill still have to scale the heights which should delay them sufficiently to enable Marshal Voroshilov to rush up reinforcements. The German High Command’s failure to press the offensive towards Odessa is believed to indicate that the Hungarians and Rumanians are not anxious to tackle the Soviet mechanised forces without considerable German support, which Berlin cannot afford to give at present.