DNIEPER BATTLE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 August 1941, Page 5

DNIEPER BATTLE

SEEMS TO HAVE BEGUN IN EARNEST RIVER BARRIER NOWHERE PASSED IN SOUTH. CONTINUED RUSSIAN PROGRESS ON CENTRAL FRONT. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON. August 25. A Moscow communique states that the Russian troops fought stubbornly last night in the directions of Kakisalmi (at the north-eastern end of Finland's old Mannerheim Line), Novgorod (100 miles south of Leningrad) and Dnepropetrovsk tone 'Of the Ukraine’s great industrial centres, in the bend of the Dnieper River). The battle of the Dnieper seems to have begun in earnest. The Germans in the southern Ukraine have passed the barrier of this river. Round Odessa the Germans continue to sacrifice thousands of Rumanians’ lives in the great battle for the Black Sea port. On the northern front a- great tank battle was raging yesterday along the approaches to Leningrad, but dispatches to Moscow claimed that the Red Army was holding on solidly, with the air force playing a leading role in stemming the German thrusts. Meanwhile Leningrad is preparing for a decisive battle, and all able-bodied personnel has been mobilised in Leningrad and the surrounding towns. Today little change has been reported in the Leningrad sector. In the centre Marshal Timoshenko’s little - publicised counter - offensive which is believed to be in operation in the neighbourhood of Smolensk, continued yesterday after eight days of steady progress. Altogether 19 villages had been recaptured up to yesterday, and the successes achieved prompted Marshal Timoshenko to issue a special order of the day congratulating commanders and troops on a major defeat of the .enemy. The "Daily Telegraph's” Stockholm correspondent said that General Komov's forces have checked the German thrust against the junction of the armies of Marshal Timoshenko and Marshal Budenny east of Gomel. The Germans are sparing no effort to close the gaps made by General Koniev’s forces, and German tanks and motorised units yesterday were hurled against the recaptured positions, but were driven back by artillery fire. Last night General Koniev ordered his tanks to charge the last wave o.f the German tanks, from which the crews jumped and fled. Over 70 tanks were destroyed and 700 officers and men were killed. Strong support was gi-( ven by Russian aircraft. | Today General Koniev continued to develop his big counter-attack, and the latest messages from Stockholm say that these operations are taking place round Smolensk and Gomel, cities 175 miles apart, and have the double purpose of relieving the drives on Leningrad. and Kiev. The "Red Star” says that the communications between Leningrad and Moscow are functioning efficiently, tmd the railways are carrying troops and arms to the front with the usual regularity. 1 The Berlin radio confirms that the j Russians have blown up the Dnie- ■ prostroy power station, and also claims ; that the Germans in this sector of the Ukraine have made a further advance toward Dnepropetrovsk, SPANISH FASCISTS UNIT AGAINST RUSSIA. ARRANGEMENTS TO HOUSE TROPHIES. MADRID, August 24. It is reported that the Falangist “Blue Division" of volunteers is expected to arrive on the Soviet front from a German training camp this week. It is stated that the Falangist Party has decided to form an historical museum for trophies captured by the Blue Division. [

WAR MATERIALS ENTRY INTO VLADIVOSTOK. JAPAN’S REPORTED POLICY. (Received This Dav, 9.5 a.m.) NEW YORK, August 25. The Associated Press of America’s Shanghai correspondent reports that a Tokio dispatch is quoted in well-in-formed quarters, saying that Japan has decided to permit temporarily the entry of American war materials into Vladivostok, using the permission as a lever to secure the relaxation of American economic restrictions.