DEFENCE OF ODESSA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 September 1941, Page 5

DEFENCE OF ODESSA

AN IMMENSELY STRONG FORTRESS WHOLE POPULATION TAKING ACTIVE PART. USE OF IMPROVISED ARMOURED VEHICLES. LONDON, September 9. Life at Odessa is described by the Soviet war correspondent (E. Vilenski) who says: “Some old people and children have been evacuated, but the majority remain and are hurrying about their tasks carrying spades, picks and sandbags and strengthening gun positions. General Arkady Khrenov, who was largely responsible for the destruction of Finland’s Mannerheim Line, has supervised the construction of several belts of fortifications with anti-tank obstacles and trenches.” Vilenski does not claim that Odessa will hold out indefinitely, but declares that it is an immensely strong fortress. The factories are producing roughlymade armoured vehicles which have inflicted heavy casualties on the Rumanians. Workshops are repairing tanks salvaged from the front line and are making hundreds of thousands of mines. At least a million cleverly-contrived obstacles protect the landward approaches. Twelve thousand citizens' and 70,000 members of the Young Communist League constitute the front line defence. Women every day carry bundles of food to their menfolk and then return to work in the city or bring more food from farms. Three daily papers are still being published and electricity is still functioning. The air raid damage so far has been very slight because most of the German planes cannot be spared from the northern sector and most of the pilots are youngsters under 20.