PLANNED BY THE GERMANS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 September 1941, Page 5

PLANNED BY THE GERMANS

Some Initial Progress Claimed FORCES MASSING IN BULGARIAN PORTS RUSSIAN PRESSURE IN SMOLENSK SECTOR (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.) LONDON, September 18. Reports today suggest that the Germans are developing a drive against the Crimea, while in Berlin it is unofficially claimed that German troops have reached the Isthmus oi Perekop, the neck of land separating the Crimea from the mainland of the Ukraine. An American broadcaster in Ankara says that reports have been circulating in Turkey for some time that as soon as the German army is in a position to move into the Crimea, nava landings will be attempted on the Crimean coast. There have been other persistent reports of strong German forces massing in Bulgarian ports. The recent Soviet protest to Bulgaria over that country being used as a base for projected action against the Soviet is recalled. In the Ukraine offensive to the north the Germans claim to have crossed the Dnieper at three more points. Russian counterattacks are mentioned by Berlin. Other reports indicate that Kiev is in serious danger o£.isolation. The Stockholm correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph says official Russian circles there say that British fighter planes in the Leningrad area have already destroyed 100 enemy aircraft and have appreciably lessened the German pilots’ desire for combats. Recent reports stated that these British aircraft were being piloted by Russians, while the base of the Royal Air Force wing was said, though without confirmation, to be in the 01*111163 The Germans appear to be on the defensive under strong pressure in the Smolensk sector. Russian reports yesterday declared that by the Germans’ defeat in a weeks-long battle at Yartsevo, beyond Smolensk on the main road to Moscow, the Red Army is not only in a position to invest Smolensk but also to prevent any further attempt to force the direct route to Moscow.