SOVIET TANKS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 October 1941, Page 5

SOVIET TANKS

POWERFUL ATTACKS MADE IN LENINGRAD ZONE IMPORTANT PROGRESS. DEEP'DRIVE INTO NAZI POSITIONS. (By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright) LONDON, October 1. Marshal von Leeb's struggle near Leningrad continues to strew the approaches of the defiant city with German dead. The Stockholm correspondent of “The Times” declares that the Russians have been successful not only at ' Strelna but also on other parts of the Leningrad front. The Russians, indeed, have practically monopolised the initiative in the past few days, particularly in the Kilpino district. German and Finnish sources declare that hundreds of heavy Russian tanks drove a deep wedge in the German, positions in the Kilpino area, and reports give the impression that they succeeded in making contact with outside Russian forces, roughly along the railway to Moscow. A Helsinki message says that the position of the Germans in this district has become serious, especially in fierce fighting at other points on the Leningrad front, and also because the Russian air force recently has been very active. Very fierce air battles have been fought above and around the main battlefield. Other enemy reports express surprise at the speed and daring of the Russian tanks, adding that after making admittedly important progress they have now been, checked in extensive German minefields, although it is scarcely likely that the Germans would mine an area extensively unless they feared being forced on to the defensive.

MORE SUCCESSES GERMAN DIVISION ROUTED ON CENTRAL FRONT. I SOME ENEMY CLAIMS. LONDON, October 1. The Russians continue their counterattacks in the Leningrad area. It is reported from Stockholm that Russian tanks, attacking eastwards of the city, recaptured a large town. The Germans are hard pressed on other sectors of the Leningrad front. The Russians on the central front routed a German infantry division and broke up a German offensive after three days’ fighting. The Berlin radio claimed that Rus- . sian troops, again attempting a landing \ on the coast of Lake Ladoga, southeastwards of Schlusselburg, were repulsed with heavy losses. A German communique says offensive operations eastwards of the Dnieper continue successfully. enemy gliders SHOT DOWN IN BLACK SEA * REGION. STRONG DEFENCE OF LENINGRAD. LONDON, October 2. Following on a Moscow report yesterday that a number of German transport planes had been shot down on the Odessa front, it is announced in Moscow that planes of the Black Sea fleet have brought down three gliders. The locality is not stated. It is reported that the Germans are bringing up reinforcements in the Leningrad zone. The commander of the Soviet Baltic fleet, in a statement on the defence of the city, says: “We are not giving the enemy a moment’s peace. Our resistance is growing stronger, and our forces are increasing every day.” Field-Marshal Mannerheim, in an order of the day to the Finnish Army, describes the capture of Petrozavodsk as a glorious .victory.