NEW GERMAN THRUSTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 November 1941, Page 6

NEW GERMAN THRUSTS

ATTEMPTS TO SPLIT UP FRONT IN ORDER TO LIGHTEN WINTER DEMANDS. STERN RUSSIAN RESISTANCE. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 10.35 a.m.) LONDON, November 18. The Russians are sternly resisting a hew German drive eastwards from Orel, in which two German tank divisions are participating. The Soviet commander was forced to withdraw his men under the first German attack, which began on November 13 and the Germans, following up, captured certain villages. The Germans suffered heavily in these initial gains and the question is how soon their drive will lose its momentum. The objective of this thrust, which was accompanied by an attempt to move eastwards from Kurks, is obviously to reach the vital railway running from Rostov to Moscow, through Coronez. This bid to separate Moscow from the southern front is a corallary to the pushes in the Tikhvin and Tolkhov regions, aiming to separate Moscow from the Leningrad front. The “Red Star” emphasises the danger of these operations and says: “It would suit Hitler’s purpose admirably if he could split the present 1,500 miles front into a number of small fronts, each with its own specific objective. This would mean that Hitler could hold such fronts as he wished and keep them quiet with a minimum number of men, and so reduce the number of troops compelled to endure the hardships of a winter campaign in the' open. Hitler simultaneously would not lose his general initiative on the Eastern front.” Realising this, the “Red Star” affirms the necessity of compelling the enemy to freeze by wintering in the open fields, but adds: “It is wrong, however, to think that the winter itself might exhaust the Germans. It might make the scope of operations narrower, but it cannot halt' the German offensive. Only Russian activity and steadiness can do that.” “FLYING TANKS” POWERFULLY ARMOURED PLANES. USED BY THE RUSSIANS. (Received This Day, 12.15 p.m.) LONDON, November 18. A message from Berlin states that the Russians are using a new plane so strongly armoured that it is called a flying tank. The radiator of the plane, the cockpit and otner vulnerable points are particularly heavily protected. 'German pilots have fired enormous quantities of bullets into flying tanks without setting them on fire oi bringing them down. The plane is designed for low-level work, being used for ground strafing and attacks against aerodromes. _____ ’"V’O ■■’