HOPES FADING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 December 1941, Page 5

HOPES FADING

DAMAGING ADMISSIONS BY NAZIS INITIATIVE BEING TAKEN BY RUSSIANS. ENEMY RETREAT IN TULA SECTOR. LONDON, December 9. A German communique states that continuation of operations on the Eastern Front is now determined by the start of the Russian winter. Only local actions are occurring on wide areas of the front. A military spokesman in Berlin, referring to the communique, said the German army did not expect to capture Moscow this year. He added that the cold on the Eastern Front is so terrible that oil freezes in motorised vehicles and that soldiers trying to take cover simply freeze to the ground. Fighting under these conditions was practically impossible, but this did not mean that, the front had become stagnant or fixed. The Berlin radio stated: “Only with the utmost ruthlessness anct lack of consideration for life can we advance against Moscow.” The Stockholm correspondent of “The Times” says that possibly there is a connection between German complaints of the cold freezing motors on the Eastern Front and the news that all available non-freezing mixtures under private ownership have been sequestrated in the greater part of Germany. The Russians are taking the initiative on the Moscow front after having brought all German attacks to a standstill, says a statement issued in Kuibyshev. It adds that the Russian Air Force is once again on top in the Moscow region, where it is taking a great toll of German tanks. Another heartening sign, the state-

ment said, is the heavy losses which are being inflicted on the enemy. At the same time, we must not forget that the Russians also are suffering great losses. The Soviet news agency, Tass, reports that the Germans are still retreating in the Tula sector south-east of Moscow.