HEAVY BATTLE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 March 1942, Page 3

HEAVY BATTLE

REPORTED IN DONETZ AREA RUSSIANS UPSETTING NAZI PLANS. POWERFUL AND UNCEASING ATTACKS. LONDON. March 5. In Russia a fierce and prolonged battle is reported in the Donetz area. It is stated that Hitler’s preparations for a spring drive towards the Caucasus are being considerably hampered. Berlin admits that the Russian attacks are heavy and unceasing. A break through by Russian troops, with tanks and artillery, to a depth of several miles, is admitted in one sector. Berlin also speaks of severe fighting in the Crimea around Sebastopol. The Russians are reported to be closing in on the German army trapped at Staraya Russa. The encircled troops have launched counter-attacks, according to a Berlin report. The Russians refer to the German forces as the remnants of the 16th Army. A wider encircling movement by the Russians is reported north of Lake Ilmen. OREL SURROUNDED GERMAN GENERAL REFUSES TO SURRENDER. LONDON, March 4. General Guderian has refused General Boldin’s demand for the surrender of Orel after its almost complete Russian encirclement, says the “Daily Telegraph’s” Stockholm correspondent. The ultimatum was conveyed by two officers in a 52-ton tank carrying a white flag. An hour after the departure of the Russian emissaries the guns of the Red Army opened an offensive against Orel.