IN AREA OF NAZI COUNTER-OFFENSIVE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 May 1942, Page 3

IN AREA OF NAZI COUNTER-OFFENSIVE

On Southern Part of Kharkov Front IMPORTANT GAINS CLAIMED IN FURIOUS FIGHTING INCLUDING WIDENED BRIDGEHEAD ON DONETZ LONDON, May 27. Battles south of Kharkov have been raging with unabated fury all day. Marshal Timoshenko is reported to be attacking an important point between Isyum and Barvenkova, where the Germans have been throwing in masses of men, tanks and guns in an endeavour to turn the Russian flank. The “Red Star” says Marshal Timoshenko is thought to have broken through the enemy line, cutting off the spearhead of the German attack. If this report is true the German attempt to encircle the Russian troops in the bend of the Donetz River The Germans are still landing parachute troops behind the Russian lines, but most of these are being wiped out as they land. Fifty-two big Junkers transport planes were shot down while trying to land troops. On most of the sectors around Kharkov the Germans are said to be only hanging on by their teeth to their positions. East of Kharkov the Russians are consolidating the ground, they have won. Reuter’s special correspondent says that in the area between Isyum and Barvenkova, the Russians continue their active defence and at one point have carried the fight to the enemy. In this Battle of the Bulge it is reported that Marshal Timoshenko’s forces have captured, a key height, which dominates the whole neighbourhood. They are also reported to have widened a bridgehead on the right bank of the Donetz River, sufficiently to allow further operations. In the area in which the Russians first launched their offensive they are now settling in and consolidating their positions. The military correspondent of the “Moscow News,” referring to the position round Kharkov, says that if the attack in the Isyum-Barvenkova area was intended to relieve German anxiety the Germans were unable to check the Soviet offensive or break the Soviet positions south of the city.