MADE BY GERMANS AT HEAVY COST

Wairarapa Times-Age, 4 July 1942, Page 3

MADE BY GERMANS AT HEAVY COST

In Kursk Area and Further South POWERFUL RUSSIAN COUNTER-ATTACKS CONTINUED SOVIET RESISTANCE IN SEBASTOPOL LONDON, July 3. The Germans are making a three-pronged drive along a 120-mile front from Kursk southwards. The most northerly offensive is at Kursk, the central drive is. 80 miles to the south, and the third 40 miles further south again. Some German progress has been made in all three sectors, though the enemy forces are still a long way from the important Moscow-Rostov railway, which runs roughly parallel to the present line, 100 miles to the east. The Germans have now been hammering at the Russian positions east of Kursk for five days. The battle in this area is growing fiercer. The Germans are throwing as many as 200 tanks at once into the attack. The enemy was held by a fierce Russian counter-attack in one sector. Enemy tanks broke through the Soviet defences in another area, but a Russian counter-attack steadied the situation. Every enemy advance has been made only at the cost of very heavy losses. The Rusians report that fighting is continuing in the streets of Sebastopol. The Germans claim that they are carrying out mopping-up operations, though they admit Soviet resistance in some parts of the fortress.