THE LOWER DON

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 July 1942, Page 3

THE LOWER DON

LINE OF PROBABLE SOVIET STAND HEAVY FIGHTING EXPECTED IN DONI-TZ BASIN. SUPPOSED RUSSIAN PLANS. (By Telegraph—Press; Association—Copyright) v LONDON, July 14. Though the full steam of von Bock's advance may be interrupted by the valiant Russian counterattack near Voronezh, the gravity of the German sweep to the south and south-west is readily to be realised from the capture of, or the threat to, such places as Millerovo, Stalingrad, ' Migulinsk, and Voroshilovgrad, which are named today. The Stockholm correspondent of “Tile Times” says that apart from Voronezh and the 100-mile stretch along the Don to the south of Boguchar the main battlefront must now be considered as stretching between the junction of the Boguchar River and the Don down to the Sea of Azov, with the north wing of the front wheeling eastward along the Don toward the elbow of the river 40 miles from Stalingrad. The Russians are retiring to a main prepared line, roughly 200 miles long, along the Lower Don, which is the strongest natural defence line before the approaches to the Caucasus are reached. Last year, after the Dnieper was abandoned, the Russians were not expected to make a really effective stand before this line was reached, where presumably fresh armies are already stationed to meet qnd stem the German advance, when the tired though intact Russian forces which are now fighting will pass through to rest and reorganise as reserves in the rear. The Russians expect the hardest fighting to be in the Donetz Basin, south and south-east of Lisichansk, where the German pressure already threatens the local Russian flank, and may compel the abandonment of several towns in the cluster south of the Donetz, particularly round Artemovsk. At the southern end where the AzovDon front now pivots, the German positions, which have been stabilised since December, are about 50 miles from the mouth of tire Don below Rostov. It is certain, therefore, that no large-scale withdrawal here can figure in the Russian programme, and the Don can be crossed here only after a major Russian defeat.

FURIOUS STRUGGLE

IN AREA WEST OF MOSCOW. ENEMY LOSES IMPORTANT ROAD. LONDON, July 15. Following the Red Army’s withdrawal south-west of Rzhev, the Russians launched a powerful counter-at-tack on the Kalinin front, which has held the enemy’s advance and is limiting the fighting to two sectors. Furious encounters took place, in the course of which the Russians cut an important road linking two large concentrations of enemy forces and dislodged the Germans from several settlements. In a desperate attempt to hold the road the enemy brought up fresh reserves, achieving numerical superiority in a number of places. The enemy also increased his air force protection of the land forces. All the attempts to regain complete control of the road were, however, frustrated by deadly mortar and artillery fire.

RUSSIAN DEMAND

SECOND LAND FRONT IN EUROPE. SACRIFICES ENTAILED. LONDON, July 15. The Moscow radio said: “A second European land front must be created. It will entail great British and American sacrifices, but these would be much greater if the Eastern Front did not exist. The battles on the Eastern Front are battles for New York and London.”