ENEMY REPORTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 July 1942, Page 4

ENEMY REPORTS

OUTSKIRTS OF ROSTOV SAID TO HAVE BEEN REACHED BY AXIS FORCES. BATTLE IN TORRID HEAT. . (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, Noon.) LONDON, July 23. The battle for the city of Rostov has begun. A German communique says that Axis troops have pierced Russian fortified positions and reached the outskirts of the city. Announcing that, after reaching the outskirts of Rostov, Axis motorised units were still advancing eastward, the German official news agency added that the battle for Rostov was being fought in torrid heat. The Vichy radio, quoting a Stockholm report, says that a massive German attack against Stalingrad has already begun and that the Russians are withdrawing from the east bank of the Don to strengthen the defences of Stalingrad. The Russians are burning bridges behind them. Although the Germans claim that the Russians to the north-west of Voronezh have been repulsed, the “Izvestia” states that the Russians are clearing up the east bank of the Don and pushing the Germans back still further. The Moscow radio reports that fighting has flared up on the Leningrad front, where the Russians have repulsed counter-attaCXs and recaptured, in a surprise attack, a vital settlement near the city. Thousands of Germans were killed.