HEAVIEST OF WAR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 September 1942, Page 3

HEAVIEST OF WAR

GERMAN LOSSES IN ATTACK ON STALINGRAD ACCORDING TO “RED STAR.” GRAVE ISSUES IN BALANCE. LONDON, September 12. The latest front-line dispatches state that General von Bock has widened scope of his attack against Stalingrad. The Germans never tire in the search for a weak spot to break through, but the defences still hold. Seven successive German attacks on one sector in the west of the city have been checked by the Russians with tanks after a fierce battle in which the Germans lost 1500 killed and 30 tanks-. The Luftwaffe is .terror-raiding the city, mercilessly raiding down bombs, with houses, hospitals and schools apparently the chief targets. The “Red Star” claims that German losses in the Stalingrad area are the heaviest of the war. Berlin military circles no longer disguise their admiration of the Russians’ fighting qualities, says the “New York Times” Stockholm correspondent. Commenting on the battle of Stalingrad, they said that any other army in the world but the Russian would have capitulated long ago. The Stalingrad battle zone is hell, and only the Russians can offer such, fantastic resistance. . , A German spokesman again warned neutral correspondents in Berlin against excessive optimism, pointing out that Marshal Timoshenko still has powerful reserves of men and heavy artillery concentrated on the eastern bank of the Volga, also that Siberian troops are offering the stiffest resistance. , , “The Times” Moscow correspondent says: “The Soviet Government does not conceal its acute anxiety over Stalingrad’s fate. Never has Moscow felt more strongly that Red Army soldiers are fighting and dying for Americas future prosperity and England’s existence There is no city within 200 miles of Stalingrad where an army powerful enough to organise a counter-offensive could spend the winter. Once firmly in possession of Stalingrad the Axis could count on a period of recuperation and set about consolidating the lower reaches of the Volga and the Kuba north of Caucasia. “if the enemy can establish a tenable line and satisfy himself that the Red Army next spring will be too enfeebled and ill-placed strategically to launch a massive counter-offensive, he might be expected to transfer large forces away from Russia to face the Allies with a formidable army, yet retain a sufficient force in the east to attack the Middle East from the Black Sea basin. Much depends on Stalingrad. If von Bock is able to bring the Volga campaign to an end within two or three weeks his forces will be in fair shape for campaigning again next SP “Tlfere is foreboding in Moscow that when the Allies feel strong • and bo d enough to strike it will be too late to save themselves and may already b< too late to save Russia from days even darker than today. Nevertheless, there is the utmost determination to continue to wear down the enemy before. Stalingrad, even though Russia itself is worn down in the process. ~ Moscow reports state that battlefields in the Caucasus mountains, particularly the Mosdok area,, are covered by the first snow of winter, making the fighting more complicated. Germans who penetrated the north-west suburbs of Novorossisk after losing 1000 k were on the verge of being wiped out when the timely arrival of reinforcements enabled them to consolidate an continue the advance, leading io eventual Russian evacuation. General Zhukov’s central front offensive has apparently resumed full strength, but it is impossible at present to assess the progress and prospects oi radio reports that Russian submarines in the Baltic sank four enemy transports, including a 15,-000-ton vessel, also a minelayer.