SOVIET SOUTHERN OFFENSIVE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 November 1942, Page 3

SOVIET SOUTHERN OFFENSIVE

Deep Red Army Penetration of Don Bend

OVER 200,000 ENEMY TROOPS CAPTURED, KILLED OR WOUNDED

THREE COMPLETE GERMAN DIVISIONS TAKEN BY RUSSIANS

LONDON, November 25

On the sixth day of the great Russian offensive on the Don-Volga steppes the Soviet armies are continuing to advance both north-west and south-west of Stalingrad and are forcing the enemy back on every sector. The declared aim of the Russians is the complete destruction of Hitler’s armies in Southern Russia. In their drive from' north-west of Stalingrad, the Russians have thrust into the heart of the territory enclosed by the great elbow of the Don. The Soviet southern army has strengthened its grip on the North Caucasian railway. Inside Stalingrad the position is transformed and the Germans are fighting desperately in defence. The Soviet Guards are asserting themselves and yesterday one whole street which had been occupied by the Germans for two weeks was retaken. There is no news from Russia of fighting in the Rzhev area, west of Moscow, but the Germans report a Russian thrust on the front between Smolensk and Leningrad. , The Soviet Army newspaper “Red Star” reflects the mood of the Russian people. It says the Red Army has demonstrated that it can thrash the enemy in the most difficult conditions. The speed of the Russian advance is increasing everywhere, says a message from Moscow. Besides 42,000 dead ,the Germans are estimated to have lost at least 120,000 wounded in the last few days. One report estimated the prisoners taken at 36,000. The north-western arm of the offensive is now on a broader front, and it was learned yesterday that the Russians were thrusting beyond Chernyshevskaya, 110 miles west of Stalingrad and far inside the Don bend. Moscow last night announced the capture of three German divisions complete with vehicles and their staffs in the Kletskaya area, on the northern side of the Don bend. Paris radio stated that the situation round Kletskaya is serious. The Russians have advanced a further 25 miles in their drive north-west of the Don on the Stalingrad side, and have gained about 12 miles in the advance from the south-west. Stalingrad itself has been relieved by the thrust from the north, and the city’s garrison, after three months of defence, is sallying out from the cellars and ruins and joining in the attack, harassing the enemy from the east while the two great Soviet claws are closing’. Thousands of Germans and Rumanians havie already been rounded up in Stalingrad.