200 LOCALITIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 December 1942, Page 3

200 LOCALITIES

CAPTURED BY RUSSIANS NINE ENEMY DIVISIONS ■ ROUTED. MUCH VALUABLE BOOTY.' (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, December 20. A communique states: “A few days ago Soviet troops in the central Don area launched an offensive against the German defences. The offensive began from two directions: First, from the north-west in the area of Novaya Kalitva and Monastyrschina; secondly, from east of the neighbourhood of Bakorskaya. Our troops broke the enemy defence line in the area of Novaya Kalitva and Monastyrschina on a front of about 60 miles and in the area of Bakorskaya on a front of 12 miles. In four days’ tenacious fighting our troops, overcoming enemy resistance, advanced 32 to 56 miles. Our troops occupied more than 200 localities, including the towns of Novaya Kalitva, Kantyrovka and Boguchar and the three district centres of Sbalyi, Tachnitzy and Popovoskaya. (Boguchar is 125 miles south-east of Voronezh, which is five miles west of the Don. Novaya Kalitva is 25 miles north-west of -Boguchar. Monastyrschina is 20 miles south-east of Boguchar on the Don. Bakorskaya is 65 miles south-east of Morfbstyrschina on the River Khir)., During the offensive our troops routed nine infantry divisions and one infantry brigade and inflitted heavy losses on four infantry divisions and one tank division. According to far from complete figures, our troops captured booty including 84 tanks, 1102 guns of various calibres, 608 mortars, 1629 machine-guns, 28,000 rifles, 420 anti-tank rifles, 2720 lorries, and more than 1000 horses and 45 stores containing army supplies. Our troops destroyed 64 planes, 88 tanks, 120 guns and much other material. The break-through was carried out by troops of the south-western front under General Vatukhm and by troops of the Voronezh front under Lieut.General Golicov.”