POSITION OF GERMAN ARMIES IN SOUTH RUSSIA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 December 1942, Page 3

POSITION OF GERMAN ARMIES IN SOUTH RUSSIA

Soviet Troops Pressing Forward on Middle Don GREAT QUANTITIES OF WAR MATERIAL CAPTURED VORONEZH-ROSTOV RAILWAY CUT IN TWO PLACES LONDON, December 21. The Russian armies are still pressing on in the. gigantic battle of the Middle Don. Though the Germans are fighting back desperately, they cannot stem the tide and the path of their retreat is littered with bodies and equipment. One correspondent says the most significant thing about the battle is not so much the depth of the Russian advance as the immense quantities of German war material captured. It is obvious that the weight of the Russian blow took, the Germans by surprise. The Russians have cut the Voronezh-Rostov, railway in two places and are closing in on the key town of Millerovo. They have provided an air umbrella over theft ground troops and it is strong enough to ward off the formations of enemy planes that are sent over. Russian dive-bombers are dropping explosives on the Germans whenever they get the chance. A German military spokesman says the present Russian offensive is the big battle of 1942. A German communique refers to a formidable concentration of Russian tanks on the Don front and admits that the enemy smashed his way through the German defences. Mr Paul Winterton, the London “News-Chronicle” correspondent, says the outstanding thing about the offensive is the way its momentum is being maintained and even increased. Summing up the situation in the south, he says the Germans’ position is beginning to look really serious. The German armies in the Don-Volga area are completely enclosed by Soviet forces and are cut off from Hitler’s main armies.