GALLANT EFFORTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 March 1943, Page 4

GALLANT EFFORTS

BEING MADE BY SOVIET TROOPS IN PUSH THROUGH MARSHES & FORESTS. MAIN POSITIONS ON DONETZ HELD. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) (Received This Day, 12.10 p.m.) LONDON, March 21. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent says the Germans are putting tremendous pressure on the Chuguyev and Byelgorod sectors. The Russians were forced to yield up ground at Chuguyev, but still hold their main positions on the Donetz. The Russian drives on the central and northern fronts have not been weakened. The Red Army is making a triple push across the marshes and forests before Smolensk, between the’ Upper Dnieper and Dvina rivers. General Koniev’s troops are facing great difficulties on the Upper Dnieper, where a premature spring thaw and sunshine have made the river crossing most dangerous. The Germans are doing their utmost to delay the Russian advance and are throwing in strong air forces. Marshal Timoshenko’s'long-range artillery is preparing the way for new ■infantry advances north and south of Lake Ilmen. Fighting in marshland, where the villages are perched on hill tops, the Russians nightly see huge fires, as the Germans set fire to houses and stores before retreating. The Paris radio stated' that Marshal Timoshenko has launched a new offensive south of Lake Ladoga.