FOR THE KURSK SALIENT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 July 1943, Page 3

FOR THE KURSK SALIENT

One of the Greatest Tank Battles of the War MASSES OF AIRCRAFT FIGHTING OVERHEAD IMMENSELY COSTLY GERMAN FAILURE IN FIRST THREE DAYS LONDON, July 8. One of the biggest tank battles of the war was waged today on the flat plains of the Kursk salient. The first three days of the new enemy offensive have proved the costliest effort of the war for Germany. The news is still of bitter fighting m the great Kursk bulge. After three days of battle, in which Russian guns and aircraft have taken a heavy toll of enemy armour and planes, the Russians are now throwing their own tanks into the battle. The battlefield is rich, fertile land over which heavy brown dust clouds rise,; The German tanks have never shown such speed in manoeuvre, but the mobile Russian artillery has moved just as quickly to meet each new attack. A grim, relentless struggle is proceeding. Some villages change hands many times in the course of a day, even when they have been reduced to a mass of rubble. The skies above are filled with masses of planes, which are taking part in an almost endless battle. Sometimes as many as 200 planes take part in a single attack. It is difficult to imagine the scale of this vast battle. One Berlin spokesman says it is the biggest battle ever fought on the Russian front. Today’s official Soviet communique states that the Germans are using 30 divisions, half of them armoured. This means that 200,000 men are in action. The German hopes of smashing their way through in one big blow have so far been frustrated. '