MAKING HEADWAY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 July 1943, Page 4

MAKING HEADWAY

SOVIET ASSAULT ON OREL FORTIFICATIONS HEAVY GUNS SHELLING CITY SUCCESS EXTENDING ALSO IN SOUTH. AIR ATTACKS ON GERMAN SUPPLY LINES. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) (Received This Day, 11.30 a.m.) LONDON, July. 22. The Russians, slowly closing in from the north and’ south, are now fighting their way through the concrete fortifications of the main outer defences of Orel, while their heavy guns continue shelling the city from the east. The Germans farther south have been forced to abandon their main Byelgorod defence lines. The Russians in this sector are advancing everywhere. The Russians south of Izyum and south-west of Voroshilovgrad beat off successive German counter-attacks and are now steadily widening thei? bridgeheads on the banks of the Donetz and Mius rivers. German concentrations behind the front lines, particularly in the south, and .also the flow of reinforcements and supplies to all key sectors, are being steadily pounded from the air. According to the German news agency, an additional Russian offensive has been opened in the Leningrad area. The Stockholm correspondent of the British United Press states that the ‘'Social Demokraten’s” Berlin correspondent reports that the Russian invasion fleet of fifty ships is off Vardo, on the north-eastern coast of Norway. German military circles say the Russians plan is to cut off Petsamo and threaten the Finnish front from the rear. The importance the Germans are attaching to the battles proceeding on the Russian front was revealed when one of the Berlin radio’s military commentators said the Russians around Orel and also in the Byelgorod area, apparently intend, by massing tanks in a large-scale offensive, to force a decision in the war. Axis sources continue to report bitter fighting on key sectors of the Russian front, while the Russians claim a steady advance, despite fierce enemy counter-attacks.

BROKEN IN STRONG GERMAN LINE EAST OF OREL. RUSSIANS WITHIN MAIN DEFENCES. (Received This Day, 12.5 p.m.) LONDON, July 22. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent reports that the strong German line east of Ore! has been broken . in the last 24 hours and the Moscow correspondent of the British United Press declares that the Russians are now fighting within the main defences of the city. The bottleneck through which the Axis forces must be evacuated from Orel has been pinched to a mere 25 to 33 miles. Reuter says the Russians are driving down the railway from Mtsensk, 35 miles north-east of Orel and have captured two-thirds of the line between the two towns. By reaching the railway station of’Optukha, in their 20 miles advance, they struck a heavy blow against one of the strongest of the Germans’ defence positions. The Russians have robbed the Germans, not only of the stretch of the Moscow railway running into Orel, but also of an important highway. Both were used to feed the German positions and ward off Russian pressure from the northeast. The Tass News Agency says the Russians, to break the enemy resistance on the Orel front as quickly as possible, are bypassing strongpoints and forcing the Germans to abandon /heir positions by flanking attacks. The “Red Star," commenting on the vital Orel battle, describes .it as a battle of communications, in which the Germans have made every effort to hold the highway and railways running from Orel. “The Germans,” it says, “despite a stiff resistance, failed to hold Optukha or Zolotorevo, between Orel and Yeleta. The capture of these towns means that the Russians have relieved their forces from the fear that any attack could be launched from the Mtsensk pocket.” The Moscow radio states that a German infantry division, totalling about 12,000 men, brought up to the front north of Orel a few days ago, was so badly mauled that its remnants have been formed into one battalion, totalling 750 men. The Tass News Agency says the fight- ■ ing is growing more violent hourly. In one sector south of Isyum hand to hand fighting is frequently occurring. The Germans are making every effort to hold their lines, but the Russians have already succeeded in improving their positions. Fighting, is particularly stiff along the Northern Donetz, where the enemy put up a stubborn resistance at a river crossing, but failed to prevent ( the Russians forcing the river. According to the German news agency, the Russians used parachutists behind the German lines on the Donetz. Hard defensive fighting is going on and both sides are continually throwing in fresh reserves, adds the news agency. Violet fighting has been raging around Leningrad since dawn this morning, the German news agency states. The Russian attack in this sector, it adds, did not surprise the Germans, who had long been aware of the Red Army’s preparations. “The Russians’ attempts to break through the northern wing, when seen in correct perspective, have only the importance of large-scale relief manoeuvres. The Russians at Leningrad, as well as on the Mius and Donetz rivers are merely trying to tie down German forces in order to get a freer hand in the Orel sector,” says the news agency.