GERMAN PROBLEM

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 November 1943, Page 4

GERMAN PROBLEM

ON THE EASTERN FRONT MAY BE OVERWHELMED IN RETREAT OR ENCIRCLEMENT IF THEY DANGER OF GIANT TRAP CLOSING (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 11.25 a.m.) LONDON, November 11. The Red Army is ceaselessly pouring men and supplies into the semi-circular area it occupies on the west bank of the Dnieper. The area is 100 miles wide at its base, with a perimeter of well over, 150 miles. The Germans’ chief fear of encirclement is from the movement south of Kiev. They are notoriously sensitive to encirclement since Stalingrad. The Germans are faced with a dilemma. If they begin to pull out of their prepared positions around Krivoi Rog and Nikopol, there is a danger that the Russians, waiting in great strength in the area from Kremenchug to Dnepropetrovsk, may overwhelm them. Alternatively, the longer the Germans stay in the Dnieper bend, the greater are the chances of General Vatutin closing his giant trap. The Red Army so far has occupied half cif Kiev Province. The Russian Air Force is now operating from aerodromes on the west bank of the Dnieper and big Russian forces are still crossing the river from the east, above and below Kiev. The German news agency’s commentator, Von Hammer, admitted that the Red Army, throwing in ever fresh units, has succeeded in gaming several miles of the Kiev-Jitomir Road and that battles continue with undiminished vigour.

A hard battle is going on in the Kerch Straits, under tempestuous winds, driving rain and high seas, as Russian supply vessels run the German blockade and bring men and munitions to the Crimea bridgehead, reports Reuter’s Moscow correspondent. The Russians last week had critical moments when they were nearly pushed back to the sea, but now they have a firm grip on the peninsula.

IMMENSE SWEEP

ACROSS THE WESTERN UKRAINE PREPARING WAY FOR WINTER OFFENSIVE (Received This Day, 10.40 a.m.) LONDON, November 11. General Vatutin’s immense sweep across the Western Ukraine from Kiev is preparing the way for the first big blow of the winter campaign and a huge new Russian offensive is in the offing,” declares the British United Press Moscow correspondent. The German High Command is likely soon fully to appreciate the meaning of 'grabbing the bear by the tail,’ but a comparative lull is likely to precede new action.” ‘‘The wiping out of the German positions on the Lower Dnieper and the 8 fall of Kiev must entail a regrouping and redistribution of Russian forces,” the correspondent continues. “Nevertheless, the Russian High Command's complete control of the situation will enable the Red Army to redistribute its troops to any points required. On the other hand the advances of the forces of General Vatutin and General Malinovsky, west of Kiev and south-west of Dnepropetrovsk, compel the Germans to concentrate all their available reserves in these sectors, thereby minimising their chances of regrouping their forces and meeting new Russian thrusts on other fronts. The Germans at present are unable to move strategic reserves without risking a complete Russian break through.” The first snow has fallen on the ‘ Western Ukraine and the Kiev plains are white, says Reuter’s Moscow correspondent, but the first taste of winter thus far has not slowed down General Vatutin’s thrust, which has already penetrated the Jitomir Province. The Russians at some points are only about 25 miles from Jitomir. The Germans are expected strenuously to defend Jitomir and Berdichev, because these bastions protect their big river defences. WHOLESALE FLIGHT GERMANS FROM UKRAINE & POLAND FINDING THEIR OWN WAY BACK (Received This Day, 10.40 a.m.) LONDON, November 11. All German civilians in the Ukraine and in unspecified parts of Poland have been ordered to evacuate westward, says the Berlin • correspondent of the Stockholm newspaper “Social Demokraten.” Masses of refugees fleeing westward have been seen in Lwow and Cracow, and also at Minsk, in White Russia. Because of the impossibility of carrying out an evacuation by railway —all German transport in Russia has been mobilised for military use —the settlers have been told to find their own way back. They must trek back to Germany on foot if they cannot find transport. As they retreat westward across Russia, the Germans are driving thousands of Russian civilians before them. The German news agency says the Soviet troops in Russia are advancing into a vacuum, because villages and towns have been emptied of their civilian populations. The news agency adds that German plans to evacuate wide stretches of countryside were made long ago. Reuter’s Zurich correspondent says: “Panicstricken by the Russian advance, the population of Bessarabia is in headlong flight from its homes. Roads are crammed with all kinds of vehicles, while trains to Rumania are literally stormed, chiefly by colonists settled in the province after the Germans and Rumanians captured it in 1:941.

RED ARMY TROOPS

ALREADY WEARING WINTER CLOTHING. SKI BATTALIONS PREPARING FOR ACTION. (Received This Day, 12.30 p.m.) LONDON, November 11. The British United Press reports that Red Army troops whom the High Command is moving into action on the central and northern fronts are already equipped with winter gear, including flapped fur hats, padded suits and felt boots. Ski battalions are preparing for action. A report from Berne says that winter equipment for 300,000 men was lost by the Germans during their autumn retreat. Captain Sertorius, speaking over the Berlin radio tonight, said it had become apparent that, in order to maintain its offensive, the Russian command had used up the manpower reserves of its giant empire to an extent surpassing even general estimates of the Stalin system, with its ruthless lack of consideration for human lives. The Soviet night communique says troops of the First Ukrainian Army captured Radomsyl and Brusilov, district centres in the Jitomir region, besides over 100 inhabited places. The Russians also captured the railway stations of Teterev and Chernyavka. Several strongly fortified centres of resistance were captured on the west bank of the Dnieper, south of Ryechitsa. The Red Army in the Kerch Peninsula improved its positions and extended its bridgehead.