ENCOURAGING PROGRESS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 203, 29 August 1942, Page 5

ENCOURAGING PROGRESS

RUSSIAN DRIVE AT RJEV CRITICAL STALINGRAD POSITION (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copy right I (Reed. 9.30 p.m.) London, Aug. 27. Although the Russian drive on the central front continues to progress encouragingly, there is still no evidence that it has brought any marked relief for Marshal Timoshenko s hard-pressed forces bc.fore Stalingrad and in the Caucasus. Stalingrad’s position remains very critical, even discounting the Vichy report that German advanced units had reached the Volga and the Dubovka and were advancing southwards. The latest German High Command statement on the operations in this area claims that a German tank division yesterday drove 25 miles into heavily-fortified positions south-westward of Stalingrad, but there is no indication that this brings the invaders closer to Stalingrad than was earlier reported. The Germans in this sector are hurling more and more reinforcements into battles whose ferocity, correspondents report, is unparalleled throughout the war in Russia.

Berlin reports, which a few days ago were confidently proclaiming that the fall of Stalingrad was only a question of days, are now more cautious and refer to the exk tremely difficult fighting before ( the city, indeed, a Berlin military spokesman warned journalists not to expect Stalingrad to fall quickly, adding: “The Russians have many times shown surprising aptitude to bring in large reinforcements at the last minute and have succeeded in converting apparently already accomplished i defeats into long, stagnant deadlocks, notably at Leningrad and ■Moscow in 1941.” The Germans’ chief Caucasus effort is now seemingly directed towards the Caspian, and tney are now probably within oO miles or Groznyi. The Russians, who are greatly outnumbered, continue stoutly io prevent German efforts to cross the river in the vicinity ot Mosdok. The British United Press corre- . spOxif.ent reports tnat the Germans k are also pushing down the main railT way io the Caspian in an effort to reach Gudermes, where the Germans would then control the branch line to Groznyi. The Moscow correspondent of the Daily Telegraph points out that the German progress to Mosdok represents an advance of 35 miles in tnree days. The Russians operating on the central front promise tne complete liquidation of the dangerous Rjev pocket—dangerous because Rjev is a potential springboard tor the resumption of attacks against Kalinin and Moscow. Bitter street lighting is raging in Rjev. The Germans are putting up a desperate resistance for tne city, upon whose very high strategical importance ail correspondents agree. Russians from the northern outskirts are steadily working their way towards the centre of the town, but it is a slow, grim job. Moscow newspapers do not hide the sanguinary character of the lighting nor the bitterness of the ' German resistance, which Prav-ua describes as “the strength of despair.’’ Meanwhile other Russian forces arc battering southward against the Rjev bulge, liberating village after village ara steadily overcoming what tne Daily Telegraph’s Stockholm correspondent describes as the world’s strongest and deepest system of fortifications. The Stockholm representative ol The Times describes the Rjev offensive as the greatest in importance since Marshal Timoshenkos spring move against Kharkov. The correspondent points out that heavy Russian pressure extends southwards beyond Kalagi to the Orel region. The British United Press Moscow correspondent says the scope of the Russian offensive is widening both northward and southward of Rjev. I and the envelopment of the powerful I German garrison at Gjatsk is nov. i threatened. Izvestia stresses that the Kus- I . sian reserves are far from ex- . k haustion. Only part of those available for the central front operations are at present being used. The Moscow correspondent of The Times declares that when the Russian offensive began the Germans had 150,0u0 first-grade troops esconced in i strong positions. MOSCOWJHRILLED CENTRAL OFFENSIVE I Moscow. Aug. 27. The news of the V iaznia-Kjev | offensive has thrilled Moscow. Rumours of rt had spread ; throughout the capital for days, but last night’s communique was the first public reference. Pravda says that masses of artillery, mor tars, and planes are involved in ’ stubborn, bloody battles. Russians] have brokn into Rjev from the north, and street fighting is progressing. Russian tanks further to the north are j k, going into battle in the rear of the ! German fortifications. Rjev itself is j in ruins. The Germans have strongly fortified this district, and their ferro- j concrete dug-outs are engineering ‘ feats. The Germans have orders to stop the Russians at all costs, and are efinging to every inch of ground, but the Russian artillerv is pounding the fortifications, tanks are destroying the German dug-outs, and automatic riflemen are finishing off the German. 1 trying to escape from the ruined dugouts. The Russian troops are moving forward yard by yard, occupying trench after trench. Each trench holds dozens of German dead, many ma-chine-guns and rifles, and sometimes, whole . batteries. The Germans are loath to leave their blockhouses, and scores are buried beneath their debris. Dozens of prisoners, exhausted and dishevelled, are being sent to the Russian rear. j STRUGGLE AT RJEV RUSSIANS STORM SUBURB (Recd. 11.30 p.m.) London. Aug. 28. The latest reports from Moscow claim that the Russians stormed and captured Rjev’s suburbs. Street fighting is now in progress near the city’s heart. One Russian force is reported to have by-passed the city. The Moscow correspors.ent of the Daily Express says the Russians have captured Sychevka, on the railway between Rjev and Viazma, thus cutting a vital German supply line. The Russians yesterday threw back / ten German attacks qorth-westward of Stalingrad and eleven south-west--1 ward.

BIG TANKBATTLE NORTH-WEST OF STALINGRAD GERMANS BLID WHITE Rugby, Aug. 27. Defensive fighting with enemy tanks and motorised infantry at Mozi dok. 70 miles west of Grozny and 150 miles from the coast of the Caspian Sea. is mentioned in a supplementary Soviet communique. Several more localities have been occupied on the central front, where the Russians are making further advances. The latest dispatches speak of street fighting on the outi skirts of Rjev, where the Germans are reported to be resisting fiercely and desperately and are trying to cling to this important rail and road centre. Last winter the Red Army half encircled Rjev. but the Germans, determined to hold the town at any cost, reinforced the six divisions operating in that area by three in July and five more in August. They have also continued to strengthen the fortifications of adjacent, towns. Rjev is nearly 700 miles from Stalingrad, and even if

the Germans wished to transfer to the central from some of their strength from the Stalingrad and Caucasian fronts it is doubtful if the communications are sufficiently good to make .such an operation quickly feasible. Thus the Russian offensive in the centre is not regarded in informed circles as likely to have any immediate effect on the situation around Stalingrad, which iema ; ns serious. A Moscow message states that a terrific lank battle lias been raging for a second day and night northwest of Stalingrad, with hundreds of tanks and scores of planes massed on either side. The Germans, who have suffered enormous losses, with many regiments bled white, are reported lo be stemmed, but, as always, new reserves are brought up and flung into the battle. Large-scale dog-fights in the ail , are a frequent feature of the present battles, and the Isvestia says tne Germans have brought in their best Lul’twaffe units. Soviet bombers and antitank Stormoviks have macle success- > ful raids on enemy aerodromes and wrecked scores of planes which were ■ ready to take off. In the Prokhladnaya area, in the Caucasus, fierce fighting is going on for river crossings. Russian mortals and artillery batteries wrecked two ' bridgeheads and routed an enemy 1 motorised column.-- 8.0.W.