Daily Post - 04.02.1943, Side 1

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London, February 3rd.
ln Russia, the last remnants oj the German Sixth Army
at Stalingrad, have heen entirely liquidated, and as the German
people has heen orderd into mourning, Hitler’s garrison at Ro-
stov is already hearing the rumble of heavy Red Army guns.
Bostov Gap Glosing
Rosfov Battle Begins
Hitler Orders Mourning For
Stolingrad Defeat
Gaucasus Trap Closing
Rostov, the grain export capi
tal on the Don, is already wit-
hin ránge of heavy Soviet guns
and dispatches from Moscow
war correspondents report that
its outer defences are being
shelled. It is predicted that the
battle for Rostov will be just
as tough as was the battle for
Stalingrad.
FIERCE STRUGGLE AHEAD
Rostov has changed hands three
times since the beginning of the
war and with the greatly
strengthened German defences
presents a most formidable ob-
stacle. It is estimated that the
city and its defence perimeter
are garrisoned by a quarter of
a million men, whose position
is much stronger than was the
Sixth Army’s at Stalingrad.
The most immediate threat to
Rostov comes from the south-
east, where Soviet columns
have made rapid advance since
the capture of Salsk. It is not
known just how near the city
this force has reached, but ac-
cording to the latest official re-
ports it was less than 30 miles
away from the railway yester-
day, and was steadily narrow-
ing the German escape corridor
from the Caucasus, which now
can at the most be only some
50 miles wide. The Russian for-
ce which captured Tikhoretsk
has advanced another 20 miles,
and captured the town of Pav-
lovskaya. It is threatening
more and more the branch lin-
es left to the Nazis, and its next
important óbjective is Kushev-
skaya, which connects with
Yeisk and Akhtari, both ports
on the Sea of Azov. In addition
to this our Allies report the
capture of yet another import-
ant railway town on the line
to Krasnodar.
The Soviet drive west of Vor-
onesh is still making good
headway, and during the night,
two large inhabited places, and
hundreds of prisoners were
taken by our Allies. Further
south the threat to Kursk has
increased with ‘the capture of
13 more places by the Russians
who rounded up many prison-
ers in the course of these op-
erations. A most successful at-
tack was made on the enemy
aerodrome at Voroshilovgrad,
where 23 German planes were
destroyed on the ground.
In the lower Don area, all
German counter-attacks have
been thrown back, and some
progress is reported by our Al-
lies. The Germans also admit
losing some ground south of
Lake Ladoga.
Staliograd Battle Ends
Last night Moscow announ-
ced officially that the German
Sixth Army at Stalingrad had
finally been entirely liquidat-
ed, on the 189th day of this,
one of the greatest battles in
all history.
In the last few days, the
number of prisoners taken by
the Russians has increased by
45,000, and these include the
commander of the German 11
armoured division, Lieut. Gen.
Strecker, and a large number
of troops who surrendered on
hearing that Field Marshal
Paulus had been taken prisoner
Among those who were the
last to give in, were a number
of SS men, who had feared to
surrender because of the atro-
cities they had committed on
the Russian population.
Papen Recslled
London, February 3rd.
Messages from Ankara
report to-day that von Papen
Germany’s Ambassador to
Turkey, has been called to
Berlin, to report on his
talks with Turkish officials,
after Mr. Churchill’s visit to
that country.
Since the battle of annihila-
tion began, on January the
lOth, some 91,000 prisoners
have been taken. Heading the
list are Field Marshal Paulus,
Lieut. General Strecker and
24 other generals, together
with 2,500 other officers of
high rank. The booty is en-
ormous. It includes 750 air-
craft, 1,550 tanks, 15,600 guns,
mortars and machine guns, 56
locomotives, 61,000 lorries and
other vehicles, and 90,000 rifl-
es. There are still huge quan-
tities of stores and equipment to
be counted.
NATIONAL MOURNING
It was disclosed in the Ber-
lin Radio to-day that the Ger-
man nation has been ordered to
go into three day’s mourning
for the loss of the German
Sixth Army at Stalingrad, the
latest victims of the Fuehrer’s
intuition. All threatres and
cinemas in the Reich will also
be closed for three days. —
Little Goebbels is going all out
to build up Field Marshal Pau-
lus and his men as a band of
super martyrs.
RUSSIAN FORCES RELEAS-
Messages from Moscow re-
port that the end of the Stal-
ingrad battle has released large
Russian forces for action else-
where. These forces are report
ed to be being rushed to take
part in a three-pronged drive
on Kupiansk, together with the
Red Army divisions driving
westwards from Voronezh.
Stop Press
A special communiqué issued by Moscow late to-night,
? announces two new smashing Red Army successes: the cutt-
í
ing of the only railway line by which the German forces in
')
( the Caucasus could have escaped to Rostov, — together with
the capture of Kushevskaya — and the capture of Kupiansk,
! the extremely important railway junction 60 miles east of
Kharkov, connecting Kharkov, Kursk and the Donetz Basin.
Two more resounding Russian successes were also an-
? nounced at the same time: the cutting of the railway line be-
tween Kursk and Orel, and the capture of Krasniliman, a
; town 60 miles due cast of Stalino, the capital of the Donetz
j Basin.