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SOVIETS RETIRE FOR FOURTH DAY AT STALINGRAD BULLETIN Moscow, Friday, Sept. 11 (AP).-Soviet Troops have withdrawn from three more populated places west of Stalingrad for the fourth retreat in as many days, the Soviet communication announced early today. - By EDDY GILMORE. Moscow, Sept. 10 (AP).-Russian troops fighting in the first cool rains of Autumn were reported counterattacking tonight on the German flank west of Stalingrad, endangering [[Image]] Moscow announced early this morning that Russian troops have abandoned three more inhabited places west of Stalingrad (1) to Nazis. Fighting was also raging in the streets of Novorossisk (2) and at Mozdok (3). one of the two new wedges which Marshal von Bock's reinforced tanks have pounded into the city's frontal fortifications. On the face of the city and elsewhere the Russian lines refused to break before the increasing German pressure from land and air. Driven Wednesday from two villages before Stalingrad, red soldiers fell back on the western ramparts without confusion, and in one settlement flung back a four-hour assault by a shock troop battalion which had been reinforced by tough storm troopers from the streets of Berlin. Repulsed at Black Sea. Down the Black Sea coast the Germans, who occupy part of the former Soviet naval station of Novorossisk, were trying to land infantry from the sea at the Russian's backs, but, Red dispatches said, they lost at least four cutters and two torpedo boats in the attempt. Frontally the Germans were putting on heavy pressure to get to the center of the city. In the Terek Valley of the deep Caucasus, 50 miles from the Grozny oil fields, the Germans who crossed the river near Mozdok were reported driven back to the water's edge in some places. Several new German river crossings were smashed by strong Soviet airpower. (The German High Command said that strong fortifications at Stalingrad were taken and that 59 Soviet tanks were destroyed when they attempted "relief attacks." More heights were reported taken below Novorossisk; five transports sunk off the Black Sea coast and, in the Terek River sector, Russian counterattacks were said to have been beaten off. The Germans reported an air raid on Astrakhan, at the mouth of the Volga. They also acknowledged that the Russians had resumed their offensive in the Rzhex area northwest of Moscow, but said the attacks were frustrated and 77 Red Army tanks destroyed in a hard battle). Fight Hand to Hand. At Stalingrad, the Luftwaffe was hammering the Russian lines in waves of from six to eight bombers, while in the spacious fields outside the city many bayonet battles were developing. Southwest of the city, the decisive stages of the battle were approaching as the Germans poured in more troops, more tanks, more planes. Tremendous clashes were reported in many parts of this sector, and Nazi ability to draw upon reserves was permitting continuous assault on the Red army defenders. COMMUNICATIONS BRITISH New Delhi, India, Sept. 10 (AP). - British Air Headquarters communication: Successful attacks were made by RAF bombers on an enemy supply ship and its escort in Akyab Harbor yesterday. Several direct hits were scored. A jetty on which suppliers were being unloaded was also hit. Four of our bombers failed to return. Cairo, Sept. 10 (AP).-A joint communication of British General Headquarters and the RAF: During the night of Sept. 8-9 our patrol activities on all fronts continued and there were artillery exchanges in the northern and central sectors. Yesterday our mobile columns and artillery engaged small parties of enemy tanks west of Himeimat. Air activity was on a reduced scale although our light bombers scored hits on lorries on the Sidi Barrani-Matruh road. Long-range fighters show down an ME-109. Our Malta fighters show down two enemy fighters over Sicily. - (Continued on page 40, col. 1) British Launch Battle For All Madagascar London, Sept. 10 (AP).-The British launched a new offensive today to clear the Vichy French from Madagascar after it was learned that Japanese planes had been permitted to reconnoiter the southern part of the island and Japanese submarines had been supplied in secret harbors for attacks on shipping in the Mozambique Channel and Indian Ocean. A well posted London source also said that German spies who had reached Madagascar were being assisted by some local officials on instructions from Vichy. Attack 3 Ports. Sea and air forces opened the attack, which Vichy said was centered on three west coast ports-Majunga, Morondava, and Ambanja. The new move came five months after the British captured the naval base of Diego Suarez at the northern tip of the island, which lies in the western Indian Ocean off Portuguese East Africa. A government statement said the action was necessary to seize complete control to safeguard the convoy routes to Egypt, India, Russia and Australia. The bulk of shipping now proceeds around the Cape of Good Hope instead of through the Mediterranean. The War Office said tonight that operations were "continuing satisfactorily." (The British acted with the full agreement of the United [[Image]] (NEWS map by Staff Artist) British yesterday attacked Morondava, Majunga, and Ambanja (stars) on Madagascar. They captured Diego Suarez last May. States, the State Department announced in Washington, pointing out that the penetration or occupation of any part of Madagascar by the Axis would constitute a definite and serious danger to the United Nations. It added: "The full military occupation of the island by British forces will therefore not only contribute to the successful conduct of the war against the Axis forces but will - (Continued on page 18, col. 1) Island Commands Supply Routes [[Image]] (NEWS map by Staff Artist) Map indicates strategic importance of Madagascar, which lies athwart Allied supply routes in the Indian Ocean. ALLIES POISED FOR NEW GUINEA BLOW Gen. MacArthur's Headquarters, Australia, Sept. 10 (AP).-Green-painted Japanese veterans of Malayan jungle fighting encountered resolute resistance today from Australian troops braced in the lofty wilderness of New Guinea 44 miles from Port Moresby. The probability that an Allied counterattack was in the making was found in the words of Gen. MacArthur, addressed to U.S. troops. He advised the Americans never to let the Japanese attack, but to make it a fundamental principle to attack first whatever their position might be. Equipment Problem. The size of the Japanese force on the south slopes of the Owen Stanley mountains nearing the Allied base was not disclosed, but it was not believed large. Moreover, the foe probably had only light equipment due to the difficulty in transporting tanks and heavy guns through the narrow, jungle-clad mountain passes. Australian troops predominated among the Allied forces opposing the Japanese, although an unspecified number of American service troops including colored men are based on Port Moresby. The tide of the battle was not disclosed. Allied fighters and bombers roared endlessly into the attack. The supply problem of both sides Jap drive on Port Moresby - See Map on Page 24. was aggravated by equatorial rains which made the inadequate dirt roads and trails boggy. Headquarters said the fighting was under conditions of "extraordinary hardship and difficulty" after the Allied positions beyond the mountain summits had been outflanked. The fighting centered around the thatched village of Myola, 4,600 feet above sea level. The Japanese were employing their familiar infiltration tactics that routed the British in Malaya and Burma. Port Moresby is 325 miles from the Australian mainland and has been developed as a base for about eight months. The Allied force there is believed large and capable of swift reinforcement from Australia, provided, of course, that Allied sea power is not too heavily involved in the Solomon Islands and at Milne Bay, at the extreme eastern trip of New Guinea where a Japanese force was beaten and now is being mopped up. Target of Jap Drive in New Guinea [[Image]] (By Associated Press) This is the city and harbor of Port Moresby, Allied base in New Guinea now threatened by Jap drive. DAILY NEWS, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1942
