The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-11-04

sure en the new Red army defense
 alme along the Donets and Don rive
 ers ia an efSort to sweep past RoS-
 tov.
 Ivan Malsly, Soviet ambassador
 ln London, was quoted as saying
 that "there arc trying days ahead
 .. but now more than ever We are
 certain of ultimate victory" ! The Russians apparently still
 were on the offensive on the Lenin-
 grad front and reported they had ' defeated e two-day attack on the
 Ttlla sector of the Moscow front af- [ ter receiving an estimated 100000
 achievements from the east, but < at seq the Germans claimed to have
 sunk or damaged a total of 50 Brit
 ish and Russian wells in Atlantic
 and Black Sea battles. The Nazis
 said that their planes were contin- ually hammering Soviet forces at-
 tempting to escape Q new Black
 sea Dunkirk" in the Crimea.
 Tn Che Far East, Australian dis patches quoted Prime Minister
 John Curtin as saying that the British empire was holding discuss sions of immense importance" ap- parentiy in regard to Japan.
 yaps To Cut Burma Road
 The Japanese were believed in London and Singapore to be pre-. pairing for an early effort to cut the Burma road supply line for American and British goods to the Chungking government of China athrIist which might easily bring them Into conflict with the British In Burma. ..-.... 5 There was . growing belief that , Japan would move in the south < rather than in the north against : Siberia, on the grounds that If Rus 7 sia collapses under German attack the Japanese aims in the north can , Ae achieved without military opera , tionS. In that connection, 1t was pointed out that the Tokyo press had been emphasizing statements : that Japan was in position to negotiate Q settlement Of the Rus- Vlan-G German war. On the other hand, the materials ' Especially oiO most needed by Japan are In the south and 1t is there that the Tokyo press has di- ] Rected its greatest attenion in as- ? BeSing that Japan must quickly break through the alleged British American economic encirclement. The growing intensity of the press demands indicated that & final de- cision was near and that It might come this month because Of the acc ton oe Britain and America in steadily strengthening military po- 6itionS in the South Seas. 5000 Japs Massed The 6apaneSe, with some 90,000 troops @aSSed in 1ndo-China for possible drive on Thailand or the Burma road. insisted that the cab- met of Premier Gen. HidckI Tojo would pursue independent action" wouldin regard to the Axis. But there was increasing pressure from Tokyo newspapers for e final deci- sion on whether Japan would resort Ito force in an attempt to break out of the American British economic encirclement designed to frustrate any future military expansion by the Japanese.
 still another field of battle ap- peared likely In Finnish waters as . result of Helsinki's apparent re- fusaI to negotiate on c Russian peace offer despite urging by the United States.
 The American request that Fin land negotiate or risk losing the friendship of Washington was met by silence in Helsinkl but a Nazi SD 9kesnaan in Berlin characterized 1t as "an arrogant demand by the Washington ghetto gangstefs."
 The spokesman said that Europe's answer would be e refusal to per- init the United States to interfere and insult 1t. and dispatches from Sweden indicated that German pressure would prevent Finland from taking any action even if the Helstnki government desired. The result, 1t was believed in London, might be an early declaration of war by Britain against Finland, Hungary and RurnAnia, aS re- Quested by the S0vaets.
 Blows Are Important i These diplomatic blows and cou1- tor.blowS were aS important in the worldwide picture of war as the reports from the fronts, but the Atlantic conflict continued to push the struggle closer to American shores.
 Berlin reported that German sub- marines and airplaneS operating against enemy forces from the Att lAntic to the Black Seq and in the Mediterranean had:
 Sunk II ships totaling S3,000 tons and one destroyer in the Atlantic, All torpedoed.
 Damaged three other ships and one destroyer, all torpedoed.
 Sunk three ships of 10000 tons c1g Scotland, all air bombed.
 Sunk or damaged one ship oil the Shetland Islands, air bombed.
 Sunk or damaked 90 Russian ships in the Black Sea in two days of aerial attacks on Soviet forces ate seInpting to carry out another "Dun- kirk evacuation" of the Crimea. Most of these were described as transports.
 Sunk Q British submarine in the Mediterranean. (Claimed by Rome).
 NAzl CommAnders Lost
 At the same time, the Germans formally acknowledged the loss of three of their mose famous U-boat commanders, including the youthful commander 0uenther Prien, who carried out one of the boldest ex- ploits of the war by sneaking into the British base at Scapa Flow and tOEpedoing the battleship oval Oak. On the land front in the Crimea, the Germans said that the Russian forces were defeated by the continu.