Evening star., 1941-06-27
Take Positions
.0n Routes 10
Riga and Minsk
Red Forces Reform
For New Military
Operations
Earlier Stories on Page AID

B! the Associated Press.
Loss of panzer-b battered posi-
tionS on the roads to Riga and
Minsk, permitting in one sector
a 120-mile German penetration
of RuSSia'S western frontier
buffer zone, was indicated in to-
nights Kremlin communique.
The retirement in the Siauliai and
Wilma sectors of Lithuania and the
BaranowicZe sector of Poland was
carried out last night under the
few, precious hours of darkness and
then the Red forces reformed for
new military operations" the COM
munique said.
1t appeared that the three sectors
had been abandoned-Siauli on
the Baltic route to Riga, capital of
Sovietized Latvia. and Wilma and
Baranowicze, barriers to pincers
movement aimed at MinSk, capital
of White Russia, about 400 miles
southwest of Moscow.
Baranowicze, deepest of the three
within the occupied buffer zone, is
120 miles from the nearest German
frontier. 1t is about 30 miles from
the border of old Russia, where the
Red Army has older and stronger
Notifications from which to fight.
r. A. F. Blasts Invasion Coast.
Thus Germany pushed her eastern
front deeper into Russian terri
tory, while on her western front.
with the coming of European dark
ness, the r. A. F. blasted at the in
vasion coast in the 18th consecutive
night of raiding.
Informed German quarters, dis
playing optimism not borne out by
any officially published details from
| the high command, declared the
main decision over Soviet Russia
already had been won in victories
/ all along the 1,000-mile active front.
The Russians acknowledged that
their forces had fallen back before
a German mechanical thrust to
new positions in defense of Wilma
( and Baranowicze
Tank Losses Claimed.
! The Wilma -BaranoWicze drive cost
the Germans heavily in tanks,
pounded into twisted wreckage by
planes used as "anti-tank artillery"
/ the Russians claimed.
/ The German radio declared that
Bavarians dispersed Russian forces
in heavy fighting today and seized
a number of large guns. The site
was not identified. Bavarian noun
tain troops destroyed more than 100
Soviet armored cars in battle at
close quarters, the radio broadcast
heard in New York said.
DNB. German official news
agency, in the closest approach thus
far to factual report on the Ger
man position, said two major battles
were raging in the regions of Lwow
and Bialystok, Poland, where the
high command said massed Red
forces were encountered at the out
set of the campaign.
The now familiar rumble of eX-
ploding bombs rolled across the
English Channel from the new r.
a. F. assault on the invasion coast.
The nocturnal foray followed one
hour daylight raid on the German
held French coast in which Polish
pilots were reported authoritatively
to have destroyed three grounded
MesserschmittS.
British Experts In Moscow.
Ready for close war collaboration
with Russia against their common
foe, British military and economic
experts arrived by plane in Moscow
today, accompanied by the British
Ambassador, Sir Stafford Cripps.
Sir Stafford quickly presented the
mission of top-ranking British mill
tary and civilian officials and the
diplomatic staff of the British EN-
bassy to Soviet Foreign Commissar
Vyacheslav Molotov.
1t. Gen. F. N. Mason Macfarlane
headed the delegation, which also
included Acting Col. 1. G.. EXham,
Rear Admiral G. J. A. Myles, Air
Vice Marshal A. c. Collier and Lau-
renee Cadbury, representing the
Bank of England
Their coming had been indicated
to the Soviet people yesterday in a
press report that British Foreign
Secretary Anthony Eden had in
formed the House of Commons Of
Russias acceptance of the mission.