The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-06-23
Blasting Alr Bases

MNMN01MK AMr 1@NcS AN reports from the eastern wal front said that the Mttwatfe waS blasting Soviet atr bases and com Munlcatlon lines an Q scale com, parable to the first two days of hos. tillties against Poland,
 The offciAl news agency said that strong German bomber and dee- troyer plane formations had infiict, cd severe destruction" on Russian railroads, highways, tank and Nrtil. lery columns, Russian columns ad. vaneing to the front were reported smashed by the NaSi air attack,
 Many tanks and heavy guns aS we'll as amMunitions dumps and troop barracks weer destroyed, the ofteial agency said, A large number of Russian planes were destroyed ou the ground, 1t added,
 Russian and British air attacks on East Prussia, north Germany and the Rhlneland were admitted otsi- eially,
 The high command said that Ger man submarines in the North At. lantlo and on the West African coast had sunk six merchantmen totaling 20,500 tons,
 Inc offlelal news agency reported that several Soviet coastal vessels had been sunk by NAxi speedhoatS in the Baltic Seq,
 Weak Russian Bombs
 It was satd that "weAk" Russian aerial forces dropped "a few" bombs on East Prussia, causing limited" damage before they were forced by anti-atrcraft fire to turn back,
 The British forces which rAided northern Germany and the Rhine- land were said also to have been weak and to have been turned back by gun fire,
 Reports ot the fighting on tho Russian front were indefinite though they indicated that the German troops were making progress, Afternoon newspapers said hght- ing was going on at many points "on this gigantic front on which hrun- dreds of thousanlds of German and Allied trops stand"
 They said that tho high command was confronted with new and tn many respects WniQue tasks,
 "The difileulties of the task must not he under-eStimated," Zwoelf- Uhr-nlatt said, "The great lengtl, of the front, the special condition of the terrain, the huge SwampS tho iMmeasNrahle forests and lack of roads and railroads give tho de- fender many possibilities Of resist. Anee and increase tho difiieultieS oi the advance and 6 break through
 The papers expressed contidenee that the army would succeed in Its new task and ended their dispatches with such statements as, "The ban. ner of the new German army which waves over . front Of 1900 miles will he carried eaStwards," Attack As Surprise A correspondent at the front wired the Montag regarding tho thrust from East Prussia:
 "The German attack was directed ct a long prepared position. Il came as Q surprise, however, ant lt broke into the enemy lines. 0nly la particularly heavily fortiiiet stretches of the frontier was Artil, lery preparation used,
 "The German advance was oi such surprising striking power that even In the early stages 1t blasted many Of the enemy hopes"
 The plan of campaign was knowr only to Hitler and Q few of the highest army leaders, Meager re. ports indicated that lighting wa going on at both the East PrusSiar and Rumanian fronts.
 The first eommunique from the German -Rumanian front said:
 The fight from the mountains oi Hukovina to the Black Sea began June a."
 It remained to Do seen whether this would develop into 6 pincers movement.
 NaSl Bombcrs Effective
 It was asserted officially that German bombing, dive bombing and destroyer planes had destroyed in. StallationS at many Russian ais fields and that motorized columns groups of tanks, munitions depots and railroads in Russian territory had been bombed.
 Garrison buildings and 9ortiflca. tions were severely damaged In va. saous raids, it was asserted,
 German fighter planes were said to have destroyed ct least SS of SV Russian planes which attacked military objectives in German Pc. lano yesterday, and seven of Q for. nation Of nine Martin bombs (mads from American patents in Russia were shot down when they raided East Prussia yesterday.
 Russia airplane losses are mount. Ing from hour to hour" 1t wal said.
 Sehastopol Hit
 It was announced that SebaStopol in the Crimea, was among the oh. jeeuves bombed by German planes
 German speed boats yesterday torpedoed and sank Q A,000 tor teaMmship in Russian waters anc destroyed . large Russian flshina ship.
 Propaganda company reports indi. cated that the Germans had takeT the Russians by surprise.
 Their stories said that the Ger. mans croased the Bug river in col lapslble boats under cover Of ay artificial fog. They lowed a pon, toca bridge which waA anchored on the Mumian slde, the Eopogl0FI