The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-05-18

something happened. Unsuspected
 combined with the bitterest winter
 It had been no mean feat of To- gistics for Der Fuehrer to hurl some 20 PanZer divisions into the far flung fray in June. In December
 with the roads clogging with ice and snow, to move up the infantry needed for the clinching blow was more than he could swing. And now he faced a revived and con- f1dent foe to boot.
 The Russians seized the offen- sive abruptly early in December Their impact rivaled that of the opening German drive. All along the 2,000-mile front their resurg- ent forces met success
 From east of Rostov, Marshal Semyon Timoshenkos army slam med back into the Sea of Azov city less than a week after the Nazis en- tered it's streets.
 Hitler Takes Command
 On the Crimea, Sevastopol's long, beleaguered garrison mounted counter-thrust that re-took Balak- lava, where the storied Light Brig ade rode into the jaws of death. Russian parachutists landed behind the Germans peninsular lines.
 In the central Ukraine, Red col umns encircled ruined Kharkov and swept back to the skeleton city of Dnepropetrovsk on the great Dneper bend.
 Before Moscow, Marshal Semyon Budenny's armies rolled back the enemy on both Hanks, seized Moz- haisx - starting point of Hitlers abortive October drive-and probed on toward the Latvian border
 Even the miles-thick ring of steel about Leningrad was partially cut by Soviet spearhead pushing deep into the Valdai hills below the an- cient capital.
 Tacitly admitting the setback, Hitler assumed personal command of the German army. Officially, Berlin complained of the fearful cold" It had reason. Everywhere the Russians were making the most of the Germans inexperience at waging war over freezing snow choked terrain.
 Russians Sweep Westward
 Mounting their troops on skis, their artillery on sleighs and paint ing their tanks white, the Russians outf1anked and annhiliated the stranded Nazis by the thousands. The rutted snow became filtered with the battered hulks of aban- doned materiel.
 By March, the serried front showed Soviet pockets thrown about score of German bases, while the main Red armies swept westward to menace the main Nazi supply lines from the Reich. Towns and rail functions as far as 150 miles west of the maximum Nazi penetration were falling to the flying Red troops.
 Then, late April, the offensive ended as suddenly as it had begun. An ominous Hull descended on the battle lines while the earth hard ened and dried under the warm cPl AA6 oull. IGulllO1S SpIedQ Clldl | the armies of the Reich were mass ing once more. Hitler was reported | marshalling his armor for a decisive | all-out summer campaign.
 The attack lived up to advance billing when it came, late in June. It soon was apparent Hitler was throwing the major part of his forces into his 1942 bid for vic- tory. But this time he made no attempt to strike on all fronts simultaneously. This time the major blow was to the south, and the ob- jective was-oI.
 Between the jaws of giant pin cers drive, the NaIs aimed to ob- tain oil for themselves and to keep oil from Russia. One powerful force was to strike east, seize the Volga river city of Stalingrad and block that great river highway over which four-fifths of Russia's oil flowed north from the Caucasus