Current Events August 2, 1942; NAZI THRUST MAY CUT OFF STALINGRAD::

     BIG SPRING DAILY HERALD

              BIG SPRING, TEXAS, SUNDAY, AUGUST 2, 1942

Nazi Thrust May Cut Off Stalingrad

Spearheads Push

50 Miles Below

The Don River

MOSCOW, Sunday, Aug. 2 (AP)—German troop* fanning

out into the western Caucasus have reached the Salsk

and Kushcheyka areas, 75 and 50 miles below the Don river,

in a move which threatens to cut Soviet communications with

Stalingrad in the east, the Soviet acknowledged early today

Salsk, 100 miles southeast of Rostov, apparently was

reached by a German drive which crossed the Don in the

Nikolaevsk sector. It is a junction on the Stalingrad-Krasnodar

railroad.

"The enemy pressed our troops back slightly" in the

Salsk area, the midnight communique said. "In stubborn

fighting near a river crossing 1,500 German officers and men

were killed and several dozen tanks destroyed."

Kushchevka, northwest of Salsk, is on the Rostov-Baku

railway which connects with

the Stalingrad - Krasnodar

line at Tikhoretsk.

Only on the approaches to

Stalingrad Itself did the Russians

announce a major success

In the desperate attempt to stop

the Germans.

Subs Attack

Three Ships,

Sink But One

By The Associated PRESS

Submarine attacks upon three

allied merchant vessels, all on the

same day, about 50 miles off the

east coast were disclosed by the

navy yesterday, but only one ship

was sunk and only two seamen

were lost in the encounter.

The vessel sent to the bottom

was a small Nicaraguan ship. A

medium-sized United State merchantman

and a medium-sized

Panamanian cargo carrier safely

reached port along the coast The

one sinking boosted to 407 the

Associated Press tabulation of

announced United and neutral

nation sinking in the western

Atlantic since America's entry Into

the war.

By The Associated Press

Japanese invasion spearheads

steaming south and east from

Japan since Dec, 7, have suffered

the loss of 314 vessels in all

categories, an Associated Press

tabulation of official announcements

disclosed yesterday.

Included in the total are 14 enemy

ships—seven naval craft and

seven merchantmen — whose destruction

by United States air and

sea forces In the Far East is

based on reports received between

July 18 and Aug. 1.