Snamenka Falls To Russian Arms

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 294, 11 December 1943, Page 5

Snamenka Falls To Russian Arms

WITAL RAIL CENTRE %

Konev's Forces Triumph After Fierce Fighting

(N.Z.P.A and B.O.W.—Rec. 12.30 p.m.) ' T r> A ci. r, LONDON, December 10. M tl *S 1 Day ' 1 addresse d to General Konev Marsha Stalin say. troop, on the second Ukrainian front con! toued to develop the offensive, and as the result o f three days of fierce fighting occupied the town of Snamenka The fall of Snamenka the most important railway communications centre in the Dnieper bend, opens the enemy's Dnieper bend line in its critical central sector and endangers the whole front which the Germans have built up in the bend in an effort to stem the Red Army's drive south-weetwards. The capture of Snamenka increases the threat to the whole of the German positions west of the Lower Dnieper River. The Russians have already extended their hold on the railway between Snamenka and Nikolayev. The British United Press correspondent in Moscow says panzer units fiercely resisted the Red Army's onslaught against Snamenka. An enemy column of 70 tanks was forced to withdraw after 27 tanks had been knocked out.

The Army newspaper Red Star says the Red Army, owing to the marshy ground, used only one motorised regiment. The prize was largely taken by tank and artillery units. Marshal Stalin's Order of the Day, mentioning units which distinguished themselves in the capture of the town, included an airborne division. "•

Reuters correspondent says that big Russian forces released by the fall of Snamenka are converging from the north, from the east and from the north-east against Kirovograd, while farther to the south-east huge forces are massing to begin new struggles for the possession of Krivoi Rog, which for two months has been the pivot of German resistance inside the Dnieper bend.

As the result of General Konev's men forcing their way along the valley of the Ingulets River, a tributary of the Dnieper, from Petrovo, fierce battles are being fought only 20 miles north of Krivoi Rog and, with Lieutenant-General Malinovsky's men threatening from the north-east, the Germans in the Krivoi Rog area are redoubling the vigour of their resistance.

The Germans, with their railway communications cut, are rushing reinforcements to the Dnieper, bend by air, says Reuters correspondent. The previous examples of Stalingrad and Orel have shown that the arrival of German airborne reinforcements usually means the last resort, and has been the precursor of big defeats for the enemy.