RUSSIANS TAKE BYELGOROD

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 268, 7 August 1943, Page 5

RUSSIANS TAKE BYELGOROD

Orel Bulge Defences Crumbling

(By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.)

(Received August 6, 1 0 p.m.) LONDON, August 6. The Russians yesterday captured Byelgorod. This was officially announced by Moscow last night. The entire German defence system round the Orel bulge is crumbling swiftly, following the fall of Orel itself. There are indications that the Germans are still falling back west of Orel. Three Russian divisions which took part in the assault are keeping contact with the fleeing enemy., Soviet aircraft in great strength are taking heavy toll of the enemy.

North-west of Orel, the Germans are still resisting stubbornly. They threw Tiger tanks into the battle, but all were smashed. Orel this morning was reported to be still burning. Moscow describes how Byelgorod, 165 miles south of Orel, fell. Red Army gunners put up a devastating barrage, while infantry was massed for the final assault. Under a heavy cover of jilanes, the troops burst into the town, which was soon captured. The fall of Byelgorod threatens the German position at Kharkov, 45 miles south of Byelgorod, which controls the road and rail communications for the enemy’s southern front. M Stalin, in an order of the day, stated: “Yesterday troops of the Bryansk front, supported from the flanks by troops of the western and central fronts, as a result of fierce fighting, occupied Orel Furthermore, today troops of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts broke the enemy’s resistance and occupied ByelS “A month ago, on July 5, the Germans launched a super-offensive from Orel and BvelEorod, aiming to wipe out the boviei troops in the Kursk bulge and occupy Kursk. Repelling all enemy attacks, our troops went over to a counter-offensive and, just a month after the beginning of the German offensive, have occupied Orel and Byelgorod. Thus the German myth that the Soviet troops were unable to carry out a summer offensive has been destroyed.” Salute to Troops. . Stalin announced that the Soviet divisions responsible for the victories would in future be known as the Orel and “Byelgorod” divisions. He added: A. midnight,'the capital, Moscow, will salute the valiant troops which liberated Oiel and Byelgorod by 12 artillery salvos fired from 120 guns. I offer my thanks to ad the troops who took part in this operation. Eternal glory to all men who fell in the fight. Death to the German invaders." . .... A Moscow communique said that ou more places were captured yesterday to the north-west, south, and south-west ot Ol The Moscow correspondent of the “Daily Express” said yesterday that tne Russians had launched a now drive, threatening Bryansk, the Germans next hedgehog city. . Other Russian forces were completing mopping up at Orel, where German rearguards were fighting stubbornly iu the streets. The Germans were attempting to slow up the Russians west of Orel, keeping up a ceaseless artillery barrage. According to a Moscow military spokesman said the Moscow correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” yesterday, the fleeing German garrison aimed to escape from 'brel with as many men as possible to the temporary shelter of Bryansk. Xhe Russians from north and south were tryin- to eut them off and close the pincprs tit Karachev, 25 miles east of Bryansk. The fate of from 150,000 to 200,000 Germans was being decided in the forests along the tracks west of Orel; The Russians were certain to gain enormous booty, masses of artillery, and tanks. “Pravda” said that there were thousands of German dead and that mountains of scrap-iron littered tne battlefield in the wake of the Nazis. Commentators in London say that toe fall of Orel will affect the cohesion of the whole enemy front and expose Smolensk to grave flanking danger. The “Evening Standard’s” military writer says that the capture of Orel is the first great success for the Red Army’s offensive power. All previous Soviet successes followed Red Army counter-offen-sives which exploited exhaustion of the Nazi attack. This deliberate offensive was mounted after months of preparation, and was carried out in spite of FieldMarshal von Kluge’s spoiling attack. Orel is at onco a grave blow to the Germans and an even greater threat to them in the future.

The “Daily Mail” says that Orel is certainly the greatest Russian victory of the war. The psychological effects will be terrific, because the German people have been tauglit to regard Orel as a symbol of their military strength- The strategical effects will be felt on every sector of the Russian front.