FURIOUS BATTLE AT SMOLENSK

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 2, 28 September 1943, Page 5

FURIOUS BATTLE AT SMOLENSK

Before Germans Left FIGHT IN GALE AND FLOOD (By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Received September 27, 8.20 p.m.) LONDON, September 27. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent says that sacrificial battles, fought out on Herr Hitler’s orders, marked the last stages of the struggle for Smolensk. The German garrison on the day before the final battle was reported to have received a message from Hitler which stated: “Die, -but do not abandon Smolensk.” General lovlev, a native of Smolensk, was in the forefront of the advance, and he spurred his men ou when he saw the city in flames. When the battle-stained Red Army men swept into the city the few inhabitants left of the population of 100,000 rushed to hug the soldiers and offer them humble gifts. The Dnieper rau red at Smolensk in the final battle for the city, when a sudden advance by the Russians in the She vietsky bridge are trapped thousands of German troops, says the Moscow correspondent of the British United Press. The Germans, in their retreat from the city, failed to note the Russians’ sudden pincer movement toward their bridge, and before the enemy could reach safety the Russians swept down between the Germans and the river and cut off their escape. The Germans tried to fight their way out, but were mowed down in thousands along the river bank. Roads Flooded. The correspondent says that the night before the Russians' final assault against Smolensk a great gale swept the countryside, rooting up trees and flooding roads. The Red Army had to press on through ankle-deep mud and across swollen streams and flooded fields guided by a column of smoke over Smolensk, which had been flaming like a torch for four days.

The Russians at daybreak last Tuesday reached the Soloevyev crossing, and pontoon builders the same evening began getting bridges ready for the troops. The sappers worked throughout the night under intense enemy fire and completed the work as dawn approached, and .the Red Army troops made a swift crossing. The German demolition squads inside Smolensk meanwhile blasted, their way from one end to the other till no trace remained of -the ancient monasteries arid churches that were once Smolensk’s pride. Nevertheless, in addition to the frontal assault more Russian troops during the night had been pushed into the battle, and an outflanking movement from the rear boiled up into a seven-hour forest battle in which the Germans fought for every yard. “The Times” in a leader on Smolensk says: “Our defeats were suffered before we were prepared. Germany’s defeats are being inflicted against her after making the greatest preparations ever witnessed in warfare and after her strength has passed its peak. All that Germany set out to gain has been lost forever.”

“FINALLY FREEING LAND”

LONDON, September 26. The “Daily Mail.” in an editorial, says that the capture of Smolensk must rank as one of the most supreme feats of the war The Russians have the satisfaction of knowing they are finally freeing their land from the invader.