FATE OF WARSAW

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 2, 27 September 1944, Page 7

FATE OF WARSAW

Shelled By Friends And Foes PATRIOTS FIGHT ON (By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Received September 26, 8 p.m.) LONDON, September 25. “Warsaw has ceased to exist. It is obliterated as no other town has ever been,” said a German news agency war reporter over the Berlin radio. He went on to claim that patriot resistance in the ctiy has been completely quelled. The latest communique from General Bor. commander of the Polish Home Army, not only indicates that the patriots in Warsaw are still fighting strongly, but claims that in the centre of the city Polish units have taken a German point of resistance. The German report continues: “The last nest of resistance in the eity, which stretched over a few hundred yards along the north bank of the Vistula, has been silenced. Russian troops who penetrated the Praga district came too late to prevent the collapse of the rising inside the city. With this rising Warsaw itself has died. The city is nothing but a heap of rubble. ‘ The Germans mowed down the Russian relief forces which approached in assault boats, and the San bridge across the Vistula is again in German hands. Though a Russian attempt to build a bridge across the Vistula failed, they are going to try it again.” Shattering Bombardment.

General Bor’s communique reports that Warsaw, which was the first city the Germans bombed when they marched into Poland in 1939, is now living through another shattering bombardment, this time from the Russians’ guns. The Germans have also mounted guns on railway wagous, and are maintaining a harassing fire against the partisans’ positions.

“Constant wireless communication is being maintained with Soviet headquarters on the east bank of the Vistula,” states General Bor’s communique. “Polish observers are frequently directing the fire of the Soviet artillery. On the sofithfern outskirts of Warsaw there is increasing movement of enemy units from the battlefront. During the night a violent battle between Soviet and German artillery took place,, the Russians showing definite superiority. Last Bridge Destroyed.

“The Kierbedz bridge, the last remaining bridge across the Vistula, has been destroyed. In the suburb of Zoliborz, the Germans are digging in on either side of the ‘outer strata’ alongside the Vistula; one row of trenches' faces the river and the Soviet positions, while the other faces the Polish positions. In the suburb of Mokotow the' enemy has begun a major infantry attack, supported by tanks, after preparation by an artillery barrage and dive-bombing. “In the country the enemy is regrouping his forces in the Kielce area, moving panzer and artillery units in the direction of Jedrzejow, and Polish troops are attacking the enemy on the move.” Moscow correspondents say that the territorial situation round Warsaw shows no vital change except in the southern outskirts of the city, where the Germans have withdrawn from their front lines.