MORE GAINS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 99, 28 April 1945, Page 7

MORE GAINS

RUSSIAN FORCES

BATTLES IN BERLIN

(By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.) Rec. 10.30 a.m. LONDON, April 27.

The firmness of the Russians" grip on, the Berlin area is shown by an Order of the Day issued by Marshal Stalin announcing the capture of Spandau, nine miles north-west of ' the Potsdamerplatz, Potsdam, 15 miles southwest of the Potsdamerplatz, and Rathenow, on the east bank of the Havel River, 45 miles west of the centre of Berlin. These captures are described as important road junctions a*nd powerful bases in the German defences of central Germany.

In another Order of the Day, Stalin announced the capture of Angermunde, mid-way between Berlin and Stettin on the Berlin-Stettin railway, and Prenzlau, 30 miles south-west of Stettin.

He also announced that Marshal Koniev's forces captured Wittenberg, 18 miles east of Dessau, on the east bank of the Elbe. Reuters Moscow correspondent says: "The wisdom of the Red Army in adopting a stab-to-the-heart policy in Berlin, aiming straight for the centre of the capital and leaving pockets in the rear to be cleaned up later, has brought great results. It has swiftly led to the position where one more Russian break-through in force to the Unter den Linden will mean the virtual collapse of the German defence. Already the only remaining German troops which show any semblance of a battle line are those fighting with, their backs to the Tiergarten,. west of the Unter den Linden, and elsewhere. Front and rear have become hopelessly intermingled. More and more Red Army troops, tanks, and guns are being concentrated at forward bases in streets and squares for a general assault against the centre of the capital. Zhukov's and Koniev's men, infiltrating through the debriscovered streets with the air full of acrid smoke and dust, have formed a ring around the most vital areas of Berlin, except a small gap in the Charlottenburg sector." FANATICAL DEFENCE. The British United Press correspondent, quoting the latest front line reports, says: "The Red Army is fighting in practically every part of Berlin except in a small circle drawn around the Unter den Linden.- The Russians, however, only partly hold many districts because of a trick which it was •feared the Germans would use when the situation became really desperate —the use of hostages. The Germans are keeping groups of as many as 200 Ukrainian White Russian slave workers on the upper floors of buildings so that the Russian sappers will not blow them up. "The defenders of Berlin are not fighting as fanatically as ih the early stages of the battle, probably because large numbers of the real fanatics are dead. The capital is a charnel house, but the remainder of the ragged army of regulars, Volkssturm troops, policemen, firemen, and Hitler Youth are fighting on while there is still any hope. Members of the Hitler Youth weep hysterically when captured, whereas a few minutes before they were sniping at the Russians' backs. The civilians have had enough of it; they are wiping from the walls such" slogans as 'Berlin will always be true to the Fuhrer' which a few weeks ago they enthusiastically cheered." Moscow correspondent report extraordinary contrasts in the grim battle for Berlin. A bunch of angry old women in one street were trying to fight their way into a baker's shop while shells and bullets were whistling just around the corner. Children in another street were having the time of their lives in the toy department of a wrecked department store. They seem oblivious to the battle all around them. Waiters at the door of a beer hall in another part of the city, dressed up like- tailors' dummies, stand bowing and smiling, offering mugs of beer to the thirsty Russians. The waiters themselves occasionally take fips of beer to convince the Russians that the drinks are not poisoned. German civilians in the east of Berlin are industriously handing out guide books of Berlin to the Russians. Groups of German officers and men are changing into civilian clothes and attempting to escape by mingling with the huge crowds of Berliners moving out of the battle zone. The Exchange Telegraph agency's Moscow correspondent reports that the chief Soviet air marshals have joined Marshal Zhukov in. the Berlin area to personally direct the battle for the skies over Berlin. Russian planes are bombing street by street and house by house, giving particular' attention to the Unter den Linden. Hundreds of midget bombers are flying all night to prevent the German garrison troops resting. ; The "Red Star" says that the Red 1 Army is grinding its way through the ■ streets, each of which is defended by ■ civilians as well as regulars. All in- ■ habitants capable of bearing arms have been trained for street fighting. ■ They are fighting savagely, but as soon ias the regulars retreat they discard '. their arms, hoist white flags, and . shout curses against Hitler. 'A "Red Star" correspondent reports , that fighting has broken out afresh in ■ the underground railway tunnels and s stations.

The whole of Berlin has become a stony desert swept by Sahara-like winds hot with the flames of burning streets and charged so thickly with brick and cement dust and smoke that the Russian storm troopers have to use torches even at noon. There are almost no buildings left in which to place the wounded, many of whom are lying untended in the streets. Berlin, in its eleventh hour, has become a city of horror.

The Red Army has broken into Moa-