ALLIED ARMIES JOIN

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 April 1945, Page 5

ALLIED ARMIES JOIN

SIXTY MILES FROM BERLIN

LEADERS' COMMENDATIONS RUGBY, April 27 The Allied link-up some 60 miles south of Berlin has been immediately signalised by an ordei of inc day from Mr. Stalin, to the accompaniment of Moscow’s biggest gun salute. The order, which tor the first time omitted the usual concluding words “death to the German invader,” said: “Troops ol the Ist Ukrainian Command and British and American troops by blows from east and west have cut the front of the German troops and linked up in the centre of Germany in the area ol the town of Torgau. German troops in Northern Germany have been cut oft from German troops in Germany s southern area. To mark this victory and in honour of the historic event to-day Moscow, the capital of our native land will, in the name of the country, salute the valiant troops of the Ist Ukrainian Command and our allied British and American troops with 24 salvoes from 324 guns. Long live the victory of freedom loving peoples over Germany. In a special message Mr. Stalin said: “In the name of the Soviet Government I address you commanders and men of the Red Army and of the armies' of our Allies. Ihe victorious armies* of the Allied Powers, waging a war of liberation in Europe, have routed the German troops and linked up on territory in Germany. Our task and our duty are to complete the destruction of the enemy and force him to lay down arms and surrender unconditionally. The Red Army will fulfil to the end this task and this duty to our people and all freedom-loving peoples. The great valorous troops of our Allies, who are now standing on territory in Germany shoulder to shoulder with Soviet troops, are full of determination to carry out their duty to the end.”

PRESIDENT TRUMAN

President Truman, in a message on the same occasion said: “AngloAmerican. armies under the command of General Eisenhower met. the Soviet forces where they intended to meet—in the heart of Nazi Germany. The enemy has been cut in two. This is not the hour of final victory in Europe, but the hour draws near—the hour for which all American people, all British peoples and all Soviet people have toiled and prayed so long. The union of our arms in the heart of Germany has a meaning for the world which the world wild not miss. It means, first, that the last faint, desperate hope of Hitler and his gangster Government has been extinguished. A common front and the common cause of the Powers allied in this war against tyranny and inhumanity have been demonstrated in fact as they have Jong been demonstrated in determination. Nothing can divide or weaken the common purpose of qur veteran armies to pursue the victorious purpose to the final Allied triumphs in Germany. The junction of our forces signalises that the collaboration of our nations in the cause of peace and freedom is effective collaboration which can surmount the greatest difficulties of the most extensive campaign in military history and succeed. The nations which can plan and fight shoulder to shoulder in face of such obstacles of distance, language and communications as we have overcome, can live and work together in the common labour of the organisation of a world for peace. Finally, this great triumph of Allied arms and Allied strategy is such a tribute to the courage and determination of Franklin Roosevelt as no words could even speak, and that could be accomplished only by persistence and courage of the fighting soldiers and sailors of the Allied nations. But until our enemies are finally subdued in Europe and in the Pacific, there must be no relaxation of effort on the home front in support of our heroic soldiers and sailors, as we all know there will be no pause on the battlefronts.”

MR. CHURCHILL.

Mr. Churchill said: “After long journeys, toils' and victories across land and oceans, across so many deadly battlefields, the armies of the great Allies have traversed Germany and joined hands together. Now their task will be the destruction of all remnants of German military resistance, the rooting out of Nazi power and the subjugation of Hitler’s Reich. For these purposes ample forces are available, and we meet in true victorious comradeship and with the inflexible resolve to fulfil our purpose and our duty. Let all march forward upon the foe.”

FURTHER DETAILS

RUGBY, April 27. The historic link-up of the war has taken place. The announcement from No. 10 Downing Street states: “General Eisenhower reports that contact has been established between his ground forces and those of our Soviet Allies. The comriianders of the United Stales Division and Russian Guards Division met at Torgau, thirty miles east north-east of Leipzig and forty north-east of Dresden on April 26 at 4 p.m. The mutual exchange of Allied prisoners of war was discussed. The first contact between patrols took place at 4.40 p.m. on April 25, when a first lieutenant and three men of the intelligence and reconnaissance platoon of a United States Division met forward elements of a Russian Guards Division?’

For some days there have indications a link-up was imminent, or had already taken place. The United States First Army troops have been listening on field radio receivers to Soviet officers giving orders to then' troops and Russian-speaking American troops have been standing by in armoured scout cars while the Russians had s&nt into forward lines liaison officers to work with the Americans. The link-up cuts Germany in half, with northern ports and naval bases north of the cut and Hitler’s “southern redoubt” below the line.