ADVANCE ON A 100-MILE FRONT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21551, 2 November 1944, Page 5

ADVANCE ON A 100-MILE FRONT

BREACH BETWEEN DANUBE AND TISZA (11 a.m.) LONDON, Nov. 1. “The Russians have penetrated the German and Hungarian defences on a broad front between the Tisza and Danube Rivers in the direction of Budapest/’ says a supplementary Russian communique. “The Russians are now impetuously pushing’ ahead, swiftly by-passing isolated groups of hastily brought up enemy reserves. These groups are being annihilated while our forward elements are far ahead. In one area alone two enemy regiments and the staff of the 23rd Hungarian Infantry Division were wiped out after being encircled. A large number were taken prisoner, including a group of staff officers. Thirty enemy tanks were destroyed.” Driving beyond Kecskemet, Soviet tank spearheads are wheeling to cut off the town’s garrison as fierce street battles continue to rage inside the town, says Reuter’s correspondent in Moscow. The latest despatches from the Hungarian front state that the Red Army’s blows are becoming stronger in all directions between the Danube and the Tisza Rivers. The Associated Press’ correspondent in Moscow reports that there are now little more than German tanks and a flat plain between the Red Army advancing on the 100-mile front and Budapest. Resistance is stiff, but it appears to be decreasing. The Russians are reported to have a firm hold on the main road and railway to Budapest from the south running between Kecskemet and the Danube.