NAZI FEROCITY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 21604, 5 January 1945, Page 3

NAZI FEROCITY

RELIEF COLUMNS TR A PPED~G AR RISON budapestltrugcle 1 10 a.m.) LONDON, Jan. 4. The Gormans south-east of Komarno were to-day hurling still more Panzers into their attempts to break through from the west to their encircled comrades in Budapest, says Reuter’s Moscow correspondent. Massed Russian artillery is taking heavy toll ol the German armour. Front-line dispatches indicate that while the Russians were forced to give up ground south-east of Komarno, they are holding firmly against the violent attempts of the Budapest garrison to break out. Hunger is gripping Budapest. Famished and exhausted men, women and children are crawling from their hiding-places as the Red Army drives deeper into the city. The Germans are said to have seized or destroyed all food stocks.

The Red Star reports that the fighting west of Budapest is marked by extreme ferocity. A large group of German tanks succeeded in wedging into the Russian defences. The Red Army was ordered to retreat to new positions, where the Germans were halted. The enemy in another sector also pressed back the Russians, and succeeded in re-capturing a number of places.