Smolensk Falls To Russians After 2 Years In German Hands

Northern Advocate, 27 September 1943, Page 3

Smolensk Falls To Russians After 2 Years In German Hands

(Received 11 a.m.)

LONDON, September 26

AFTER 25 MONTHS IN GERMAN OCCUPATION, SMOLENSK —DESCRIBED BY MARSHAL STALIN LAST NIGHT AS THE “MOST IMPORTANT STRATEGICAL CENTRE OF THE ENEMY’S DEFENCE IN THE WESTERN DIRECTION”—HAS FALLEN TO RUSSIAN ARMS.

The evacuation of this city and Roslavl was admitted earlier in the day by the Germans. Marshal Stalin, in an Order of the Day, states: “Troops of the western front, continuing their successful offensive, crossed the River Dnieper and after'stubborn fighting, took by storm today a large regional centre, the town of Smolensk.

“Furthermore, today troops of the western front, after two days’ fierce fighting, broke the enemy’s resistance and occupied the operational and important communication point and powerful centre of the enemy’s defence in the Movilev direction, the town of Roslavl.

“Smolensk fell on August 15, 1941, only 55 days after the German invasion. The capture then cost the lives of thousands of Hitler’s best troops. The Germans constructed a vast and intricate system round Smolensk which was then thought to be invulnerable. Both Marshal Timoshenko and General Ghukov led Russian armies back to the gates of the city in December, 194 i, and February, 1942, the second advance being stopped only after the Germans had launched 30 counter-attacks.

Great Fires Burning

Great fires were blazing on all sides of Smolensk and Roslovl when the Germans left, said Berlin radio. “The Russians saw the fires blazing and increased their efforts to interfere with our movements,” the radio said “Our troops held the Russians off and we disengaged sector by sector, and left Smolensk after blowing up bridges.” A Moscow communique says that the Red Army in the Dnepropetrovsk sector, captured Petrikovka, 22 miles north-west of Dnepropetrovsk, and in the Kremenchug sector advanced 10 to 13 miles and occupied Kobeliani, which is 30 miles east of Kremenchug; also 120 inhabited places.

The Germans are fiercely attempting to hold the Russians off east and north-east of Kiev, making as many as six counter-atacks daily.. There is equally bitter fighting in the Kremenchug sector where the Russians are making an all-out bid to trap the Germans retreating from Poltava.

Fighting is raging within the inner defences of Zaporozhe and Dnepropetrovsk. The Germans are reported to be fleeing in disorder from the Kuban in boats and barges. Grimly Investing Kiev

The Red Army is grimly investing Kiev. A force from the north-east is striking down betweefi the Desna and the Dnieper Rivers. A force from Nyejin is frontally assaulting the city, while a third force is working up the Dnieper from the south.

The Russians in the Kiev sector captured Brovary, and in. the Gomel sector advanced 10 to 13 miles and captured Klinsky. 25 miles west of Unecha; also 350 inhabited places. Russian troops north-west of Smolensk advanced two and a-half to four miles and captured more than 60 inhabited places, including Dubrovka.

Reuter says that the Germans are counter-attacking six times daily, but there is no evidence that the enemy is able to hold up the attackers.

Greatest German Defeat

The German High Command announced this morning that Smolensk and Roslavl had ben evacuated last night without enemy interfei’ence after the destruction of all important war installations.

Tonight’s Soviet communique says that the Russians have reached the Dnieper at a number of places in the Kiev, Kremenchug and Dnepropetrovsk sectors.

The Russians south of Smolensk advanced eight to 15 miles and captured the district centre of Khotin. In the Vitebsk sector, north-west of Smolensk, the Red Army advanced four to seven miles. A total of 770 inhabited places were occupied during the day. The communique adds that the Red Army in the Kuban captured several places, including Perenkovo. Today’s German communique claims that a Russian landing attempt on the Sea of Azov coast ended with complete destruction of the landing force. The “Daily Mail” editorially says

Moscow officially announced their capture 12 hours later. Referring to the significance of the evacuations, the British United Press says Smolensk was the principal German base in Russia for two years.

It is the biggest defeat the Germans have so far suffered in Russia. Hitler made Smolensk his headquarters in autumn 1941, when planning what was believed twould be the final assault against Moscow. The Germans’ entire system of communications linking up their central front, is now imperilled. The Germans, if they intend to hold the Russians east of Poland, must fight in open country between Smolensk and ■ Poland where nothing is yet reported of a specially prepared defence line.

that the capture of Smolensk must rank as one of the most supreme

feats of the war. The Russians have

the satisfaction of knowing that

they are finally freeing their own land from the invader. The Final Assault

May Form New Line

The Berlin correspondent of the Stockholm “Tidningen" suggests that the 700-mile Riga-Odessa line may be chosen for a stand.

The Dnieper ran red at Smolensk in the final battle for the city when the Russians’ sudden advance in the Slovietsky Bridge area trapped thousands of German troops, says the British United Press Moscow correspondent. The Germans, in their retreat from the city, failed to note the Russians' sudden pincer movement towards the bridge, and before the enemy could reach safety the Russians swept down between the Germans and the river and cut off their escape. The Germans tried to fight their way out but were mowed down in thousands along the river bank.

The German news agency’s military writer says the German High Command 'is aiming at correction of the Russian front which will completely change the face of the war. The news agency stated that the evacuation of Smolensk was decided on three weeks ago as part of the grand strategy. All important supplies were moved out before the defensive battle reached its climax.

Tremendous Soviet Firepower

Two railways enter Smolensk from the west and three carry traffic eastward. These, says Reuter, will now be available to the Russians for the transport of supplies and reinforcements at a time when rains are beginning to make the roads impassable. Roslavl, midway between Smolensk and Bryansk, is not over-important strategically or industrially, but the Germans strongly fortified it as part of the Desna line on which they intended to stay for the wintr. “Red Star” reports that fighting is going on along the east bank of the Dnieper for 40 miles south-east of Kiev.

The correspondent adds that the night before the Russians’ final assault against Smolensk, a great gale swept the countryside, rooting up trees and flooding roads. The Red Army had to press on ankle-deep in mud across the swollen streams and flooded fields, guided by a column of smoke over Smolensk which had been flaming like a torch for four days. The correspondent continues: “The Russians at daybreak on September 21 reached the Soloevyev crossing. Pontoon builders the same evening began getting bridges ready for the Russian troops. Sappers worked all night under intense enemy fire and completed their work as dawn approached and the Red Army men made a swift crossing.

Fire-power is the secret of the success of the Russians’ summer campaign says the British United Press Moscow correspondent. The Red Army suddenly revealed infantry fire-power seven times as strong and artillery firepower three times as strong as it possessed in 1939. For example, in the battle for Kharkov, the Russians concentrated 200 guns for every 1100 yards north and east of the city against German artillery concentrations of 150 guns every 1100 yards. Smashing Across Dnieper The Red Army is smashing its way across the broad Dnieper at half a dozen points along the 1400 miles front from above Kiev to below Dnepropetrovsk, state despatches from Moscow. Millions of men and incredible numbers of guns and tanks are deployed in this battle for the Dniepertermed the greatest battle in history since the smashing of the Hindenburg line in the last war. Powerful tank and motorised Russian spearheads are tackling the tremendous task of crossing Europe's third largest river which in some places is a mile wide. Hundreds of rafts, rubber dinghies and flat-bot-tomed boats are ferrying across the river under protection of a heavy artillery barrage where resistance is encountered.

“German demolition squads inside Smolensk meanwhile blasted their way from one end to the other until no trace remained of the ancient monasteries and churches that were once Smolensk's pride. Nevertheless, in addition to the frontal assault, more and more Russian troops during the night had been pushed into battle and an outflanking movement from the rear boiled up into a seven-hour forest battle, in which the Germans fought for every yard.”

May Cut Germans in Two

The latest Soviet offensive means that the German army in the western sector of the front is being cut off' from the south, says Moscow radio. The Germans, as a result, of their heavy defeat in the western, central and southern regions, have lost considerably more territory than all the territory they occupied in Western Europe. A German radio commentator, referring to the evacuation of Smolensk and other centimes of the Russian front, said: “We have given up considerable territory in the east. This was not done because we did not want these vast regions, but as a direct consequence of the Soviet offensive. We had to decide upon mobile warfare in order to eliminate our losses as far as possible and inflict the greatest possible losses on the enemy.”

Mopping up the remaining centres of German resistance between the Red Army and the whole east bank of the Dnieper is now going on. The Russians are reported to have stormed into the suburbs of Kiev.

Pouring Through Shattered Gaps

Five Russian columns which converged on Smolensk were composed of as many as 250,000 troops supported by 10 brigades of tanks and masses of 'fighters and bombers, state reports reaching London. The Moscow correspondent of the British United Press says that the Russians are pouring through the shattered German defences around 'Smolensk, . opening a formidable drive fo Vitebsk and Gomel.