DNIEPER BEING CROSSED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 78, 29 September 1943, Page 5

DNIEPER BEING CROSSED

The Russians are within 10 miles of Gomel on the east side and are closing in fast, says Reuter’s Moscow correspondent. Crack Guards units are storming Dnepropetrovsk in a three-pronged thrust from the left bank. “Red Star” says the Germans suffered heavily in their withdrawal across the Dnieper from the Dnepropetrovsk suburb of Nizhnidneprovsk. Fierce fighting occurred for Nizhnidneprovsk, where the Germans attempted to launch counter-attacks. “Izvestia” says German reserves brought long distances in an- attempt to seal great gaps in the Dnieper line are being thrown into the battle without rest. The Germans are constantly counter-attacking without success. Their reinforcements have already received a number of crushing blows. London. Sept. 27. Massive concentrations of Russian guns are hurling a continuous rain of shells across the Dnieper, softening up German lines for a number of thrusts which are developing at widely separated points. Russian planes are shuttling across the narrow gap between the two armies, heavily bombing the Germans. The Moscow correspondent of the British United Press reports that Russian paratroops have been landed on the west bank of the Dnieper at many points and are now attacking the German rear. Russian reports from the extreme southern front say hopes of escape are fading for all but a minority of GerGermans struggling to evacuate the Kuban. German overseas radio claimed that the evacuation of Temryuk, the last German-held Kuban port, was unnoticed by the Russians. The town was I thoroughly demolished. An official announcement in Moscow late to-night reported the capture of Katyn, 15 miles west of Smolensk, the site of the mass graves of the Polish officers, the “discovery” of which by the Germans was the subject of Russian and German charges and countercharges, also the cause of Russian and Polish friction. GERMAN LINES BUCKLING German lines on the White Russian front are already buckling dangerously. Russians in battles raging day and night pressed to within less than 30 miles of Vitebsk, 70 miles of Mogilev and 30 miles of Gomel. According to Ankara radio the Russians penetrated White Russia at four places. A German-controlled Scandinavian telegraph bureau, quoting a message from Berlin, said: “In a sensational German declaration contradicting previous statements from the same quarters, it is stated that the heavy rains will not prevent large scale operations on the eastern front. Russians and Germans have new tanks and cars capable of moving through even the worst morasses.”

The German news agency’s military commentator, explaining the German retreat, says the German High Command aimed at concentrating all forces for the next winter campaign and directed all operations to this end. According to the Berlin correspondent of the Stockholm newspaper Svenska Dagbladet.” the military spokesman at the Wilhelmstrasse said it must not be taken for granted that the Dnieper marks the line along which German troops will establish their east defence.

Advance of Red Army GERMANS THROW IN FRESH DIVISIONS (Rec. I 1.30 a.m.) London, Sept. 28. The struggle for the Dnieper crossings is developing into an extended battle along the whole 300-mile stretch of river from Kiev to Zaporozhe, in which the Red Army is aided by mass assaults from Soviet planes. The Russians have a firm grip of the east bank of the Dnieper on wide stretches, but very fierce fighting is f?oing on in some sectors for the remaining bridgeheads. The latest front-line reports that that the Red Army has established a bridgehead on the west bank between Kiev and Cherkasy, but there is no official confirmation so far. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent reports that three Russian forces have begun crossing the river opposite Dnepropetrovsk, where Berlin radio to-night admitted that the Russians launched a large-scale attack. Reuter says assault forces of a Russian crack Guards unit are swarming across the remains of two railway bridges spanning the river. The Russians are also using small islands as stepping stones for the assault, which is covered by a shuttle service of fighter planes and a heavy artillery barrage. Meanwhile, at the other two key bridgeheads—opposite Kiev and Kremenchug —the Germans have brought up a fresh division.