NO SLACKENING

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 78, 2 October 1943, Page 2

NO SLACKENING

ADVANCES ON WHITE RUSSIAN FRONT GERMAN REINFORCEMENTS BEING RUSHED UP (Rec. 12.20 p.m.) London, Oct. 1. The Germans are rushing up reinforcements to the main White Russian front strongpoints of Orsha. Mohilev and Gomel which the Russians are dangerously threatening. Nevertheless reports from Moscow indicate no slackening in the Russians’ systematic advances and they are closing in around the outer defences of Orsha. The British United Press correspondent says Orsha is the Germans’ main central front airbase and is also the most important rail and road junction and keypoint in thc great 200-mile defence lhje from Vitebsk to Gomel, barring the way to Minsk which is the capital of White Russia. The Russian spearheads are only 100 miles from Minsk itself. After capturing Kirchev the Russians are 50 miles from Mohilev. The R c d Army around Gomel is only a few miles from the city and a correspondent says the familiar tactics of a three-pronged advance from the north, east and south are likely soon to result in Gomel’s fall. The majority of the supply lines from Gomel are already believed cut. To-night’s Soviet communique deals only with the White Russian front, where advances up to 12 miles in the Mohilev sector and nine miles in the Gomel sector are recorded. The Russians, after forcing the Soj river, captured Cherikov 50 milts southeast of Mohilev and 340 other Inhabited places. Two hundred localities have oeen freed in the Gomel sector. In the Vitebsk sector the town of Tierezino and 20 other places have been taken. NEW OUTFLANKING MANOEUVRE Berlin radio to-day said the Russians west of Roslavl launched a new outflanking manoeuvre. The hardest fluctuating fighting occurred on both sides of the Smolensk highway. One locality changed hands three times within 24 hours. The Germans finally withdrew west from this locality. Moscow correspondents have been emphasising that further Russian success on the White Russian front may affect the whole German line as far as Leningrad. Admiral Boehm, Commander-in-Chief of the German naval forces in the Gulf of Finland, speaking over Berlin radio, said: “The Russian Baltic Fleet is threatening the German northern flank, wihch is based on the Gulf of Finland. The Russian Baltic Fleet is constantly attacking German naval forces in the Gulf of Finland, which is the covering belt for the German northern flank. The Russians are also trying to achieve naval supremacy in the Gulf of Finland, which is still in our hands.” Reuter’s Moscow correspondent reports the Battle of the Dnieper, over a 400-mile front, is in full swing. Thousands of guns, from a point above Kiev to below Zaporozhe, opened up a mighty artillery duel. A fierce battle is being fought at the gates of Kiev and Dnepropetrovsk, where the Germans are stoutly resisting. RESISTANCE STIFFENING Berlin radio’s military commentator, Captain Sertorius, said the stiffening of German resistance which was evident in some sectors at the beginning of the week, had become more pronounced, particularly in the southern sector. The enemy yesterday, between Zaporozhe and Melitopol, further increased their efforts to break through to the Dnieper and the Crimea. Captain Sertorius added: “The Russians threw in three fresh armies comprising over 15 divisions, six tank brigades and considerable artillery, which is facing our bolt positons. Rains have made the roads more difficult between Gomel and the Smolensk-Minsk highway, but the slackening of enemy attacks there arises not only from the weather but also from th e tough, elastic Germar defence.”