AT GATES OF SEBASTOPOL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 17 April 1944, Page 5

AT GATES OF SEBASTOPOL

Tarnopol in Russian Hands

London, April 16 The Russians to-day are less than four miles from Sebastopol, the great Black Sea port and naval base. So far they have taken nearly 40,000 prisoners in the spectacular seven-day sweep down the Crimean peninsula. This figure does not include those captured since Friday night. The Russians have also h nil ihed off the German garrison at Tarnopol, in the south-east of pre-war Poland. In this railway junction the Germans lost more than 18,000 men. This news is contained in the official reports from Russia. Russian troops are within sight of Sebastopol, says the Moscow correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain. Frontline reports describe Sebastopol as an exploding ammunition dump. Only a small strip of the Crimean coast remains in the enemy’s hands. Russian pilots are hammering Nazi shipping while torpedo-boats and gun boats are pounding the enemy’s docks. 1 Sebastopol harbour is littered with wreckage of sunken Axis ships. The battle for the Crimea is ending in terrible slaughter of the demoralised German and Rumanian units, says the Moscow correspondent of the British United Press. There is no Dunkirk, no armada of small boats, no protecting air umbrella. It’s killing in its starkest form —the final dissolution of a beaten army. The Germans’ chances of defending Sebastopol grow smaller every hour. Booty captured by the Russians is fantastic. Practically the whole of the central. plain of the Crimea proved to be one huge dump.

The capture of Tarnopol was announced by M. Stalin in the following order of the day to Marshal Zhukov; “Troops of the First Ukrainian Front after stubborn street fighting completely occupied the Ukrainian regional centre of Tarnopol, a railway junction and strong centre of German resistance in the Lvov direction.” The order of the day names 26 Soviet commanders, including Colonel General Kurochkin, lieutenant-general of tanks, Poluboyarov, and eleven commanders of artillery whose troups distinguished themselves in the operations. To-night Moscow salutes the victors with 20 salvos from 224 guns. For over five weeks Tarnopol has been holding up the Russian advance on Lvov. The Russians reached the town and broke into it on 9th March, three days after Marshal Zhukov, after taking over from the late General Vatoutin, had by a sudden renewal of the offensive from Sheptovka direction cut the Lvov-Odessa railway 20 miles east of Tarnopol. By holding high ground west of the town, however, the Germans were able to prevent its capture and make it into a strong defence pivot. Nevertheless, on 26th March the Russians succeeded in completely surrounding the German garrison. Though the Germans since then have managed to relieve the Skala garrison, the Russians successfully kept up the siege of Tarnopol for nearly three weeks and now at last the besieging forces are released for the further task to the west. Moscow radio reports that Simferopol was captured so quickly that the Germans had no time to destroy it. CONTROL OF RIAL APPROACHES With the capture of Tarnopol 75 miles south-east of Lvov the Red Army has liquidated the last of General von Mannstein’s bolt positions in Galicia. The Russians now control all the rail approaches to Lvov from the east. The Moscow correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain says the Russians fought* in the streets of Tarnopol 38 days fore the city fell. “Pravda’s” war correspondent reports that the Germans killed 20.000 inhabitants in Tarnopol during the pccupation of the town, equivalent to nearly two-thirds of the total pre-war population. A Russian communique states that the German garrison encircled at Tarnopol consisted of four infantry divisions and several independent units. The Red Army killed 16,000 and took prisoner 2400. ENEMY LOSSES A Russian communique reports that troops of the Third Ukrainian Front from the southern Bug to the Dniester from 25th March to 10th April killed 26.000 enemy troops. According to preliminary figures troops of the Fourth Ukrainian Front to the -nd of 14th April took prisoner more than 20,000. General Yerememko’s maritime army in the same period took prisoner more than 17.000, making the total prisoners in the Crimea more than 37,000. The Russians occupied the locality of Liubimovka, under four miles north of Sebastopol, states a Russian supplementary communique. Mobile units advancing down the railway and highway from Simferopol routed several large enemy forces. Fierce fighting is going on in the mountainous forest-covered terrain where guerrillas are helping to annihilate the retreating enemy. The Russians are wiping out the remnants of Rumanians and Germans cut off on the coast between Sudak and Alushta. Many enemy detachments seeing the hopelessness if their position are surrendering. There are strong signs that the Russians have launched full-scale offensive against Pskov reports the British United Press. All German commentators yesterday » *elt on the strength of the new Russian attacks. “HOUR OF RETRIBUTION” "The soil is burning under the feet of the brutal invaders. They run like rats in a trap. The hour of retribution for all their vile crimes has come.” said Moscow radio, broadcasting an order to the Black Sea fleet not to let Germans and Rumanians escape from the Crimea. The radio urged the navy to close all the enemy’s ways of retreat and sink all vessels. Moscow correspondents continue to describe the Germans’ wild scramble ! southwards and south-eastwards and 1 the Russians’ devastating pursuit. j The British United Press correspondent says German transports, power barges and light naval escorts are trying to approach offshore to embark the 1 lemnants of the German and Rumanian forces streaming into the Sebastopol area. The would-be rescue ships are being sent to the bottom of the Black Sea by masses of Red Air Force planes | hovering over Sebastopol and environs j as well as Yalta and the small harbours ! of Alushta and Sudak. Enemy troops massed on the beaches are being sub ! jected to a relentless hail of fire bombs ; at ieast equal io. if not exceed-ine the ordeal the British Expeditionary Force j suffered at Dunkirk in 1940. Luftwaffe bases in Rumania are too ; far away to protect the stranded troops. Stormoviks slightly inland are scouring i the roads leading to the beaches and Sebastopol picking up fleeing German , columns by dust tlottos they are raising j and strafing them, causing terrific traffic jams. German soldiers are leaving their j vehicles and almost running to the coast hoping to be in time to get off. | From the Crimea's topography it is j obvious that once Sebastopol falls the J curtain will be rung down on the Crimean operations. The campaign from then on will be simply wholesale slaughter because of the Germans’ in- ■ ability to give their troops fighter pro- , tection. 1

GERMAN COMMENT The German news agency commentator, von Hallensleben, said the German retreat in the Crimea has its good points because it ties down consider&ble Red Army forces. Berlin radio declared that a new German defence line will be established in the Sebastopol area. Von Hammer, another commentator, said the Russian grand offensive in the south had achieved considerable territorial gains, but the German southern army, which for a month had been engaged in most difficult fighting, was now standing ready for defence on a shortened front. RUMANIANS BLAMED The Swedish newspaper “Afton Tidningen” said the Germans are blaming the loss of Odessa on the Rumanians’ wilful sabotage. The Germans declare their High Command gave the Rumanians detailed plans for reconstruction of Odessa's fortifications, but the Rumanians completely ignored them. Moscow correspondents say the Russians are clearing the last wreckage from Odessa. Everything is being made ready to use Odessa as a base for the coming offensive in Rumania. DEATH OF GENERAL VATOUTIN London, April 14. Moscow radio has broadcast an official announcement that General Vatoutin died in Kiev to-day, following a serious operation. He led the First Ukrainian Army west of the Dnieper River and far across the 1939 Polish border. Moscow radio says General Vatoutin’s illness began six weeks ago when Marshal Zhukov took over command of General Vatoutin’s First Ukrainian army. Forty Red Army marshals, including Zhukov and Voroshilov, to-day issued a manifesto paying tribute to General Vatoutin. a monument to whose memory will be erected at Kiev. Genera] Vatoutin. who entered the Red Army as a private at the age of 19. led the First Ukrainian Army from the Don bend to Polard.