HISTORIC MEETING AT TORGAU

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 28 April 1945, Page 5

HISTORIC MEETING AT TORGAU

Russian and U.S. Forces MESSAGES FROM "BIG THREE" LEADERS (Rec. 10 a.m.) LONDON, April 27. The historic link-up of the war has taken place. An announcement from No. 10 Downing Street states: "General Eisennower reports that contact has been established between his ground forces and those of our Soviet Allies. Commanders of a United States Division and the Russian Guards Division met at Torgau, 30 miles east-north-east of Leipzig and 40 north-east of Dresden on 26th April at 4 p.m. "Mutual exchange of Allied prisoners of war was discussed. "The first contact between patrols took place at 4.40 p.m. on 25th April, when a first lieutenant and three men of an intelligence and reconnaissance platoon of the United States Division met forward elements of the Russian Guards Division."

HISTORIC LINK-UP: Torgau, where the Americans and Russians have “joined hands together,” is an old fortified town of Saxony. It had a pre-war population about the same as Nelson's. The Elbe River seems to have been the demarcation line agreed upon by the Allies advancing from east and wc st.

For some days there have been indications that a link-up was mminent or had already taken place. United States First Army troops had been listening on field radio receivers to Soviet officers giving orders to their troops and Russian-speaking American troops had been standing by in armoured scout cars, while the Russians had rent into forward lines liaison officers to wsrk with the Americans. The link-up cuts Germany in half. The announcement of the link-up was followed by statements from Mr Churchill, Marshal Stalin and President Truman.

The Allied link-up, some 80 miles south of Berlin, has been immediately signalised by an order of the day from Marshal Stalin to the accompaniment of Moscow’s biggest gun salute. The order, which for the first time omitted the usual concluding words: “Death to the German In\ ader.” said: “Troops of the First Ukrainian Command and British and American troops, by blows from the east and west have cut the front of German troops and linked up in the centre of Germany in the area of the town of Torgau. German troops in northerrf Germany have thus been cut off from German troops in Germany’s southern area. To mark this victory and in honour of the historic event to-day, Moscow, the capital of our native land, will in the name of the country, salute the valiant troops of the First Ukrainian Army and our Allied British and American troops with 24 salvos from 324 guns. Long live the victory of freedomloving peoples over Germany.”

most extensive campaign in military history and succeed. “Nations which can plan and fight shoulder to shoulder in the face of such obstacles of distance, language and communications as we have overcome, can live and work together in the common labour of the organisation of the world for peace. “Finally, this great triumph of Allied arms and Allied strategy is ruch a tribute to the courage and determination of Franklin Roosevelt as no words c&uld even speak and that could be accomplished only by the persistence and courage °f the fighting soldiers and sailors of the Allied nations. “But until our enemies are finally subdued in Europe and in the Pacific there must be no relaxation of effort oil the home front in support of our heroic soldiers and sailors, as we all know there will be no pause on the battlefronts.”

MARSHAL STALIN’S MESSAGE In a special message Stalin said: “In the name of the | Soviet Government I address you 1 commanders and men of the Red Army and of the armies of our Al- I lies. The victorious armies of the i Allied Powers, waging the war of! liberation in Europe, have routed I German troops and linked up on ter- 1 ritory in Germany. Our task and duty are to complete the destruc- j tion of the enemy, force him to lay' down his arms and surrender un-1 conditionally. The Red Army will! fulfil to the end this task and this! duty to our people and all freedomloving peoples. I greet the valorous troops of our Allies who are now. 1 standing on territory in Germany shoulder to shoulder with Soviet troops, and who are full of determination to carry out their duty to the end.” IN HEART OF GERMANY President Truman in a message on the same occasion said: “Anglo-Ameri-can armies under the command of General Eisenhower have met Soviet forces where they intended to meet —in the heart of Nazi Germany. The enemy has been cut in two. This is not the hour of final victory in Europe, but the hour draws near—the hour for which all American people, all British people and all Soviet people have toiled and prayed so long. The union of our arms in the heart of Germany has a meaning for the world which the world will not miss. It means first that the last faint desperate hope of Hitler and gangster government has been extinguished. The common front and common cause of the powers allied in this war against, tyranny and inhumanity have been demonstrated in fact as they have long been demonstrated in determination. “Nothing can divide or weaken the common purpose of our veteran armies to pursue the victorious purpose to the final Allied triumphs in Germany. The junction of our forces signalises that the collaboration of our nations in the cause of peace and freedom is an effective collaboration which can surmount the greatest difficulties. of the

TASK OF THE ALLIES Mr Churchill said: “After long jour- | neys, toils and victories across land i and oceans and across so many deadly battlefields, the armies of the great Allies have traversed Germany and joinj cd hands together. “XO\ V their task will be the de- ! struct«on cf all remnants of German military resistance, the rooting i out of Nasi power and the subjuga- ! tion of Hitler’s Reich. For these j purposes ample forces are available ; and we meet in true victorious | comradeship and with th* inflexible resolve to fulfil our p»se and our ; I duty. Let all march forward upon 1 the foe.”

“The Soviet Government attaches great importance to this conference. The end of the war- has drawn near, J at feast in Europe; the rout of Hitler Germany has become a fact. The time has arrived to take care of the post-war period. The responsibility restirig upon this conference to consider the establishment of an organisation to protect the general peace is very great. German Fascism, which made an easy tour of Europe, invaded the Soviet Union, where it was faced by an unflinching adversary. The country of the Soviets, which saved European civilisation in bloody battles j against German Fascism, with good reason now reminds the Governments of their responsibility for the future. This is all the more necessary because the pre-war warning voice of the Soviet was not heard with due attention. “The League of Nations betrayed the hopes of those who believed in it. It is a League with no rights and power, which did not interfere with any aggressor ‘preparing for war against peace-loving nations and sometimes lulled outright the nations’ vigilance regarding impending aggression. The sad lessons of the League are now mentioned in order that the past errors may be avoided. They must not be committed under the sign of new profuse promises.”