BUDAPEST FRONT

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 25050, 14 November 1944, Page 5

BUDAPEST FRONT

RUSSIAN PROGRESS GRIP ON RAILWAYS WAR ENTERS LAST PHASE (Reed. 0.45 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 13 The Russians striking toward Budapest have taken the town of Monor, 15 miles from the outskirts of the capital. It is on the railway running south-east from Budapest toward Czegled and is described by Moscow as a powerful German strongpoint at the approaches to Budapest. A German commentator says the Russian attack on this sector is on a big scale. It is completely flat country which, he says, favours the Soviet tank squadrons. German Flank Attacked Marshal Malinovsky is switching the main weight of his attack against the Germans in North-eastern Hungary, instead of concentrating oil a direct assault on Budapest, says the Moscow correspondent of the Associated Press. He appears to have massed a superior force for a sweep against the enemy's dangerously thin flank guarding the invasion roads to Austria, where a further Russian advance would split up the German line and enable the Red Army to bypass Budapest. Further south, the Russians are exerting heavy pressure against the German salient extending nearly to Czegled. The Russians penetrated 15 miles into the core of the salient and approached Jaszbereny, about 35 miles east of Budapest. The German news agency announces that the Russians have entered Jaszbereny. Soviet Reconnaissance Raids Russian motorised units and cavalry arc now astride the railway from Miskolcz, north-east of Budapest, at a second point. A Soviet communique says the Russians yesterday fought their way into the town and railway station of Mezo Kovesd. This railway is the principal line of communication between Budapest and North-eastern Hungary. The Russians on the East Prussian front have made reconnaissance raids in several sectors. Reuter's correspondent in Moscow says that the scouts report that no civilians are available to give information except a few Lithuanians and Russians who escaped forced evacuation. The scouts, who are wearing camouflage dress and are armed with tommy-guns, report that villages and farmsteads are deserted and rural settlements converted into military camps. Defences, in Southern Poland The Russians are continuing reconnaissance activity in the sector between Cracow and Sandomierz, in Southern Poland. Scouts tracing paths through German minefields report additions to the German fortifications, including barbed-wire "gardens" and #xtra blockhouses. Scouting parties closer to Warsaw cross the Vistula every night. The Moscow radio, in a broadcast to Germany, said: "This war has entered its last phase. Allied armies are poised for the greatest assault ever to be hurled against Germany." The Red Army is preparing for the winter campaign, says a Moscow correspondent quoted by the British official wireless. The troops are putting on their winter uniforms and hooded snow capes are being distributed to the men at places where winter has already set in. Lorries, tanks and field kitchens are also being camouflaged for the winter. V 3 WEAPON READY , ASSERTION BY GERMANS LONDON, Nov. 12 German military officials claim that Germany's latest weapon, the V 3, is ready for use on the Eastern Front, says the British United Press correspondent in Stockholm. They claim also that it will be ail even greater surprise than the V2. The V 3 will be used during the winter against supply lines and other targets behind the front. The German Army is at present using a new and powerful infantry weapon. BRITISH HOME GUARD (Reed. 6.10 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 12 The certificates commemorating the four years' service of the British Home Guard are now ready for issue. Inscribed on them are: —"In the four years when our country was in mortal danger Thomas Atkins (or whatever the Home Guard's name is) gave generously of his time to make himself ready for a defence by force of arms and with his life if need be."