HUNGARIAN PUSH

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 25056, 21 November 1944, Page 5

HUNGARIAN PUSH

RED ARMY PROGRESS BATTLE ALONG RAILWAY NAZI STRONGHOLD TAKEN (Heed, 6.10 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 20 Russian forces in Hungary yesterday made more headway in three sectors north-east of Budapest. They increased their threat to the big communication town of Miskolcz, in north-eastern Hungary, captured Gyongyos, an important defence stronghold about 40 miles from the capital, and are now threatening another important railway line nearer the city. The German news agency commentator von Olberg states that the Russians east of Budapest have brought up great reinforcements and are attacking on a broad front, using 35 infantry and seven motorised divisions. Neutralising Germans The strategic centre of the battle for Hungary is north-east of Budapest, says Reuter's correspondent in Moscow. Marshal Malinovsky is apparently planning to destroy or neutralise the Germans, who are being grouped in this area before launching any major attacks in the Budapest area. The struggle along the railway between Budapest and Miskolcz is now drawing to a close. The Russians hold most of the line, with the Hungarians and Germans occupying some intermediate and widely-separated points. The Hungarians and Germans are throwing in counter-attacks elsewhere, hoping to regain strongpoints which they nave already lost. Vital Defence Area Apart from its importance as a line of communication the railway, with it* embankments and buildings, forms a vital part of tho Hungarian and German defence scheme through which the Russians must break in order to penetrate the areas nocth of Budapest and strike toward Bratislava (Pressburg), which is just across the Czechoslovak border from Austria. The Associated Press Moscow correspondent says that Marshal Malinovsky's hammering aganist the German flank north-east of Budapest contrasts sharply with the protracted lull on most other parts of the Eastern Front, which Russian military sources flatly state will be broken 'by another great winter offensive. The onset of freezing weather is stated in Moscow to be a necessary prelude to a renewal of large-scale attacks. Russian military quarters in Moscow believe it is most unlikely that Marshal Malinovsky will attempt to take Budapest by a frontal assault. They point out that the traditional Red Army tactics have been to by-pass,_ out-flank and encircle fortified enemy cities. BRITISH IN BALKANS TASKS FOR AIR FORCE LONDON, Nov. 20 British paratroops have engaged German rearguards trying to hold open the escape routes running north from the Balkans, says Reuter's correspondent in Italy. British troops, co-operating with Marshal Tito's forces operating in the Yugoslav provinces, have the support of the Balkan Air Force, which has been bombing and strafing,, convoys and roads. Paratroops are operating on a 60mile front in Albania between Durres and Lake Ohridsko in conjunction with Albanian patriots. They are blocking and harassing the German movements to the north. British artillery has successfully bombarded the strong German ■ defences at Risan. Greece-based Spitfire fighters and bombers have recently been pounding railway targets at the special request of the Russian forces converging on the German escape routes through Serbia, states an Athens communique. As a result of a particularly successful attack on an ammunition train near Prestina, 60 miles north of Skoplje, expressions of appreciation from the Russians have been received by Balkan Air Force Headquarters. The Russians also asked the R.A.F. to carry out attacks in Montenegro, and several trains were • subsequently blown to pieces. ROAD TO RECOVERY FRANCE WELL ON THE WAY (Reed. 5.35 D.m.) LONDON, Nov. 19 "In spite of the difficulties of arm- ■ ing, equipping and training fresh troops," said General de Gaulle, "great progress has already been achieved in organising new units. I promise that within eight months we will have in Europe a great army worthy of France. "We are not only rebuilding our military might amidst the fighting; we ■ are also beginning to restore economic , strength under conditions which are extremely difficult. We are restor- ' ing communications throughout the i country. "The Seine River is again navigable from Le Havre to Montereau. There are difficulties every day, but it can be said that we are well on the way to recovery." General de Gaulle announced that the French Government had decided to launch a liberation loan, open to all Frenchmen. AIR TRANSPORT CRASH PLANE CARRYING WOUNDED (Reed. 8.45 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 20 Seventeen bodies have been recovered from a Dakota transport plane which, loaded with wounded from the Western Front, crashed on Sunday evening in a lonely part of Southern England and caught fire, says the Daily Mail. Two schoolboys witnessed the prash. One of the crew', who was badly injured, told them to get help. They ran two miles to the nearest police depot. Fire appliances and ambulances raced to the scene, but by the time they arrived the plane was a wreck. Six gravely wounded men from the plane were removed to hospital, but two of them had since died. The fate of the pilot, navigator and nursing sister aboard is not yet known. The total number aboard the plane is also unknown. It is thought the majority of the wounded were Americans and Poles.

LIBERAL PARTY SPLIT NO PROSPECTS OF UNITY (Reed. 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 20 Correspondence between the leader of the Liberal Party, Sir Archibald Sinclair, and the leader of the Liberal National Party, Mr Ernest Brown, indicates that attempts to reunite the Liberal and Liberal National Parties have failed, says the Times' Parliamentary correspondent. After 12 months' friendly discussion the parties are unable to agree on the attitude which the Liberal Party should adopt at a general election. Published correspondence shows that the Liberals oppose the continuance of the National Government after the conclusion of the war with Germany, whereas the Liberal Nationals prefer its continuance. HITLER VISITS HIMMLER (Reed. 8.30 p.m.) NEW YORK, Nov. 20 Hitler paid a brief visit to Berlin on November 8 to confer with Himmler, says the New York Times correspondent in' Stockholm. The Fuehrer arrived by plane from the south, presumably from .Berchtesgaden. The trip gives the lie to Goebbele' claim that lack of time was the reason for Hitler's failure to make the usual beer hall opeeoh on November