TOWARDS VIENNA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25798, 20 March 1945, Page 5

TOWARDS VIENNA

DRIVE FORESHADOWED BACK DOOR TO ENEMY kETREAT '(Rec. 7 p.m.) LONDON, Mar. 18. me ue v'cipoment of rcussian offensive ~ operations over a wide area ox the suutnern front appears to ioresnadow a mree-prongea urive in tne Vienna uirecuon towards tne Pack aoor of the German mountain strongnoid in Ausiria, Bohemia, Moravia, anu Bavaria, state agency correspondents in Moscow. Marshal Tolbukhin has absorbed the weignt of tne German offensive towards the Danube, and has worn out the enemy before embarking on a strong counter-offensive. Correspondents consider that when the Russians throw in their full weight in this sector they will drive through to the Austrian border. The Red Air Force’s campaign against Ostrava, the key railway junction beyond the Moravian Gap, is regarded as an indication of fresh developments on General Petrov's front, where a drive is being made through the Carpathians. On Marshal Malinovsky’s front forces in the Hron Valley are storming the last mountain barriers before the Bratislava plain. The middle Oder front is still under \ a security blackout, but it is reported in Moscow that there is reason to expect the announcement of significant developments when the security restrictions are lifted. Closing on Stettin Latest front-line reports state that the Russians are closing in against Stettin despite the heavy concentrations of artillery arrayed against them.

Moscow radio’s military commentator said the advance by Marshal Zhukov’s army is threatening Swinemunde, the last important German naval base in the Baltic. Kolberg, a Baltic port 54 miles east of the mouth of the Oder, was occupied to-day by the Russians. An order of the day addressed by Marshal Stalin to Marshal Zhukov, commander of the First White Russian Front, and his chief of staff, Colonel-general Malinin, states: “Troops of the First White Russian Front, having broken the resistance of the encircled German garrison, occupied the town and port of Kolberg.” , „ . Lieutenant-general Poplavski, commander of the First Polish Army, is included in the list of commanders whose troops distinguished themselves ui the operation. Describing the tactics used to capture Kolberg, the Russian supplementary communique says: “ Red Army units first broke into the western part of the town, from where they were able

to lay down an artillery barrage against the harbour. Several enemy ships which attempted to enter were sunk. The Russians thrust towards the east side of the town and, in co-operation with units of the Polish Army, carried the town and port by assault. The streets were strewn with thousands of enemy dead. Much booty and many prisoners were taken. Another 3000 Germans were killed yesterday m fighting south-west of Koenigsberg. The area held by the encircled enemy is now limited to a narrow strip.” German Admission The Berlin radio commentator. Major von Hammer, says Russian tanks are driving for the railway running along the Czechoslovak border from Katowice to Liegnitz, through Kosel and Neisse. They pressed back the German front to the west. The Russians also crossed the Neisse River east of the Grottkau-Neisse road. “Danzig is ablaze and big fires are burning furiously following an attack by our heavy bombers against military objectives,” stated the Moscow radio to-night. “Reconnaissance pilots reported that the only road leading to the north from Danzig to the Baltic towns of Zoppot and Gdynia is jammed with an unbroken column of lorries. The inhabitants are fleeing from Danzig. Prisoners state that no accommodation of any sort can be found in Danzig. Gdynia, or Zoppot. Tens oi thousands of refugees are camping ir the open. -The German authorities ar< unable to help them. Thousands oi others are living in Baltic coast localities waiting for German ships. The radio added, however, that German naval communications are in a precarious position.”