PORT OF STETTIN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25799, 21 March 1945, Page 5

PORT OF STETTIN

TREMENDOUS BATTLE RED ARMY MASSES ON HRON DRIVE TO BRATISLAVA GAP (Rec. 10.25 p.m.) LONDON, Mar. 20. A tremendous battle is going on for the Oder port of Stettin, says Reuter’s Moscow correspondent. The Germans have thrown in new tank divisions in the Altdamm sector in an attempt to retain their bridgehead on the east bank of the Oder. The Red Army is still massing troops on the Hron River in Czechoslovakia, preparatory to launching an assault against this important German defence line barring the way to the Bratislava Gap and Vienna. The German News Agency stated that the Red Army yesterday penetrated more than 1000 yards into the main Stettin defence zone south-west of Altdamm. The attacks were preceded by an unprecedented artillery barrage. “Tons of steel and high explosive ceaselessly rain down on our positions. We suffered heavy losses under a murderous fire which blew positions and guns to atoms.” A bittle battle is being waged for a narrow strip of coast which is the Germans’ last refuge south-west of Koenigsberg. Correspondents describe the pocket, which is under a pounding from an arc of massed Russian guns, as a smoking hell. The Red Star says Russian bombers, guided from ground observation posts and using the “ radio eye,” are bombing through a smoke pall,' adding to the chaos and destruction inside the pocket. Every square metre of earth is under constant artillery and mortar fire. The Germans are trying to impede the Russian advance by opening

sluice gates and flooding low-lying ground, but crack Russian guards’ units, striking from the right, the left, and the centre, are smashing the remaining enemy strongholds. The German commanuer, General Kendulic, issued an order calling on S.S. officers to stand by to replace “ those who faltered and proved of little worth.” A great concentric drive by the Russians is compressing the pocket around Koenigsberg, which is probably the toughest German bridgehead on the eastern front. German detachments are being split from the main body one by one, Put the enemy is still resisting furiously. The Berlin radio's commentator, Major von Hammer, admits Russian gams in sectors north-east and east of Lake Balaton, where the Germans in the past few weeks made such a sustained effort to break through to the Danube. Von Hammer says Russian infantry has broken into the suburbs of Szekesfehervar to cut the supply routes east of Lake Balaton.

Von Hammer describes the new Russian attacks in Upper Silesia as apparently intended to clear General Petrov’s flank as he strives for the Marava Gap. Fierce street fighting is going in in Falkenberg, 15 miles west of Oppeln. Von Hammer admits that the Russians have pressed the Germans back, and are now striking south in the direction of Neudstadt, 14 miles west of Neisse and four miles from the Czechoslovak border. The News Agency reported that the Russians launched an all-out offensive in Silesia between Ratibor and Kosel. “We have thrown in grenadiers in an attempt to stem the Red Army forces, which outnumber us by 100 to 1. The Russians in one sector hurled in more than a division on every mile of the front.”

The Ratibor-Kosel sector guards the approaches to' the Bratislav gap, the entrance to Czechoslovakia. Agency correspondents state that, apart from the stubborn struggle at Breslau, there are no official announcements on the fighting on other fronts, but commentators point out that the daily reports of enemy tank and plane losses indicate that battles are being fought. The Russians who conquered Kolberg have wheeled along the Pomeranian coast, adding eight divisions to Marshal Zhukov’s forces battering down the German bridgehead at Stettin. report age.xcy correspondents in Moscow. The Germans are making furious efforts to hold their bridgehead on the east bank of the Oder, and have thrown in new tank divisions in the Altdamn. sector. The Red Air Force was called in to deal with panzers and maintained an incessant bombardment of enemy ferry crossings. The Red Air Force has flown 3000 sorties in the last few days, despite bad weather.

The Russian Air Force is also playing a major role between Lake Balaton and the Danube. Pravda reports that the Red Air Force is striking heavy blows against the German forces which are counter-attacking. It smashed a big lorry concentration near the lake.