FIGHTING IN FINLAND

Southland Times, Issue 25502, 24 October 1944, Page 5

FIGHTING IN FINLAND

NICKEL MINES CAPTURED RUSSIANS AT BORDER OF NORWAY, (Rec. Midni) LONDON, Oct. 23. Russian forces in Finland have captured the Petsamo nickel • mines and have reached the Norwegian border. A Moscow communique says that fierce fighting was necessary on the Karelian front to take the nickel mines. The communique stated: “The Red Army, under trying conditions aggravated by the absence of roads, bypassed the mining zone and cut off the retreat of the German 163rd Division which was defending the . nickel mines. The enemy suffered heavy losses.” The Red Army, massed around a curve of 170 miles facing the Danube Bend, appears to be embarking on the last days of the battle of the Hungarian plain, states Reuter’s Moscow correspondent. Marshal Malinovsky is now forcing the pace. His left wing has reached the Danube at Baja and his right wing is near the Czech border, thus developing a great sickle-like movement bringing Budapest under a dual threat.

The Russians’ capture of Baja com.pleted their first enveloping movement on the Danube. They are now striking out for others further north in a series of overlapping drives. An Order of the Day from M. Stalin, addressed to Marshal Malinovsky, states: “Troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front today, as a result of an attack carried out by cavalry and tank formations, captured the town of Nyiregyhaza, an important communication junction and powerful stronghold of enemy resistance on Hungarian territory.” Nyiregyhaza is about 50 miles north of Debreczen and 125 miles north-east of Budapest. Reuter’s military correspondent, commenting on the Russians’ capture of Nyiregyhaza, states that Marshal Malinovsky has virtually strangled any further German retreat from the pocket in northern Transylvania. The capture of this town has also narrowed the escape gap between Marshal Malinovsky’s and General Petrov’s armies to fewer than 80 miles. Nyiregyhaza is only 20 miles from the Czech border and is a junction for two main railways across the Carpathians from Lwow to Hungary. They link up Nyiregyhaza with other railways, the most important of which runs westward from northern Transylvania. Thus the Russians have cut the Germans’ main escape route from Transylvania, limiting the German retreat to secondary lines across southern Slovakia through the gap) | POWERFUL ATTACK I A German News Agency commentaItor, Plato, said today: “The Russians, lin the sixth day of their offensive in East Prussia, have massed south of Gumbinnen and launched a powerful attack.” The Berlin radio claims that the Germans have halted the Russians at Goldar, 20 miles south-east of Gumbinnen, and adds: “The Red Army is using powerful tank and infantry forces. Savage, swaying fighting is progressing. German Home Guard battalions have moved up to support the Wehrmacht, while the Luftwaffe is fiercely battling with Russian planes.” Tire Russian artillery concentration has reached an unprecedented high mark on the eve of decisive battles in Central Europe. In many sectors of the offensive the number of guns per kilometre is nearly 300. Twenty thousand guns participated in one of the latest Red Army operations.

There is still no official news from Moscow about the fighting in East Prussia, but correspondents in the Soviet capital indicate that the Red Army’s main operations are directed along the highway towards Isterburg and Konigsberg. It is reported that the Red Army has penetrated German territory to a depth of 16 miles and that the fighting proceeds with unsurpassed fury.

If such an attack is not held by the Germans there will be a prospect of East Prussia being split into two, with considerable German forces trapped in the pockets of Konigsberg, Tilsit and Memel. RUSSIANS BREAK THROUGH

The Germans themselves say that the Russians have broken through with a great many tank forces between Rominten Forest (a famous hunting estate used by Kaiser Wilhelm and ReichMarshal Hermann Goering) and the Eydtkuhnen-Isterburg railway. The outcome of this battle may decide the fate of the whole of East Prussia. The new German offensive against Slovakia from the east and south-east is gaining momentum. Tonight’s Czecho-

slovakian communique says: “Enemy pressure from the east continues. Our troops are engaged in heavy fighting at Talgart, Cervena, Skala and Tisovec. There is lively air activity on both sides. Enemy bombers raided Zvolen, an important railway junction south of Banksa Bystrica. Our air force intervened in the land fighting, particularly in the eastern sector.”

It appears that the Germans, staggering under the Red Army blows north of Debreczen, want to liquidate any danger on the flank to their retreat. They are also out to regain control of the Slovak railways, which would greatly improve their chance of an orderly retreat.