EAST PRUSSIA

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVI, Issue 23030, 23 October 1944, Page 5

EAST PRUSSIA

TERRIFIC BATTLE RAGING Russian Penetration By Telegraph— N Z Press Assn —Conyrigiii LONDON, October 20. Although Moscow remains silent about the operations against East Prussia, the Red Army, after weeks of regrouping and preparation, has at last really bitten into East Prussia, states the Moscow correspondent of the British United Press. A terrific battle is raging on East Prussian soil. The Red Army has pushed 15 miles beyond the border to within 30 miles of the great rail centre of Insterburg, which the Russians have been constantly bombing for the last few weeks. The German High Command statement late to-night said: "The Russians to-day succeeded in achieving several breaches in the East Prussian front between Shirtwindt and Suwalki. Our troops, retreating to new positions, managed to halt the enemy’s advance.” The Moscow correspondent reports that a division of Germany’s new Home Guard is in action in the East Prussia se,ctor. Debreczen, the third city of Hungary, some 115 miles east of Budapest across the Hungarian Plain, has fallen to the Russians. Debreczen Taken An Order of the Day from M. Stalin, addressed to Marshal Malinovsky, states: “The Second Ukrainian Front continuing its offensive to-day. as a result of an outflanking manoeuvre carried out by cavalry and tank formations, together with a frontal attack, took by assault the large industrial centre of enemy resistance. The Moscow salute was 20 salvoes from 224 guns." The capture of Debreczen followed the tank battle which has been raging for the last 12 days. Debreczen is a university city with a population of 117,000. It lies at the edge of the great Hungarian plain, which stretches right up to Budapest. Belgrade, capital of Yugoslavia, is the tenth European capital to be entered by the Allies this year. It lies at the confluence of the Danube and Sava Rivers, where the main railway from Germany and Hungary into the Balkans meets the west-to-east route from the Adriatic to the Black Sea The city had a pre-war population of 270,000. It fell to the Germans on April-12, 1941. Several Towns Occupied A Soviet communique reports that the Russians in Northern Transylvania to-day occupied 12 large inhabited localities. The Red Army north of Debreczen captured Hajdusamson, Hajduhadhaz, Nyirdony, Nagykallo, and about 40 other places. The Red Army in the course of its . offensive fighting, north and west of Szeged, occupied the towns of Baja, Csongrad and Kistelek, also more than 100 other places. The Russians in Yugoslavia took Silbas and two other large inhabited places. The Yugoslavs and Russians, south and south-east of Belgrade, occupied the railway junction of Kragujevac, also the town of Jagodina and seven other large places.

The Russians have penetrated 11 to 13 miles deep inside East Prussia on a 50-mile front, says the German News Agency. Fighting in East Prussia has reached white hot intensity, states the Berlin military spokesman. The swaying battles are spreading hourly. The enemy is pouring a ceaseless drumlike artillery barrage against German positions. The German radio reports that powerful Russian forces are massing for a new offensive against Cracow. A Russian supplementary communique states: “More than 2000 German Hungarians were killed in fighting for Debreczen. Twenty-five German planes were destroyed on the town’s aerodrome.” A Finnish communique reports that Sodankyla was captured after heavy fighting. The Russians north of Szeged crossed the Tisa River during the night and fought for the extension of the bridgehead on the western bank, states a Soviet supplementary communique. The Red Army west of Szeged pushed on 16 miles and captured Baja, on the eastern bank of the Danube. In the course of the fighting for Debreczen, which was captured on Friday, the German 23rd tank division and 46th infantry division were routed. The Russian forces destroyed 133 tanks