TWENTY SUBURBS CAPTURED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 96, 24 April 1945, Page 5

TWENTY SUBURBS CAPTURED

TEMPELOF ENTERED MOVES OF ENCIRCLEMENT Recd. 1 a.m. London. April 23. More than 20 Berlin suburbs are in the Russians’ hands and four more, including the Tempelhof, site of the capital’s great airfield, have been entered, says the Associated Press correspondent at Moscow. Other correspondents report that the Battle of Berlin continued throughout the night. The Russians have established their first headquarters inside the city, commanders directing the battle from air-raid shelters. The Russians are believed to have broken into the Rummelsburg district, in eastern Berlin, under four miles from the Brandenburger Tor. which divides the Unter den Linden from the Tiergarten. The Red Army is also reported to be in Lichtenberg, in eastern Berlin, and is extending its grip on the ringbahn. Strong Russian forces are making good progress north-west and south in the drive to encircle the city. There is fierce fighting as the Germans make an effort to absorb the Russian thrusts in a network of barricades and heavily-fortified ston n buildings. Russian storm groups are fighting sharp actions as they force their way forward under heavy protective fire. A bloody battle was fought, in the Millerstrasse in the north-western section. The Red Army, after smashing the barricades, had to destroy tank, machine-gun and snipers’ nests. Stalingrad veterans, who are masters in street fighting, are leading the Russian groups. Berlin is experiencing a new kind of bombing, Soviet midget planes, flying at almost roof-top level, are able to drop their loads with such accuracy that they sometimes attack individual buildings surrounded by their own' troops. The Red Air Force appears to have the upper hand, but the Luftwaffe is still appearing in considerable groups.