BATTLE OF THE BALTIC

Waikato Times, Volume 195, Issue 22457, 19 September 1944, Page 3

BATTLE OF THE BALTIC

500,000 MEN ENGAGED GERMAN LINE BREACHED (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyrig-lit. (Received Sept. 19, 11.30 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 18 With the Red Army intensifying the drive against Riga and the Germans counter-attacking in great strength in the Jelgava sector one of the greatest battles of the war is being fought out on the Baltic front, according to Moscow and Berlin reports. The British United Press points out that the Russian offensive, in which, according to Berlin, 500,000 men are engaged, is not yet reported from Moscow, but Reuter’s Moscow correspondent says it is admitted that the Germans are showing great activity on the Baltic front, where they appear to have received substantial reinforcements and supplies. They are making a new attempt to bolster up the position with bits of ground gained here and there from the Red Army, but their fresh attacks in the Jelgava sector have come up against considerably strengthened Russian fieldworks. The Battle of the Baltic has assumed unbelievable violence, says the German agency’s commentator, Von Olberg. The Russians are attacking on a 50-mile front from Bauska to Lake Peipus. Estonian Line Breached The German news agency’s commentator, von Hammer, says that the Russians east of Tartu have deeply breached the Estonian held line. German tactical reserves have been brought up. Fighting went on all night and the enemy forced a major breach in the German line north of Valk, which was eventually sealed dTE after very bitter fighting. German armoured forces southwest of Jelgava broke into the Russian defensive positions to the extent of six miles. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent says that the Red Army’s Balkan campaign is entering a phase of sweeping manoeuvres in the Transylvanian Plains, where Germans and Hungarians have been pushed into flat country at the mercy of the Red Air Force. Von Olberg said that the first clashes between Bulgarian and German troops occurred on the border of Serbia and Bulgaria on September 17. The situation so far is most confused and it is impossible to gain a clear picture of the fighting. Hungarian Frontier Reached The Russian advance, with Rumanian support, in Transylvania has reached the long stretch of Hungarian frontier established by the Vienna Award in 1940. This is in central Transylvania between Sighisoara and Cluj. Further east the enemy has been expelled from the tip of territory allotted to Hungary north of Brasov. There is now a double Russian threat from central Transylvania and from Bukovina against the enemy in northern Transylvania, but the forjmidable barrier of the Carpathians I assists the defence in this region on the east. There remains a large area to the west, which has always been Rumanian but into which the Russians have not yet advanced. Their furthest occupation so far announced is from Turda (south of Cluj) through Deva, 70 miles south-west of Cluj, to the Danube at Turnu Severin. Beyond the Danube the Yugoslavs appear to control a large extent of country stretching far towards Belgrade and Nish. The Germans hold a line in the Yugoslav-Bulgarian frontier area north-west of Sofia. Germans’ Tank Losses

While Russian preparations for the capture of Warsaw continue methodically the Germans have attacked west of Jelgava, south of Riga It is reported that the Germans lost over 100 tanks in this action, which was probably dictated by the necessity of re-opening better communications with their troops in Estonia, either with a view to resisting throughout the winter or in preparation for a withdrawal to East Prus-» sia.