RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE RENEWED

Waikato Times, Volume 195, Issue 22459, 21 September 1944, Page 4

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE RENEWED

The renewal of the Russian assault on the Germans on the northern reaches of the eastern front brings the war to a new pitch of fury. The Germans are suffering reverses almost everywhere on the great battle line that stretches from the Baltic Sea through Poland, Rumania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Italy, France, Belgium and Holland, and the daily attrition must be enormous. For several days a fierce battle has been raging east and south of Riga, with the result that the German defences have been smashed and the Russians again threaten to drive through to the coast. Two months ago the Russians reached the coast on the Gulf or Riga, west of the city of Riga, and isolated the German northern army in Estonia and northern Latvia. German pressure compelled the Russians to withdraw from the coast, however, and for some weeks the enemy northern army has had communication with East Prussia.

The Russian penetration on that occasion, however, came at. the end of a long offensive which had struggled all the way from Vitebsk, a distance of between 300 and 400 miles. It was not surprising that at the end of such an exhausting drive the Russians were unable to hold their grip on the coast. On this occasion the Russian offensive begins within a few miles of Riga and seems likely to smash a wide breach between the German northern army and East Prussia. Whether in the meantime the Germans have altered their dispositions is not known. Isolation of the northern army again would

be far more serious for the Gern of the war and the Russians are fi land. Further south on the Russi increased. Warsaw’s agony may

mans because Finland is now out :ar more active in the Gulf of Fin;ian front also the pressure is being soon be relieved.