BALTIC STATES

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 5, 1 October 1943, Page 5

BALTIC STATES

Nazis Withdrawing Bomb Refugees

(Received October 1, 1.49 a.m.) LONDON, September 30.

A large-scale evacuation lias been started by the Germans from ■the Baltic States, says the “New York Times” correspondent in Stockholm. The enemy expects that the Russians will soon, turn that area into a theatre of war, and residents of Berlin and Hamburg, including thousands of children, who were originally sent to Latvia to escape the Allied bombings, have now been sent to new quarters farther west. The Russians are attempting to force decisive breaches in the whole German defence line in the middle Dnieper area, states the German News Agency. .Vichy radio says that six Russian divisions supported by tanks are attacking in the region between Melitopol and Zaporozhe. A large concentration of troops and material has been observed west of Smolensk, where increased Russian pressure may be expected. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent says the Russians have crossed the River Soj north of Gomel, directly threatening the town. The Germans are bringing up troops from other sectors in an attempt to hold the town, on which the southern end of the White Russia line is anchored.

Fierce air battles are going on over Kiev ns the Germans try’ to intercept Russian planes which are hammering the German communications leading into the city preparing the way for a further development of the Russian -operations for the capture of the town. A number ot Messerschmitts have been shot down in the suburbs of Kiev.