BATTLE NEAR LODZ

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 September 1939, Page 8

BATTLE NEAR LODZ

FIFTY THOUSAND POLES ENVELOPED DESPERATE EFFORTS MADE TO BREAK THROUGH. MURDEROUS AIR ATTACK & BOMBARDMENT. (Received This Day, 11.0 a.m.) LONDON, September 12. The Association Press, of America special representative with the German Army says the German counter-attack against the first organised Polish resistance in the war was resumed at dawn north of the Lodz region. It is the third day of' a bitter battle in which it is estimated that 2,000 to 5,000 Poles were killed and wounded in'the first twenty-four hours. The Germans are attempting to force the surrender of 50,000 Poles. The battle, in the opinion of the Germans, will decide the fate of Warsaw. The Germans attacked the 50,000 Poles, driving them from Poznan and the' Corridor. Caught in a pocket, the retreating Poles attempted to break through in the direction of Warsaw in one of the most desperate attempts the Polish Army has ever made. The Germans replied with a heavy artillery bombardment and unleashed a murderous air attack. POLISH' CAVALRY HORSES MOWN DOWN BY MACHINE-GUNS. SCENES OF WHOLESALE SLAUGHTER. (Received This Day, 9.15 a.m.) ROME,. September 12. “This war’s motif is horses against armoured cars,” writes an Italian eyewitness of the battle near Warsaw between German mechanised units and Polish cavalry trapped in a square formed by the towns of Skierniewice, Sockaczew, Gabin and Kutno.” Four times the cavalry charged, to be met by a withering cross machine-gun fire. More hoi'ses than men were slaughtered, as the gunners were ordered to fire at the horses’ legs. The cavalrymen, being unsaddled and wearied, attempted to take refuge in swamps. The Germans finally allowed some to join the retreating infantrymen, thus adding to the confusion.” This morning mechanised units moved in on the forces still trapped, which during the night had formed into small squares, behind heaps of dead horses. The artillery resumed its fire at dawn and massed aeroplanes flew over, aiming a rain of fire which made the ground boil. The cavalry again attempted to find an opening but its waves Jost form in bloody groups, reminding me of the famed ditch of Waterloo. When the smoke and dust cleared, it revealed a horrible sight—horses without men and men without horses.”