GERMAN DNIEPER DEFENCE LINE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 October 1943, Page 3

GERMAN DNIEPER DEFENCE LINE

Red Army Enlarging Bridgeheads SOVIET TROOPS NEARING LATVIA FRONTIER REPORTED GERMAN WITHDRAWAL FROM BALTIC STATES LONDON, October 10. A Soviet communique reports that Red Army troops have repelled more German counter-attacks in the Middle Dnieper area and have enlarged their bridgeheads on the right bank of the river. Another report states that the Dnieper line is definitely broken and that at least eight Soviet divisions have crossed the river. The Russians have advanced four to 7| miles towards Vitebsk and captured more than 140 villages. Further progress has also been made in the Red Army’s drive from Nevel. Yesterday 64 German tanks were destroyed and 58 enemy aircraft were shot down. Advanced Russian elements are now only 43 miles from the Latvian border after a 35-mile advance in two days, states a report received in Stockholm from Moscow. Reuter’s Stockholm correspondent, quoting diplomatic sources, says the Germans are evacuating the Baltic States at the rate of a regiment a day. The evacuation is believed to have started about September 20, and it also includes German civilians. The Germans are also reported to be withdrawing heavy equipment, including big guns, from the Leningrad front.