GREAT BATTLE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 October 1943, Page 3

GREAT BATTLE

IN PROGRESS IN NEVEL REGION TAMAN PENINSULA CLEARED OF ENEMY. GERMAN DEFENCE OF CRIMEA WEAKENED. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, October 9. The Russians have captured Lesno, an important station on the SmolenskVitebsk railway. It is their greatest gain yet in the drive on Vitebsk. Tonight’s Russian communique says the Germans had converted Lesno into a heavily fortified stronghold, but Soviet forces first by-passed the town and then stormed and captured it by simultaneous blows from the north and south. The Russian drive here and farther north in the Nevel region, Moscow messages say, is apparently aimed at cutting into the rear of Vitebsk. The Berlin radio says that the Red Army in the Nevel area is making an all-out effort to achieve a large-scale strategic break-through, and that in comparison with the great battle in this area all the other sectors of the front lose interest. The fighting in the Nevel area has reached a violence comparable with the fiercest battles since the outbreak of the war, says Paris radio, quoting Berlin. The report says that the Russians have thrown in 12 infantry divisions and considerable tank forces. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent says that three German attempts to retake Nevel have failed, and the Russians have penetrated 12 miles beyond the town.

In an order of the day, Marshal Stalin announced that the Taman Peninsula has been completely cleared of the enemy. The statement emphasises that the Germans have not only lost their last springboard for a possible invasion of the Caucasus, but have also lost a stretch of country which has’ formed part of the defences of the Crimea. The Germans left 20,000 dead on the battlefield of Taman and 3000 prisoners were taken. The Russian divisions which cleared the Taman Peninsula

will in future be known as the Taman, Temryuk, Anapa and Kuban divisions. The Russians captured on the peninsula 52 tanks, 337 guns and large quantities of war material. The Moscow radio announced that Marshal Timoshenko has been awarded the Order of Suvarov (first class) for the direction of the operations on the Taman Peninsula. Colonel-General Petrov has been awarded the same order and promoted to Army-General. After announcing the evacuation of the Taman Peninsula, the Berlin radio stated that the remaining German units were transferred last night to the Crimea after all break-through and outflanking attempts, carried out by far superior Russian forces, had been repelled. The evacuation of the peninsula began several weeks ago, when the disengaging movements on the Mius and Donetz fronts made a withdrawal of the extreme southern flank necessary, the radio said. In the bridgeheads across the Dnieper the Russians repulsed heavy counterattacks and on sectors improved their positions. Berlin speaks of a new Red Army bridgehead across the river near Dnepropetrovsk.