SWIFT SWEEP

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 November 1943, Page 4

SWIFT SWEEP

RED ARMY CUTS OFF CRIMEA ' ■' J GERMANS ROUTED WORST DEFEAT SINCE 1918. MUCH EQUIPMENT ABANDONED. (By Telegraph—(Press Association— Copyright) (Received This Day, 11.25 a.m.) LONDON, November 1. The Red Army columns’ swift sweep across the Tauride Steppe, cutting off the Crimea, now threatens Kherson and Nikolayev, which are the next strategically important centres ancl opens up the possibility that a new steel fist will strike against the under side of the Dnieper bend. Moscow correspondents report that Russian advanced units bypassed Perekop and cut off the Crimea. Kherson and Nikolayev are now so seriously menaced that the German commanders are likely to be forced to move their headquarters to Odessa, which only a few weeks ago was considered the likely southernmost point of the German defensive line on which a stand with the most powerful forces that could be mustered would be made. The possibility of the formation of a steel wall” in this area is now regarded as greatly reduced by the rout of the German southern forces, which are no longer able to preserve formations for an orderly retreat. Commenting on the German position in this area some despatches say the total loss of the German forces east of the Bug River is possible. The Germans in the Tauride Steppe ar e under - going the most serious and most complete rout that any German soldiers have experienced since 1918, declares the Columbia Broadcasting System's Moscow correspondent, who states: “Front line reports say that the Germans have no organised defence. Divisions and regiments are falling back completely disorganised, abandoning equipment, including tanks and armoured cars in good condition. Isolated groups are making a desperate last stand but most of the Germans are just running.” The British United Press Moscow correspondent says the Russian campaign in the Southern Ukraine is ending up in one of the most frightful slaughters of the war. The Battle of the Tauride Steppe will probably go down in history as one of the worst and most disastrous defeats the Germans have ever suffered. Russian armoured units and motorised units are continually cutting deeper and deeper into the heart of the fleeing Germans, leaving behind tens of thousands of Germans to the mercy of oncoming cavalry and infantry, who are cutting them to pieces. The Russian advance has become a flood on the sector below Nikopol to below Kakhovka. The Russians are overwhelming the German positions at will. They are almost in sight of the left bank of the Dnieper along the whole of this sector. While the Russians’ Southern columns are driving through disorganised German groups some of the heaviest fighting of the campaign is reported from Krivoi Rog, where Jj the Genpans are using strong tank forces, heavy artillery and numerous divebombers in a desperate effort to restore an increasingly difficult situation. The Associated Press reports that the Russians are repelling fierce coun-ter-attacks and slowly gaining a strategic advantage with an advance southeast of Dnepropetrovsk. This advance threatens to outflank Krivoi Rog from the south-east and Nikopol from the south-west. J . HEAVY'TOLL TAKEN OF GERMAN PANZERS BITTER REARGUARD ACTION (Received This Day, 12.30 p.m.) - LONDON, November 1. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent says there is hardly a vantage point north of Krivoi Rog which has not been fought over many times in the fourteen days of the battle but the Russian tankbuster squads and anti-tank gunners are taking a heavy toll of panzers appearing in the battle.- The Red Air Force is heavily bombing concentrai tions of German troops and transport around the Dnieper crossing. The Germans south-west of Dnepropetrovsk are fighting a bitter rearguard action, realising that their ultimate fate is likely to be decided by the battle for Krivoi Rog. The Berlin radio’s commentator, Captain Sertorius, admits that the Russian gains at Nogaisk and on the Tauride Steppes have “assumed major proportions.” The Crimea is passing through a terrible time, says the “Pravda” war correspondent, who made a flying visit to the German held'Crimea peninsula. He landed by plane at a. guerilla airfield and travelled through the Crimea. He added: “Many towns and villages have been turned into ruins, Sabastopol, Kerch and Theodosia have been laid waste and the great metallurgical works at Kerch are idle. The ground of the Crimea is soaked with the blood of its citizens, thousands of whom have been massacred by the Nazis.” ORDERED HOME HUNGARIANS IN SOUTH RUSSIA MANY ON GARRISON DUTY (Received This Day, 1.15 p.m.) LONDON, November 1. It is reliably reported that the Hungarian general staff has ordered all Hungarian troops in South Russia to, return to Hungary, says Reuter’s Ankara correspondent. The first contin-: gent is reported to have arrived. It is estimated that 90,000 Hungarians are employed in garrison duties south of Kiev.