LITTLE HEADWAY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 November 1943, Page 4

LITTLE HEADWAY

MADE BY THE GERMANS DNIEPER BEND ATTACK SMASHED AT MOST POINTS . i BUT CONTINUED VIOLENTLY. ■ R (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 12.30 p.m.) LONDON, November 18. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent declares that German srtokes against General Vatutin’s left flank are being smashed in most sectors, only a little ground being given, and that Marshal von Mannstein’s • spearhead has dug only slightly into the Russian lines south-east of Jitomir. Mr Morley Richards, the “Daily Express” military writer, says this •is Germany’s last chance to avoid catastrophe. In addition to keeping open the Dnieper bend corridor, the Germans are trying to prevent their forces • being split in two. A continuation of the Russian drive west of Jitomir would mean that half the German army would be driven back into 'Roumania, and the other half into Poland. Moscow correspondents point out that the Russians’ bridgehead across the Dniepei’ now extends from the Gomel area through Kiev, as far as Pereyslavl. Reuter’s correspondent reports that the Russians have relaunched their offensive in the Dnieper bend, where the Germans now hold only a small corner between the river and the ZaporozheNikopol Railway. BLOODY FIGHTING GERMANS USING MASSIVE FORCES. AND STILL THROWING IN RESERVES. (Received This Day, 12.50 p.m.) LONDON, November 18. In fighting as' bloody as any waged in this year’s campaign, massive German panzer and infantry forces are still frenziedly battling against the south flank of Vatutin’s wedge in an all-cut effort to recapture Jitomir, which the Russians overran five days ago. The Red Army is undergoing its stiffest test since it broke the German lines at Orel and Byelgorod, four months ago, says the Moscow correspondent of the National Broadcasting Corporation. The Germans are using huge forces in trying to break up the ; Russian salient west of Kiev. Although relatively small air forces are in action, a tremendous ground battle has developed. A British United Press correspondent reports that fresh German reinforcements are still being thrown into the battle. German tank forces south-east of Jitomir are making powerful attempts to crush the Russian artillery and attack the infantry behind the guns, but the Red Army gunners \ire facing the assault firmly and tearing great gaps in the enemy’s tank units. The Germans apparently believe that the recapture of Jitomir would be the best means of stopping the great Russian drive through the Ukraine. The toughness of the German counterattacks underlines the fact that the Red Army’s advance has not been the result of a series of victory parades, but hard fighting. GOMEL EVACUATED ACCORDING TO GERMAN REPORT. STRONG RUSSIAN ATTACKS FURTHER NORTH. (Received This Day, 1.0 p.m.) LONDON, November 18. The capture of Korosten means that the great Leningrad-Odessa railway is finally sundered, depriving the Germans of all rail communications between their central and southern front, except by railways running north and south within the Polish border. The arrowhead of the Red Army attack is now less than 60 miles from the Polish border. Gomel may also have fallen to the Russians, as the “Daily Express” Stockholm correspondent quotes Berlin despatches as saying: “After successfully shortening the front, German forces extricated themselves from the Gomel pocket. Nothing is known in Berlin of the city’s fate.” German sources also report that the Russians have launched new and violent attacks west of Vitebsk and south "of Nevel. The Germans tonight claimed fresh advances north of Jitomir, against the southern flank of the Kiev bulge. The German overseas radio said' important territory has been regained and that pressure against the Russian salient was growing, in the form of a double attack north and south of Jitomir. Tonight's Soviet communique says fhe Russians in Jitomir and Korostyshev areas are engaged in repelling attacks by majoi- forces of tanks and infantry, in the course of which the enemy has suffered enormous losses in men and equipment. The Russians captured Vasilyvichi, south-west of Rechitza and several inhabited places on the lower reaches of the Pripet River.