TENSE MOMENT
IN KIEV SALIENT BATTLE » MASSED GERMAN ATTACKS CONTINUE ATTEMPT TO CUT IMPORTANT HIGHWAY (By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright) (Received This Day, 12.30 p.m.) LONDON, November 24. General Vatutin’s armies on the southern flank of the Kiev salient are facing their tensest moment since the Germans’ large-scale counterblow from Jitomir began eleven days ago. Reuter’s Moscow correspondent says the fiercest fighting of the German counter-attack is raging today. Massed German tanks, infantry and planes are striking up the Zdivzh River valley, thereby trying to drive a wedge through towards the Jitomir-Kiev Highway, which crosses the river 30 miles west of Kiev. Fresh German reserves have arrived to strengthen the enemy's attack. Bitter hand to hand combats are swaying as the enemy’s efforts increase.
Moscow military observers point out that although the Russians have thrice been forced to withdraw to new positions, the enemy so far has failed to penetrate the Russian line or to encircle any part of the Red Army forces. The Moscow radio stated that fighting in the area of Brusilov and Chernyakhov is extraordinarily fierce, but that, the Germans have nowhere been able to drive a wedge into the Russian lines. The Russians, however, have abandoned several inhabited localities under pressure from numerical superiority. The Berlin radio claimed that the Germans have recaptured Chernyakhov and Brusilov. The German news agency’s military commentator, Von Hammer, claims that the Germans, in the area of the Jitomir-Kiev Highway, have cut off Russian forces which are doomed to destruction. He added that the Russians had launched relief attacks north and north-east of Jitomir. A Russian military commentator, Colonel Akomov, describes the German gains against" the Red Army’s southern flank as “partial successes.” He adds that the Germans had not so much aimed at capturing Jitomir as at striking a blow northwards to cut the communications of the Red Army forces operating on the southern section of the Pripet Marshes, which they failed to do.
Some of the Red Army forces fighting on the Gomel sector are within the desolate Pripet Marshes, an area which is swampy and wooded and intersected by numberless rivers, say Moscow dispatches. Guerilla guides are showing the Red Army troops trails through the wilderness of marshes and the welter of confusing tracks.
The “Izvestia” declared that the Russians are rolling back the German tank units west of Rechitza. The Germans are covering their retreat by a powerful screen of fire.
According to the Vichy radio, Russian armoured units succeeded in breaking through in front of Krivoi Rog, but were forced to withdraw after fierce fighting. They are still exerting heavy pressure. Russian pressure has also increased against the Nikopol bridgehead and the Russians on the Dnieper have redoubled their efforts on the bridgeheads south of Pereyslavl and north-west of Cherkasy added the Vichy radio.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WAITA19431125.2.60
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 November 1943, Page 4
Word count
Tapeke kupu
467TENSE MOMENT Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 November 1943, Page 4
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Wairarapa Times-Age. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.