BAYONET BATTLE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 December 1943, Page 4

BAYONET BATTLE

STRUGGLE IN DNIEPER BEND GERMAN-CONTROLLED AREA DEVIDED. PROGRESS IN GOMEL SECTOR. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.30 a.m.) RUGBY, December 7. Some of the heaviest bayonet battles of the war marked the latest stage of the struggle in the Dnieper Bend, states a Moscow message. The area consisted of rainsoaked forests north of Snamenka, where the Russians secretly concentrated for a sudden blow against German communications. Guerillas in the same area facilitated the Red Army progress by previously cutting roads between Kirovograd and the Dnieper and breaking through an enemy defence line which separated them and the regular forces. After cutting the Snamenka-Smela railway the Russians began to overrun the whole forest area extending from Snamenka to the Dnieper, dividing the German-controlled area into two parts. Soviet armoured .forces poured into the breach, creating a broad trail for infantry and artillery. Soviet tank battalions captured a German railway train heading towards Snamenka. In the area northwest of Gomel the Soviet offensives are going on and Stormoviks are constantly attacking the enemy, reports the Moscow radio. Soviet ground forces are forging ahead, liberating one village after another. The enemy is offering stubborn resistance. When the Russians dislodged the 'enemy from a favourable position; the Germans unsuccessfully launched eleven counter-attacks, supported by tanks and self-propelled guns. The Germans suffered heavy losses. Particularly fierce fighting took place for one village. After a Soviet detachment had dislodged the enemy from this position the Germans regrouped and attempted a flank attack but the Russians dealt a counter-blow and the enemy were driven back, leaving the village securely’ in Russian hands.