ON GREAT SCALE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 December 1943, Page 4

ON GREAT SCALE

TWO VETERAN SOVIET ARMIES

Poised for Decisive Spring

TOWARDS THE POLISH FRONTIER

HOPES OF CLEARING WHITE RUSSIA AND LENINGRAD AREA

(By Telegraph.—Press Association— Copyright.) (Received This Day, 1-2.45 pan.) LONDON, December 20, Two veteran armies are now poised for a decisive spring towards the Polish border-General Bagramyan’s men, who have driven a dangerous wedge south of Nevel, and Genera. Rokossovsky’s White Russian forces, who, after a lull enforced by bad weather, are now prepared to deal fresh blows against the- vital Jlobin-Minsk-Orsha railway triangle. The British United Press Moscow correspondent says the Red Army’s tremendous drive from the Nevel area, which is already within striking distance of the Vitebsk-Polotsk Railway, appears to be the first move in a giant drive to sweep the enemy entirely from White Russia. . . . London military commentators express the opinion That ilie Nevel drive is the prelude to a great offensive, designed to sweep the Germans completely from the Leningrad area and possibly from the Baltic States. Once the Russians capture Polotsk, the Germans will be forced to withdraw their line from Leningrad. The Russian break through in the Nevel area is also likely to have a profound effect on the fighting in the Kiev bulge, because German communications and supply routes between the Kiev front and the north have now been seriously endangered. , General Bagramyan’s forces include Siberians, veterans from the Don, Moscow and Stalingrad battles, and crack ski detachments. The Germans were confident the Russians could never penetrate the defence line south of Nevel and had built Dutch ovens for cooking and furnished their dugouts with mirrors and armchairs, many of which had been removed from the Minsk Opera, House. Parquet floors had been laid down in the officers’ messes.

The Germans had incorporated everything in their defence line. Dozens of tanks, mobile guns and armoured cars which had been knocked out during the fighting of last summer had been dug into the ground and converted into permanent pillboxes. When the Red Army attack broke with a crashing artillery barrage the Germans massed every man, including engineers and alpine troops, for inclusion in desperate counter-attacks. The Red'Army, however, sustained attacks over a 50-mile front, the combined effect of which brought a success underlining the importance of the new Nevel thrusts.

Reuter’s Moscow correspondent says the fall of Vitebsk would be more important than the fall of Gomel, because with big gaps torn at both ends of the Germans' “Fatherland Line” in White Russia, the enemy would scarcely be able to hold the intervening sectors. including Jlobin, Orsha and Mogilev. The correspondent adds that the Russian advance on what is significantly called the First Baltic Front threatens to outflank Vitebsk and cut off its garrison. The Russians smashed their way across the railway from Nevel and penetrated westward 15 to 20 miles from the railway. The enemy’s defence belt protecting Vitebsk is ten miles deep. The Red Army’s advance is continuing.

HALF A MILLION ATTACKERS

According to the Paris radio, the Russians are using over half a million men •in their great Nevel offensive. Tonight’s Soviet communique states that the Red Army south of Nevel, continuing to develop its offensive, occupied over 70 more localities, and in the Korosten area repelled tank infantry attacks. The Russians southeast of Kirovgrad repelled strong tank and infantry counter-attacks, inflicting heavy losses. Von Hammer, the German news agency’s commentator, stated tonight that the Russians had launched a new attack east of Vitebsk. He added: VThe winter campaign has now really started. The Russians are pinning their hopes on winter. The Germans won’t confine themselves to defensive strategy.” The Berlin radio announced that the Germans had evacuated their small bridgehead on the southern bank of ■the Dnieper, opposite Kherson, near the river's mouth. The radio said the withdrawal was made because, with the freezing of the Dnieper, the bridgehead became useless.