Evening star., 1945-05-12
Last Great Battle in Prague
Among Most Fantastic of War

b1vouaced a Few miles east OF the
city, he said.
Meanwhile, over the radio came
the screeching voice of the madman,
Frank. He said that he had agreed
to surrender the Wehrmacht If the
Czech Patriots would not appropri-
ate their arms. He claimed that they
had broken the truce by arming
themselves.
Terrible will be the reprisals
when I get back" he screamed.
His voice was obviously that of an
insane man, British sergeant said.
Frank apparently was despairing of
his own life and was determined to
go out in a record blood bath.
Frank has since been captured
by American troops)
Gen. Vlasov, also broadcasting an
appeal to Allied planes not to strafe
his troops, was saying that he
would put distinctive Czech colors
on his vehicles. At the same time
the Prague radio was broadcasting
a message from the Czech National
Committee formed at Prague to
Gen. VlaSov saying that they ap-
preciated any help he wished to give
the defending Army forces, but
warning that they would use no in
f1uence whatsoever in his behalf for
favors from the Russians whom he
had betrayed.
Gen. Vlasov replied that he would
take his chance, anyway.
Frantic Appeals for Help.
Meanwhile, frantic appeals were
made to London and to United
States forces to rush help. as the
situation was getting desperate. I
don't know whether these messages
ever were received. But l was as
sured all day yesterday when the
battle was much more critical that
the absolute American stopping
point was 10 miles from Pilsen and
that a small force of the Czech
Legion-bombarded with lilacs and
spring blossoms in a wild reception
here last night after their fighting
odessy all the way from Tobruk-
were unable to get an escort to pro-
ceed during the evening.
All the time the three British SOL
diers were circulating freely in
Prague and found morale high de-
spite the lack of heavy weapons.
The people were armed with Ger
man bazookas, tear gas bombs,
few rifles and old family sabers
They were confident they would
hold out until help came.
Late Sunday afternoon the Britons
found the situation under control,
although shells bursting in the city
set many fires. But the casualties
up to this time were relatively light
and the people were stirred by the
constant playing over the radio of
the Czech national anthem, This Is
My Home
In midafternoon Sunday the Ger
mans were repulsed in a heavy
battle east of the town, but toward
evening some tanks and infantry
penetrated the city on the south.
The situation was getting bad. Most
of the populace already had spent
13 hours in their cellars. Big tank
guns were pouring shells into the
streets and dozen planes, mostly
jet-propelled, were strafing the
streets.
Germans Launch Attacks.
Gen. Vlasov radioed that he was
only IA kilometers (about 10 miles
away. The battle ended at dark and
there was dead quiet until yester-
day. Then the Germans launched
terrific attacks from the southeast
as the first of Gen. Vlasov's troops
began to appear. They were mostly
in horse-drawn transport.
The Russians, despite being dis
owned by the National Committee,
got wild reception, with flag-wav-
ing and lilacs. But they had no
heavy weapons or tanks. The
Czechs were still confident that they
could hold the city approximately
10000 German civilians in the
northeast section of the city were
confined to their houses. But, egged
on by the screaming Frank who was
calling for massacre of the