AIR MID SIRENS DROWN XMAS BELLS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 304, 26 December 1939, Page 7

AIR MID SIRENS DROWN XMAS BELLS.

HELSINKI BOMBED.

Citizens Spend Day Underground. .

TROUBLE IN RED ARMY

United Press Association-.—Copyright.

(Received 1 p.m.) NEW YORK, December 25. Howling air raid sirens drowned Christmas bells and residents of Helsinki spent most of the daylight hours underground as one alarm after another drove them to cover, says a Helsinki cable. No bombs appeared to fall inside the city, but distant detonations indicated that the suburbs had probably been hit. The colourless Moscow communique and the absence of claims of victory strengthen the suspicions that all is not well at the front, says the Moscow correspondent of the "New York Times." What is behind the silence? It is not possible to doubt that the Red Army is encountering tremendous difficulties and its progress is disappointingly ilow. Ji ig likely that in the absence of normal supply facilities columns carrying supplies for a limited period are under orders to reach the coast of the <»ulf of Bothnia at a fixed date in ordar to seize the railway and obtain local supplies. This means their security is dependent upon close adherence to timetable, and any deviation would ieave the armies in a deplorable position, unable to replenish their foodstuffs and munitions.

Supreme Genius Needed. Only supreme organising genius could avert disaster in . such circumstances. The Soviet has not proved that Bolshevism ha« enabled the Russians to overcome their historic weakness in organising. One reason for the decision to strike at Finland may have been the impetuosity of Andrei Zhdanoff, leader of the Leningrad area and the anti-Finnish group, but a deeper reason is haste to command th® Gulf of Finland—probably due to the realisation after the first few months of the European war that the Nazis', "number is up." The Russians see none of von Ribbentrop's boasts being fulfilled. Germany is checkmated by land, sea and air, without proper reserves for a long war, and even worse, a gulf developing be-

Lween the gang constituting the political leadership and the professional soldier* who in war time inevitably acquire t»he real control. The Soviet leaders are looking to the time when Germany's old ruling caste, realising that the war cannot be won, will g«ek Allied terms in preference to fighting until they are destroyed. At *uch a point, it is believed, Germany will seek victories to salve her prestige, and gain Britinh and French favour by attacking the Soviet. In this, doubtless, is the main motive for the desperate haste to advance to defensive positions in Finland and elsewhere. Increasing evidence of haste is forthcoming at the new Busso-German frontier in Poland, where it is now certain Germany is planning a new Eaot Wall, and the Soviet is pushing ahead f lie construction of defences. Whether or not Hitler really congratulated Stalin on his birthday, the .Soviet attitude was not flattering because the message is at present ignored the Press and radio, in spite of the publication of messages in obscure foreign papers.