FOURFOLD INVASION

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 134, 4 December 1939, Page 7

FOURFOLD INVASION

THE FINNS STRIKE BACK

PORT OF PETSAMO RECAPTURED

RUSSIANS SAID TO BE BADLY EQUIPPED

(By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. I

LONDON. December 3.

During the third day of the war irf Finland the defending army has been striking back against a fourfold invasion in the north, the centre, around Lake Ladoga, and along the Karelian Isthmus. The Finnish authorities announce that'the Finns defeated the Russians in a big battle 50 miles north of Salimijervi yesterday. The Russians are reported to be badly equipped and to lack provisions. Russians are said to have machine-gunned their own troops at Tuelma as a result of a disagreement between soldiers and officers, who drew their revolvers against the men. Large-scale air raids have been made on a number of towns. and the coastal bombardment, principally in the fight for Hanko, continues. The port of Petsamo, on the Arctic Ocean, which was captured 'bn Friday by Soviet troops parachuted from planes, was later recaptured by the Finns. THE RUSSIANS SURPRISED. The Finnish troops who recaptured the town marched throughout the night along roads deep in snow. They surprised the Russians, who did not dream that a counter-attack would come so soon. Finnish aircraft co-operated, heavily bombing the Russian positions. The fate of a Finnish force cut off in the vicinity of Petsamo is unknown. . The Helsinki correspondent of the British United Press, commenting on the Petsamo fighting, says that refugees, who have swelled the population four times in the border village of Svanvik, explained the orderliness and foresight of the Finnish action. A squadron of Russian warships, attended by aeroplanes, approached the port," compelling the defenders to withdraw till they could engage the enemy on land. The Finns sank every vessel in the harbour, blocking the fairway, and also detonated mines embedded in the face of the cliffs, flying rock fragments being as effective as artillery.

When eventually the invaders landed, fresh mines were exploded on the quay and roads. The retreating Finns set fire to the port in order to delay the Russians, and they will strike back today. Petsamo is now a heap of ashes. A reinforced Russian attackis expected today.

Russian troops are only 10 miles from the Norwegian border in the north, where 800 Finns are opposing a force of several thousand. The Finns are burning their houses and slaughtering stock, and piling their belongings on sleighs for transportation to Norway. The burning buildings are visible from the Norwegian . frontier, where streams of women and children are constantly arriving, accompanied by food-laden lorries. The fleeing population is determined the Russians will find the countryside bare. It is reported from Bergen that the Finns continue to fight doggedly in the extreme north. It is officially announced in Helsinki that more than 35 Russian tanks were destroyed in Karelia yesterday The Finnish army captured 1200 Russian soldiers. One Finnish warship, was sunk during an engagement with the Red fleet off Hanko, and Soviet warplanes machinegunned sailors struggling in the water. A Finnish official communique says that two Russian companies in the south were wiped put, largely

front.

'by the use of a new Finnish automatic rifle Avhich fires as rapidly as a machine-gun and is specially constructed for forest fighting. The Russians again bombed the port of Hanko and other towns in eastern and western Finland. The Finns retired slightly along the Karelian frontier. The official statement adds that at least 19 Soviet planes have been shot down. Yesterday the Finns claimed that 18 Russian planes were shot down and two Russian infantry companies annihilated. The Osram glassworks in Helsinki were destroyed. The Finns admitted the loss of Hogland (an island in the Finnish Gulf), and also Russian occupation of the Seiskaari Peninsula. The Finns announce the recapture of Kiveapa, 13 miles behind the Karelian frontier. A Russian army communique stated yesterday that the troops have advanced 16 miles on the Karelian Isthmus. The retreating Finns burned villages and forcibly evacuated the occupants. Marshal Voroshilov, Defence Minister, is in command on the Finland