FINNS STAND FIRM

Evening Star, Issue 23497, 10 February 1940, Page 11

FINNS STAND FIRM

TWO ATTACKS REPULSED SOVIET BATTALION SMASHED HELSINKI. February 8. The Finns repulsed two attacks on Summa and maintained their position* elsewhere. They smashed a battalion near Raate, killing 250. Admiral Tributz, commander of tin* Russian Baltic fleet, declared that tho offensive would be continued until Marshal Mannerheiin's forces were annihilated. Finnish patrols combed the territory between Rovaniemi and the Gulf of Bothnia tor parachutists. Another penetrated Russia to the shores of the White Sea. CONFLICTING CLAIMS RUSSIAN PARACHUTISTS IN FINNISH UNIFORMS HELSINKI, February 9. (Received February 10, at noon.) A communique states that .the Finns repulsed all attacks. The enemy suf fered heavy losses. Nineteen tanks were destroyed. The Finns declared that the Man* nerheim Line still holds out, even Summa, regarded as the most vulnerable spot; but a Soviet communique claims an advance resulting in the occupattion of the fortified area in the Summa district, while Stockholm reports say the Russians on February 8 forced the Mannerheim Line at one point, resulting in hand-to-hand fighting in which they were quickly driven out. Finnish ski patrols captured a number of Russian parachutists behind the lines at Rovanieme wearing Finnish uniforms and equipped with short wave radio and apparatus for tapping telephone lines. The Finns report that parachute spies are causing much damage in cutting communications, etc. FOOD RELIEF SUPPLIES NO OBSTRUCTION BY BRITAIN (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, February 9. (Received February 10, at 11 a.m.) There is no truth in the suggestion by the Polish newspaper ' Goniack Crawcowski' that the delegates of the American Red Cross and Quaker organisations have been unable to carry out intended relief measures in Poland owing to detention at Gibraltar by the British authorities of American ships with supplies for Pol and '. It is learnt, on the contrary, far from obstructing the shipment of food relief supplies to Poland' from America the Allies have done everything in their power to facilitate their dispatch, subject only to necessary safeguards to ensure that the supplies should in fact reach the people for whom they were intended. RUSSIANS' POOR MORALE NO HEART IN CONFLICT MACHINE-GUNNED INTO BATTLE (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, February 9. (Received February 10, at noon.) Giving an impression of his recent visit to Finland to journalists, Sir Walter Citrine said: "Itis in the serious interest of this country and' the world as a whole that a very considerably larger amount of assistance should be forthcoming for Finland from this country." He paid a tribute to the efficiency of the Finnish Army, both in personnel and organisation, stating that the protective precautions were the finest he Lad ever seen. Speaking of the Russians, he thought their morale extraordinarily bad'. " They don't like the war and don't know what it is about," said Sir Walter. Conversations with Russian prisoners revealed that in many cases machine guns were used to urge the men into battle, and commissars told them that the families of men who surrendered would be shot. Doubts he had had as to the numbers of Russian losses had been dispelled by the number of prisoners he had seen and the quantity of captured material he inspected. " I think Russia has supplied the Finns with more arms than any other country." Sir Walter expressed the opinion that the nest six or eight weeks would indicate which way the war would go, but emphasised that the Finns could not hold out indefinitely without all possible assistance. SLOVAKIA AND RUMANIA ECONOMIC AGREEMENT WITH ITALY ROME, February 9. (Received February 10, at 8 a.m.) A Slovak economic mission is arranging an agreement with Italy. A Rumanian delegation will shortly arrive with a similar objective. BULLET-RIDDLED PLANE SUCCESSFUL RECONNAISSANCE FLIGHT PARIS, February 9. (Received February 10, at noon.) Five airmen who returned from a successful reconnaissance w.ith 1,000 bullet holes in their plane were awarded the Croix de Guerre.