HEAVY FIGHTING

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 December 1939, Page 7

HEAVY FIGHTING

ON KARELIAN ISTHMUS MANNERHEIM LINE INTACT [by CARLE —PRESS ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.] HELSINKI, December 9. White-clothed Finnish soldiers on skis attacked on a two-mile front in the northern sector, inflicting heavy casualties. A Finnish Army communique states: “The enemy continues to attack on the Taibela River, but was repulsed. The Russians have occupied Hogland.” Lieutenant-Colonel Mellblom, commanding the Finns based on Wiipuri, reports heavy fighting on the Karelian isthmus. The Russians, though reinforced, nowhere broke through the Mannerheim Line. The. Finns have proved the effectiveness of their antitank weapons by destroying 100 tanks on all fronts since the outbreak of the fighting. Russian aeroplanes bombed Hanko. The number of casualties is unknown. There is great indignation in Helsinki at the bombing, which is considered an insult to world opinion at the moment of the League meeting. The Finnish Prime Minister (M. Ryti), broadcasting, said Finland would fight to the end. M. Tanner, the Finnish Foreign Minister, said: “Finland is prepared to conclude an honourable settlement.”

A Soviet communique issued in Moscow reports advances on all fronts. Swedish correspondents report that wreckage of Soviet aeroplanes is continually being discovered in the forests, proving that Russian air losses are considerably greater than is indicated by the careful Finnish communiques. Thirty more Italian aeroplanes liave arrived in Finland, making 80 from Italy. Finnish airmen carried out a leaflet raid on Leningrad with leaflets calling on Russian workers not to believe in M. Molotov. A Finnish motor torpedo-boat successfully “attacked part of the Russian naval harbour at Kronstadt.” According to “National Tidende” the boat, among others, was. purchased from England last year. STRENGTH OF INVADERS A message from Copenhagen says it is estimated that at least 200,000 Russians are attacking Finland, comprising 11. infantry divisions with artillery, and two tank divisions, which include five infantry divisions and one tank division on the Karelian front, tfone of these are. first-line troops, and much of the motorised equipment is obsolete; but since M. Stalin has at his disposal a standing army of 2,000,000 and a war potential of 11,000,000, with hundreds of fast mcWern bombers, Russia is obviously not extended to representative strength. The position of the war remains little changed. The Finns are not only resisting Russia’s enormous armies, but, in many instances, have taken the offensive. The Helsinki correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” states that the hardest fought and most bloody battle of the war is being fought round the Mannerheim Line and at advance posts on the Karelian Isthmus. The Russians have been beaten back six to eight miles and have suffered losses believed to equal three or four companies. The Finnish losses are also severe. Heavy coastal, batteries supported the Mannerheim Line. ' In spite of indignant Moscow denials, observers affirm the Russians are using gas. Finnish troops are not equipped to combat gas. hut in the snow the cold is condensing it and making it ineffective. Latest reports from Helsinki state that the Finns are holding their own in the Petsamo sector.

A TEMPORARY LULL.

BOTH SIDES REINFORCING.

(Recd. December 11, 11.30 a.m.)

LONDON, December 10.

The Associated Press of Great Britain’s. correspondent on the Karelian front says: The Finns are taking advantage of the lull to dig in, and to complete tank traps and barbed wire, in anticipation of an intensification, of the Russian onslaught on the Finnish front. The Mannerheim Line comprises an incredible maze of machinegun nests and artillery emplacements. The Russians are obviously rushing up reinforcements, as considerable activity in the Russian lines can be observed from the Finnish outposts. The Finnish intelligence expresses the opinion that 1,000,000 men will shortly be available for an attack, with the object of swamping the small Finnish force, as soon as a hard freeze-up enables the movement of mechanised units. .... The British United Press Helsinki correspondent says that the Finns are also rushing up reinforcements on the northern and Lake Ladoga fronts. Refugee trains, lorries, and carts, crammed with soldiers, are returning to the war-zone immediately they are emptied. It has been discovered that women are fighting in Russian ranks, in addition to piloting bombers.

STRUGGLE FOR OULOU. (Recd. Dec. 11, 1.30 p.m.). LONDON, December 10. The “Daily Telegraph’s” _ Helsinki correspondent says: While indecisive but. sanguinary attacks occurred in the southern sectors, the Russians continued to push on in the 200-mile. central sector, whose abjective is Oulou. Finns are rushing reinforcements to Oulou, thence to the front, where there is' ten degrees centigrade of frost. The Russians are also rushing up reinforcements to meet the strong Finnish counter-attacks. 25,000 RUSSIANS KILLED (Recd. Dec. 11, 1.30 p.m.). STOCKHOLM, December 10. The Finnish Government claims that 25,000 Russians were killed during the first week of the war. It says that the Russians used mustard gas north of Lake Ladoga. The “Tidengen’s” correspondent at the Karelian Isthmus says that he saw the burns of a Finnish soldier, whom doctors certified was poisoned by mustard gas on December S. The “Telegraph’s” Helsinki correspondent says that the Russians are using, on several fronts, shells containing chlorine and picric acid gas.