WAR ON FINLAND

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 June 1944, Page 5

WAR ON FINLAND

MANNERHEIM LINE REACHED

(Rec. 9.30 a.m.) LONDON, June 16. The Red Army to-day reached the first outposts of the Mannerheim' Line, reports Reuter’s Moscow correspondent. The Finns are preparing for a desperate stand on the last fortified zone barring the road to Vipuri and the main land approaches to Helsinki. The Finns, compared with the Russo-Finnish war of 193940, have considerable quantities of German material, but the strength of the reinforced Mannerheim Line is an unknown quantity. The correspondent points out that the Red Army’s striking power, which was thrice unleashed to penetrate two massive defence lines in a week, is already being prepared for a still more powerful onslaught. It is significant there is thus far no mention of the Red Army meeting a single German soldier in the Finnish struggle. “Red Star” says: “Finland had the chance to avoid the blows that the Red Army dealt. The Russian Government has shown the maximum patience to Finland. It is now forced to talk to the Finnish Hitlerites in the only language they understand—the language of guns.” • CZECH ADMINISTRATION ~RUGBY, June 16. An agreement has been reached in the Czechoslovak- Cabinet to appoint the present Minister for Reconstruction, Frantisek Nemec, as Government delegate for the liberated territories. In accordance with the recent agreement with the Soviet, the delegates will have to administer the liberated territories and mobilise the population for the Czechoslovak army.