FIGHT AGAINST ODDS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 15 December 1939, Page 5

FIGHT AGAINST ODDS

Gallant Defence by Finns SOVIET’S UNLIMITED MAN-POWER ADVANCE CLAIMED BY RED ARMY [United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright! LONDON, 1 4th December. The Finns have routed the Russians at Tolvajari, near Lake Ladoga, killing 2000 and advancing a considerable distance, states a message from Stockholm. It is reported in Helsinki that the Finns carried the war into I Russian territory when they attacked in the direction of the Murmansk railway in the central sector. The Helsinki correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph*’ says that Russia’s unlimited manpower is beginning to strain the Finnish resources, because the persistent attacks on all fronts regardless of losses necessitate constant switching of the defendI ers* reserve. The Finns mow down a hundred Russians and a thousand more appear. The greatest danger is in the Kutno sector, where the Finns are defending the country’s waistline and sadly lack artillery. The Russians have for long been constructing strategic roads to the Kutno and Kola frontiers, permitting the speedy movement of artillery and tanks. It is estimated that 100,000 Russians are being hurled on Rovaniemi (about 120 miles from the north Karelian border and at the head of a railway line), but the Finns have recaptured Salla. ATTACKS ON ISTHMUS The Finnish Air Force is concentrating on roads and railways in an endeavour to break up the Russian reinforcements, and already has achieved considerable transport chaos at Murmansk. A Finnish army communique issued in Helsinki states: “There have been fierce attacks on the Karelian Isthmus and Petrozavodsk sectors, the enemy suffering heavy losses of men and equipment. Our coastal batteries on the Bjorko and Lake Ladoga coast (on each side of the isthmus), assisted the land forces in breaking up and driving back enemy detachments. “The enemy bombed Hanko and coastal islands. Our air force successfully bombed and machine-gunned infantry and motorised detachments. Moscow Radio announced: “Our troops advanced 65 miles from the frontier on the Kutno sector and also occupied Kitela. There was no air activity because of the weather.’’