LITTLE PROGRESS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24127, 20 November 1941, Page 9

LITTLE PROGRESS

ATTACK ON HANKO RUSSIAN. SHIPPING ACTIVE GULF OF FINLAND TRAFFIC (R«cd. 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, Not. 18 Although the Germans have many times claimed that Russian merchant vessels and warships are bottled up in the eastern end ol the Gulf of Finland, the Finns now report that brisk Russian sea traffic continues practically without interruption between the Eussian garrisons at the' naval base of Hanko and Leningrad. .. . v l --' • The. Stockholm correspondent of the Times says Finnish troops,, augmented by volunteers from neighbouring countries, have scarcely progressed a yard since they began their operations against the peninsula of Hanko. The bombing of the Murmansk railway between Lake Onega and the White Sea continues, but only approximately onethird of the railway, /between Petrozavodsk and the White Sea, has been occupied. The .most advanced Finnish forces are still among the intricate inlets of the north of Lake Onega. The Finns have pushed northward along the railway from Petrozavodsk to a point some 150 miles south of Soroka, the junction with the railway to Archangel, and therefore communication between Murmansk and Archangel through Soroka is not yet immediately, threatened by the Finns from this direction. German and Finnish forces co~ operating from Salla toward Kandalaksha are at present believed to be within 50 miles of the Murmansk railway. SHIFTING FACTORIES , RUSSIANS UNDISMAYED (Reed. 6.50 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 18 British and American members of Sir Walter Monckton's party, who have arrived in the Middle East from Kuibyshev, are unanimous concerning the stubbornness of the Eussians' resolve to beat the Germans. They saw train after train travelling eastward carrying dismantled factories. The first trucks contained the machine tools, then came the steel work and even the brickwork of the factory, and finally came the workers with their families and furniture. All were cheerful and undismayed. Sir Walter Monckton, who has arrived in Cairo to take up his post as head of the propaganda and information services, said that in Kuibysh&v there was no sign of worry or depression, only patience, perserverance and determination to win the war. He thought the position of Moscow was better than it was a month ago-U-BOATS IN WHITE SEA CLAIMS FROM BERLIN (Reed. 12.40 a.m.) LONDON, Nov. 19 - A Berlin spokesman said that U-boats are now operating in the White Sea "on a route of American armed merchantmen and British ships proceeding to Archangel." A Berlin communique yesterday claimed that U-boats sank four merchantmen in the North Atlautic and Northern Arctic. "FLYING TANK" RUSSIANS' NEW PLANE LONDON. Nor. 18 . A message from Berlin says the. Russians are using a new type of aeroplane, so strongly armoured that it is called the flying tank. The plane's radiator, cockpit and other vulnerable points are particularly heavily protected. German pilots have fired enormous quantities of bullets into the flying tanks without setting, fire t them or bringing them down. The aeroplane is designed for low-level work, and is being used for ground strafing and attacks against aerodromes. RAIDS ON MOSCOW (Reed. 9.20 p.m.) LONDON. Nov. 19 The Soviet news agency reports, that 13 German aeroplanes attempting to raid Moscow were shot down on Monday night. On Tuesday several raiders which managed to penetrate_ the defences dropped high but there was no military' damage and only a small number of casualties.