GARRISON SAVED

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24141, 6 December 1941, Page 11

GARRISON SAVED

HANKO EVACUATION CRIPPLED, TROOPSHIP .GUNS BIAOE DEFIANCE 5.85 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 4 A Stockholm message reports that, by means of nightly evacuation for / the past week, the Russians got away 35,000 members of the garrison at Hanko, on the Finnish shore ;of the Gulf of Finland. They in- « eluded two crack divisions and also the survivors of the troops from Pago and Osel Islands. Hanko, • * which was a Russian naval base, V&s ceded to Russia by Finland last yepr. ' - ■-1 In the course of the evacuation the lost only one big ship—the Josef Stalin, of 10,000 tons —and a few small, transports. . The singled out the Josef | Stalin for attack,; and, damaged by Stuka dive bombers, she ran into the fire of coastal batteries, which crippled her* With her propellers smashed, she drifted helplessly toward the shore with her" guns blazing against the attackers. Near the Estonian coast the Josef , Stalin struck three mines in quick suc- ■ cession, but even these failed to finish he®. She finally grounded on a sand s har, which enabled the enemy to. capture her crew and 800 soldiers. A radio message from Helsinki says *: Finnish troops have captured Hanko. A Finnish communique states that the Russian evacuation began on Wednesday. A» large fire has been raging for several days. Loud detonations have been heard. The Russian garrison numbered 31,000 troops, says the com--1 tnunique. -The Russians did not succeed In evacuating all their mobile goods. LENINGRAD REGION •' \ RUSSIAN SUCCESSES ' . LONDON, Dec. 5 Soviet forces have recaptured more ▼iUages in the neighbourhood of Tikh- ' 110 miles east of Leningrad. The enemy's plan to cut off Leningrad has failed and their movement has been finally stopped v Their losses around Tikhvin total SQOO dead and 32 tanks . and 3j53 cars destroyed. Leningrad is being bombed day and . night, according to Berlin. ' Further north, the Russians are reported to be sending infantry and mechanised columns across the frozen lakes in the Ladoga area. BRITISH SHIP TORPEDOED LONDON, Dec. 4 . A United Press correspondent reports that the British steamer Ashley (4868 «>ns) was torpedoed and sunk in the •Azores. The captain and sis of the fi were killed; The survivors were *®«cued by a Portuguese destroyer. lis-.;-Ift : ■■ ■' /