NAZI TROOPS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 June 1941, Page 5

NAZI TROOPS

POURING INTO FINLAND ACTION BY THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT. BLOCKADE OF ARCTIC PORT OF PETSAMO. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) LONDON, June 18. .An .Associated Press correspondent at Helsinki began telephoning a dispatch saying: ‘‘The streets of Helsinki are crowded with uniformed men and -women and soldiers, fully armed.” The Finnish censor then broke the telephone connect ion. The Swedish newspaper "Dagens Nyheter.” yesterday declared that the calling up of Finnish military classes and practice in the evacuation of towns coupled with reports that German transports are proceeding via Bothnia to Norway, indicate that Finland is appreciably changing her neutrality policy. All reports indicate that the Germans are concentrating large military and naval forces on the west coast of Norway. It is stated that many troops and marines have passed westward from Oslo, and that ships, including transports. are constantly moving through the Skagerrack. The Norwegian coastal region is now a fully prohibited area. The British Minister of Economic Warfare today announced that the British Government has informed Finland that, as from June 14, no further sea traffic will be allowed into the Arctic port of Petsamo. Last autumn the Finnish Government granted the Germans the right of transit of troops across Finland to and from Norway. Though this was regarded as a grave breach of neutrality, the British Government, desiring to encourage the Finns to try to maintain their independence, agreed to permit the resumption of sea traffic to and from Petsamo. provided that suitable arrangements were made to prevent any imports reaching the enemy.

Early this month it became obvious that German troops were entering Finland in such large numbers as to make it tolerably clear that they were taking up permanent positions in Finland, and were not in transit to Norway.

Accordingly, the British Government stated that it was no longer able to regard the Finnish Government as capable of complying with the terms agreed upon last autumn. No navicerts will for the time being be granted to ships proposing to sail to Finland, and already three Finnish vessels on the way to Petsamo have been intercepted and detained.