RUSSIAN ARMIES HARASSED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 5, 6 January 1940, Page 7

RUSSIAN ARMIES HARASSED

FINNISH AIR RAIDS BEHIND RED LINES MURMANSK-LENINGRAD RAILWAY CUT ; FIERCE FIGHTING IN KUOLAJARVI AREA (By Teles raph—Frees Association—Copyright! Received Jan. 5, IK3O p.m. HELSINKI, Jan. 4. Fierce fighting has broken out in the Kuolajarvi area, where the Finns are reported to be forcing' the Russians back despite air raids on the Finns communications, including' the railway to Sweden. The Finns made air raids on Murmansk, setting fire to a big petrol dump. They attacked many railway stations, goods yards, road junctions and bridges behind the Russian lines. Tin Ijivitipir Committee, appealing to .sportsmen through- I out tie. world for practical help for Finland, states that Fekka , Nieme p>-<-.-<iit leads a ski patrol, and the swimmer Borg is I serving in the army. The ’aris radio announced that 400 American planes, with Finland this month. Twenty-five thousand Swedish workers h; ered a day’s wages to Finland. A Danish businesman is giving 50 heavy army trucks. A message from Oslo states that Finland has ordered JOO ski sledges, to which Norway is adding 200 is a gift. Sweeping the frozen lakes on the Karelian Isthmus with s frust ted an r.ttempt to outflank their positions. Artillery and machine-gun fire tore the Russian ranks to pieces and broke the ’... throwing hundreds of the attackers into the water. The Finns have rendered the Murmansk-Leningrad railway I useless in at least five places with bombs. They are also dyna- I miting bridges and power stations, precluding a restoration for a long tiim. thus cutting off Kolapenineula. where 50,000 Russians are isolated. They arc mostly political prisoners and eonvicts. hating the Soviet regime. Twenty thousand troops who were sent to reinforce the waistline thrust have also been cut off owing to the destruction of a side track from the Murmansk railway. The Russians twice made air raids on Hanko. There were no deaths and only small damage was caused. The Finns replied with raids on Russian airbases at Dago and Osel, in which an Italian pilot led Italian bombers. The planes dropped incendiary bombs and started several fires, and returned to machine-sun the fire-fighters. A Third Onslaught. The Finns plan a third onslaught comparable with that at j Kiantajarvi and Tolvajarvi. Some three to four divisions of Russians arc in a dangerous position north of Lake Ladoga, and Finnish patrols are swooping down on the Russian communications. following the identical technique used at Kiantajarvi, awaiting the demoralisation of the harassed invaders before finally attacking in force. Mopping up continues cast of Kiantajarvi, where tl <Fi sh advance amounts to 12 miles.

FINNISH COMMUNIQUES EXTREMELY CONSERVATIVE URGENT NEED OF FRFSH WAR MATERIALS ’ British Official W. : eas ) The Finnish Minister in London, Mr, G. A. Gripenberg, who reviewed the progress of the Russian attack on Finland in an interview with the press, remarked that the Finns were fighting on no fewer than eight fronts exclusive of the coast and air. “After mere than a month of fighting,” said Mr. Gripenberg. “the enemy has not got really anywhere.” From his personal knowledge of the Finnish Commander-in-Chief. Field - Marshal, Baron von Mannerheim, he added, he was convinced that reports and communiques from the Finnish headquarters habeen extremely conserThe Time.', in a leading article, surveys the campaigning of the last fortnight in which it says that the magnificent fighting qualities of the Finnish soldiers has won them a victory which may well take its pla<- • among the epic.-, of the nation. It expresses the view that next to their intense superiority of morale the greatest single advantage of the Finnish troops has been their ability to fight on ?kis. “They have in the most literal sen-e been able to make rings round soldiers indifferently clad and corr.p 'd ’> s’ rnoL and flounder their way through deep snow in field boots.” In a further reference to the effect of the weather on the Russian attacks Th • Times remarks that ‘‘the big snows” of winter have not yet covered th? country. Stalin’s Incompetence “M. Jost t Stalin’s military incompetence and political miscalculation have contributed almost as much to the Soviet failure as the brilliant strategy’ an i tactics of Field-Marshal Mannerheim and General Wallenius, commander on the Northern Front. Russians living closest to Finland would probably have been better capable of enduring the conditions of the Arctic than those who have in fact been sent, but as Sir Paul Dukes pointed out. it is usually difficult to persuade Red soldiers to attack peoples with whom they are acquainted as neighbours. Invaders, therefore, have to be drawn from more distant parts of the country. “Russian troops notoriously depend more than most on good leadership, and M. Stalin has destroyed, for political reasons, a large proportion of his best professional officers. Fatalistic by nature, Russian soldiers have been roused in the past by a fanatical belief in God and their country. Now, as has been pointed out by a shrewd Italian commentator, M. Stalin has liquidated these ideals and slogans have proved to be but a feeble substitute for faith and love of country.” Alleged Nazi Threats Referring to threats in the Nazi press to Britain and France if they

BIG SPY RING SWEDEN AND FINLAND INFORMATION FOR RUSSIA FINNISH OFFICERS IMPLICATED Received Jan. 5, 6.30 p.m. STOCKHOLM. Jan. 4. ■ The police have discovered wide- • spread Russian espionage, for which I the Swedish Communists provided secret short-wave radio stations, rei porting Swedish troop movements and ,a!so the whereabouts of ammunition and of volunteers going to Finland. : The spies intercept mails and cause ; disaffection among the peasants. . It is reported that three Russian ■ spies were arrested on the Karelian * Isthmus, including a woman dressed ’ as a Finnish soldier. I A big Soviet spy ring was discov- ! ered at Petsamo, including many j women. The leaders were a Finnish ; captain and a lieutenant, who rei ported to the Ogpu in Murmansk. The I captain committed suicide before the , authorities discovered the ring. Sevj era! members of the ring were exe- | cuted. GERMAN DENIAL NO WARNING TO SWEDEN Received Jan. 5. 11.55 p . m . , LONDON. Jan. 5. 1 It IS officially denied in Berlin that Germany has intimated to Sweden I that she cannot remain neutrai if I Sweden allows the passage of Allied of materials to Finland.

should extend help to Finland and to the Scandinavian States that assistance to Finland through them will be regarded as a breach of neutrality, The Times say's: “These silly threats will frighten no one, and there is actual evidence that the Nazi Government has itself indulged in them.” Concluding, The Times says: “In spite of her brilliant success, Finland is in urgent need of fresh materials of war. It is essential in the interests of the future of all nations that ner power of resistance shall not be allowed to be broken.”