FINNISH DEFENCES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 December 1939, Page 5

FINNISH DEFENCES

DENIAL OF SOVIET CLAIMS MAIN LINES DECLARED TO BE INTACT. “REDSKIN FIGHTING" IN 'THICK WOODS. By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright. LONDON, December 8. The official Finnish war communique of last night flatly contradicted Moscow’s claim that Russian troops have' broken through the Mannerheim Line on the Karelian Ishtmus (reports Daventry). It was stated that the Russians were being vigorously resisted and that many more tanks have been captured. The Press Association reports that last night’s Finnish army communique stated: “The enemy tried to cross the Tiabela River linking Lakes Vuok and Ladoga. We are counter-attacking with artillery. The Russians bombed three villages on the north shore of Lake Ladoga. There were no naval operations of importance. Helsinki was not bombed owing to thick mists.” The war on the Arctic front is described by a Norwegian newspaper as “old-fashioned Redskin fighting." and the Finns, in ambushes and fighting in the thick woods, have taken great toll with their long knives in hand-to-hand fighting. In the far north daylight lasts for only five hours, and this has greatly restricted the Russian use of heavy artillery and aircraft. Much of the countryside on the three fronts is strewn with boulders and thickly wooded, and three or four feet deep in snow. The Russians do not appear to have come to serious grips with the Finns, who are holding a strong defence line at the. point to which the Russians claim to have penetrated. Before the Finns abandoned Petsamo they set fire to the town and left a heap of ruins. Food and other goods were cleared before leaving. A thousand refugees, mostly women, children, and old people, have crossed the border into Norway, and foreign employees at the nickel mines, including British and Canadian, are reported to be safe. Of the defences in the south-east, it is emphasised that the Mannerheim Line is a series of obstacles covering a depth of 20 miles. The fortifications link up lakes and marshes, and advantage is taken of the broken country. The countryside is strewn with granite blocks, some the size of houses, which make superb anti-tank traps. The ground in front of the fortifications is mined, and there arc barbedwire barriers, some of which are electrified. SOVIET DENOUNCED BRITISH LABOUR COUNCIL RESOLUTION. LONDON, December 7. The National Council of Labour today issued a statement condemning the Soviet which “professed to lead the world working-class movement and to be the guardian of the rights of the peoples against their oppressors. British Labour repudiates these claims and appeals to the free nations to give every practical aid to Finland." REPORTS BV RADIO FINNISH GENERAL STAFF RETICENT. LEGATION STAFF LEAVES MOSCOW. Daventry reports that the Finnish General Staff is showing reticence in allowing precise details of encounterswith the Russians to be published, as the information might be of value to the enemy. It is stated that Russia’s projected task of blockading Finland will not be easy as there is a coastline of 1 500 miles to be dealt with. The staff of the Finnish Legation in Moscow left Moscow on Thursday night after having been held up tor several days. At the station there were Englishmen, Americans, Frenchmen. Swedes, Norwegians. Japanese, Belgians and Hungarians. An earlier report stated that the German Ambassador in Moscow had asked neutral Ministers and Legations except the United States, not to go to the station as he thought it might look like an anti-Soviet demonstration.