FORTY MILES BEYOND THE FRONTIER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 December 1939, Page 5

FORTY MILES BEYOND THE FRONTIER

White Sea Base Reached SOVIET ATTEMPTS TO SMASH MANNERHEIM LINE FAIL WAVE AFTER WAVE OF TROOPS PERISH (By Telegraph.—Press Association— Copyright.) LONDON, December 28. The Northern Finnish Army Commander, General WaL lenins, slates that Finns are operating 40 miles within hnssm as far as Kandalaksha, a Russian base on the White Sea, says a report, from Helsinki. He adds that the frontier and woods extending Jar into Russia are full of Finnish patrols, and that the Russians are nowhere safe from attack. “Wherever thev break through we have enough men to stop them, he said. “One battalion for a division suffices. If the war continues for two vears we shall not have enough men. A later message from Helsinki states that the hiniiish northern army has taken 5000 Russian in a big battle that lasted throughout the day among the frontier forests. - A Russian onslaught is expected to be launched on several honls in an effort to force a decision before the snow prevents it. The Russian attempt to penetrate the Mannerheim Line near Viborg appears to have collapsed. Wave after wave of assault troops lost their lives on the frozen lakes, which guns smashed beneath their feet. The Russians continue their aerial, activity while long-range howitzers shell Viborg. The Finns note that, the Russians take little care of their wounded, who are left, to die from the cold and. exposure. This indifference is exemplified by the absence of the identification badges which are customary to all other armies. - 'Earlier messages stated:—The Red Army, hurled back at all points, is regathering its strength in the hope of smashing the Mannerheim Line. Between Lake Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland, the Finns repulsed three assaults in 24 hours, but the conflict continues to rage. A. Finnish communique refers to heavy gunfire and records the capture, of eight tanks and some German-made ammunition. Heavy snow has halted the Russian offensive at Peisamo. The Moscow correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain says that Russia is calling up more men. The correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” says that a Russian communique briefly reports the assaults on the Mannerheim Line on Boxing Day as petty skirmishes and the widespread bombing of south Finland as reconnaissance flights. Everything is being done to induce the Russian public to forget, that the flower of Russia’s forces is concentrated against Finland. This conspiracy of silence is futile. Despite the demonstrations attending M. Stalin’s birthday, and the elections, there is a secret, tension due to the public learning of the ghastly casualties in what was originally represented as a mere manhunt of Finnish policemen and White partisans by an overwhelming Red force.