KOLA PENINSULA CUT OFF

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 January 1940, Page 5

KOLA PENINSULA CUT OFF

The Finns have rendered the Mur-mansk-Leningrad railway useless in at least five places with bombs. They are also dynamiting bridges and power stations, cutting off the Kola Peninsula, where 50000 Russians, mostly political prisoners and .convicts hating the Soviet regime, are isolated. Twenty thousand troops who were sent, to reinforce the “waist-line” thrust have also been cut off by the destruction of a side-track from the Murmansk railway. Sweeping the frozen lakes on the Karelian Isthmus with searchlights, the Finns frustrated an attempt to outflank their positions. Artillery and machine-gun fire tore the Russian ranks afid broke the ice, throwing hundreds of the attackers into the water. The Russians twice raided Hanko from the air. There were no deaths and small damage. Finns replied with raids on Russian air bases at Dago and Osel, in which an Italian pilot led •Italian bombers. Planes dropped incendiary bombs and started several fires. A fierce battle is raging north of Salla states a cable from Stockholm. The Finnish authorities are surrounding the operations with the greatest secrecy. No one is allowed to approach the battle zone. The Finnish headquarters except that the battle will result similarly to that at Suomussalmi, when the Russians were heavily defeated. A Helsinki message states that the Russians have again bombarded the Mannerheim line, where Soviet troops are now digging in. . Otherwise the Soviet offensive appeared to have died down. In the far north, intense cold has put a stop to all operations. REPORTED VICTORY BATTLE IN THE SALLA SECTOR. A Daventry report late last night stated that neutral reports indicated that the battle in the Sala sector had resulted in another great victory for the Finns. It is stated in Copenhagen that the Russians have been routed after two days’ fighting with heavy losses. Swedish newspapers state 'that the Finns have recaptured Salla. Though Finnish staff officers describe the victory at Salla as comparable to that at Soumussalmi, there is no confirmation of it from the Finnish High Command. HELP FOR FINLAND FOUR HUNDRED AMERICAN PLANES & PILOTS SAID TO HAVE ARRIVED THIS MONTH. SCANDINAVIAN ASSISTANCE. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. LONDON, January 4. The Olympic Committee is appealing to sportsmen throughout the world for practical help for Finland, states a message from Helsinki. It states that Fekka Nieme at present leads a ski patrol and the swimmer Borg irserving in the army. Paris radio announced that 400 American planes and American pilots reached Finland this month. A message from Oslo states that Finland ordered 300 ski sledges, to which Norway is adding 200 as a gift. News of further aid for Finland lias come from Stockholm. Sixty thousand Swedes have agreed to work next Saturday, which is a public holiday in Sweden, and to give their day’s earnings to Finland. The sum raised in this way is expected to exceed £35,000. ' I Fifteen pro-Finnish organisations! have been set up in Stockholm, and Swedish newspapers continue to publish appeals for help for Finland in the form of money, manpower and clothes. A Copenhagen business man. who prefers to remain anonymous, is reported to have ordered 50 cars and heavy lorries to be sent to Finland, for conversion into ambulances. I