FINNS RETIRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 March 1940, Page 6

FINNS RETIRE

ON ISTHMUS & ARCTIC FRONTS IN FACE OF HIGH-PRESSURE ONSLAUGHTS. GRAVE ADMISSION MADE IN COMMUNIQUE. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received This Day, 12.50 a.m.) HELSINKI, February 29. The Finns, facing continuous high-pressure onslaughts on the Karelian Isthmus and in the Arctic, have retreated on both fronts. A communique, the gravest since the outbreak of hostilities, admits withdrawals' from Viborg Bay as far east as Lake Vuok. The Russians claim that they have crossed the strategically important Salmenkaita River, just west of Lake Vuok and have consolidated their adv ance on Viborg. Attacks on Taibela failed, but a midIsthmus thrust suggests an attempt to encircle Taibela, which hitherto has been a strong deterrent to a westward advance. Finnish guns raked the ice on Viborg Bay throughout the day, prevenfing the Russians crossing to outflank Viborg and also protecting Finns planting mines under the ice, but the most optimistic of the defenders do not expect that Viborg will be much longer in Finnish hands. The Finns have also retired from Nautsi, on the Paats River, where the Russians are attempting to drive down the Arctic Highway to Rovaniemi.