BATTLE FOR VIBORG

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 March 1940, Page 6

BATTLE FOR VIBORG

REPORTS MUCH IN CONFLICT HEAVY RUSSIAN ASSAULTS. ATTEMPTS TO GAIN FOOTHOLD. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received This Dav. 12.20 p.m.) ' LONDON. March 6. There is consider;!hie contradiction in reports from Finland bi.it “The Times” Helsinki . correspondent declares that the Finns are holding the advantage in a battle raging as a result of Russian attempts to gain several footholds on the shores of Viborg Bay acrossthe icefield. The Russians launched a strong assault which almost completely tailed, after heavy losses outweighing Ihe advantage of a brief and precarious footing on the north-west shore of Viborg Bay. The Copenhagen “Berlingske Aftenavis” publishes the more ominous statement that the widespread and determined Russian offensive threatens to strain the defence of the whole Mannerheim Line. A very fierce battle is raging on the western shores of Viborg Bay, where the Russians landed at three points. The situation is delicate for the Finns, who are rushing up reinforcements to defend these positions, the possession of which would give the Russians a big advantage in a drive against Helsinki.

POSITION CRITICAL, ACCORDING TO NEUTRAL REPORTS. RUSSIANS IN' POSSESSION OP ISLANDS. (Received This Dav, 1.15 p.m.) STOCKHOLM. March 6. Dispatches from Finland suggest that the position at the southernmost end of the Finnish defences is becoming more critical. The Russians are hurling masses of light tanks against the shore defences. The Russians now possess all the islands comprising a group extending from Bjorko Peninsula nineteen miles across Viborg Bay. The latest Finnish communique emphasises the deadly hard hitting with which the defenders are repulsing numerous assaults against vital points. The communique claims that a further ten planes were shot down during Russian raids over a number of towns, in which forty inhabitants were killed and many wounded. Meanwhile house to house fighting continues amid the ruins of Viborg, in which scores of dead and wounded testify both to the fury of the attackers and the heroic courage of the defenders. The Stockholm newspaper “Aftonbladet” says Dr Sven Hodin conversed with Herr von Ribbentrop and discussed the possibilities of a settlement of the Russo-Finnish war