March 7,1940; HEAVY LOSSES AT VIIPURI

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, MARCH 7, 1940:

Heavy Losses

Are Suffered
In Bay Fight
Thirty Tanks Lost
In Fierce Battle
At Viipuri

Welles Talks

War Situation
For Over Hour
With Daladier

Plunges Into Parleys

With High French

Regime Chiefs

Paris, March 7—(AP) —

President Roosevelt's fact finding emissary, Sumner Welles, was closeted for an hour and forty minutes today with forceful Premier Daladier who has vowed to crush the present German regime.
Plunging into a crowded three day schedule for- his Paris visit, the undersecretary of state called, first on President Lebrun before meeting the premier at his war office headquarters.
Wells already had surveyed the German and Italian attitudes toward the present war in visits to
Berlin and Rome. His next stop will be London after talking with French chieftains as well as the
Polish government-in-exile in France.
Goes To France
President Lebrun received the American envoy ,at the Elysee Palace soon after he alighted from a trail! which brought him overnight from Switzerland

 

Liner Queen Elizabeth Gets

To New York Harbor Safely
After Mad Dash Across Sea

New York, March 7. — (AP)—With the "red duster" union jack proudly. flying at her mast, Britain's new $28,750,000 liner Queen Elizabeth — the largest, fastest

ship afloat — arrived within the safety of New York harbor waters today at the end of her bold dash3000 miles across the Atlantic.

Her giant engines turned up apparently close to her top speed of more than 32 knots.

Only a few figures were seen on the decks, and from the planes there was no indication that the world's largest ship even had a name painted on her gray-smudged prows.

 

LAST MINUTE

BULLETINS

London, March 7—(AP)—Two German warplancs fought with British. Pursuit  planes off the coast of England tonight Onlookers saw one raider almost collide with a British plane as the fight in the clouds began.

 In a few minutes a second raider with two British fighters in pursuit appeared. Then came three more British planes and the two Germans "were driven out to sca, the onlookers said.

March 4, 1940; VIPURI ENCIRCLED BY REDS

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, MARCH 4, 1940:

Russians Claim Six

Forts. Big Guns
Captured

MOSCOW—(AP)—Red forces closing in on Viipuri reported new advances to the north and south of the shell-shattered port city today and Indicated strategy of encircling it and severing all supply lines before the knockout blow.

Two newly won positions were Tupuransaari, a bay of Viipuri island 15 mi.es to the south, and Saarela, a hamlet an undisclosed number of miles to the north, the Red army announced.

On the island, the Reds reported capturing six fortifications, five of them iron and concrete forts with heavy coast defense guns in full working order. At Saarela, the Russians said they took the fully equipped headquarters of a "large military formation" and four 75-millimeter guns.

The communique reporting th gains did not mention fighting in Viipuri itself, into which the Russians had said they battled their way Saturday, seizing the railway station and the surrounding southern end of town.

First Raid West of

Dover; Press Raps
War Leaders

LONDON—(AP)—Rumblings of dissatisfaction with Britain's war leadership sounded today in the press with reports of the first German aerial attack in the English channel.

A Heinkel bomber swooped on the 8,441-ton liner Domala with bombs and machine-gun fire, probably killing 108 persons—the heaviest toll aboard a merchantman since the Athenia went down, with a death list 113 on the first day of the war last Sept. 3.

Never before had a German war plane raided shipping west of the straits of Dover.

Attack Made at Dawn
The attack occurred about dawn Saturday. It and five other weekend blows to British shipping became known amid mixed foreboding and confidence over the course of the six month- old war.
It was disclosed later that a German plane bombed and machine gunned the Dutch freighter Jonge Willem before the steamer went to the aid of the Domala. It was believed to have been the same plane that attacked the British vessel.
A crewman said the plane dived in the Jonge Willem and dropped a bomb which fell about 20 feet away and also attacked the ship with machine guns. There were no casualies.

"A little later," the crewman said, we saw flames several miles away and steamed to the spot. "Although the Daily Mail found “proof of our supremacy" in the activities of the British navy and airforce, H warned of the necessity of knowing "we have the right men" in the government.

Ask Younger Officers
It may become necessary to inquire whether we- are as well served as we should be by the higher command of the royal air force," it declared, "and whether these posts should not be filled with younger officers familiar with up-to-date machines and strategy and tactics appropriate to their use."

 

March 3, 1940; HITLER DETERMINED TO RULE CENTRAL EUROPE

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, MARCH 3, 1940:

BRUSSELS, March 2.— (INS)— Abig German bomber today shot down two Belgian army planes in a dramatic air battle over Belgium's neutral territory. The German air force was formally accused by Belgium of a "serious violation of Belgian neutrality and an aggressive act." One of the Belgian fliers was killed; the other pilot parachuted to safety as his plane spun to earth.

The air battle was precipitated when three single-seated Belgian military monoplanes gave chase to and surrounded a German Dornier=17 bomber over the Saint Hubert district in the Belgian province of Luxembourg, not far from the western front. The third Belgian plane was put out of action when German bullets cut Its machine gun controls, but It managed to escape the terrific fire unleashed by the Nazi bomber, and made a normal landing. The Nazi plane disappeared across the German border, some 45 miles distant from the scene of the battle.

10 DIE IN CRASHES.
Simultaneously, three Belgian army planes crashed in other Belgian- areas today, killing 10 men and injuring one. These crashes, however. were accidental and bore no relation to the German-Belgian air duel.

 

Materials, Lives

Spent Lavishly
By Reds

HELSINKI, March 2.—(INS) — Annihilation of the Thirty-fourth Moscow tank brigade, with the killing of at least 2000 Russians, was officially announced tonight, but unofficial reports indicated Finnish troops already have abandoned Viborg to the Red army.

The Finnish high command revealed in its communique tonight that the Russian tank force was encircled northeast of Lake Ladoga and Its destruction -completed."
105 TANKS SEIZED.
No less than 105 Soviet tanks, all virtually undamaged, were seized by the Finnish troops that closed in on the surrounded Russians. The big haul of booty also included 12 armored cars, six artillery guns and large quantities of firearms and ammunition.
Most of the isolated and starving Russian tank officers and men froze to death behind their stalled machines, it was indicated.
On the Karelian isthmus, meanwhile, it was reported the Finnish troops withdrew from most of the southeastern seaport of Viborg and that the Red army -was scheduled to march into Finland's haf-ruined second city at noon tomorrow. This report was not officially confirmed.
Tonight's communique, however, admitted further Finnish retreats from points south and east of Viborg, namely In the Sainio and Heinjoki sectors.
FURTHER RETREAT. "
Subsequently, It was unofficially reported Finnish troops withdrew from second-line to third-line fortifications along the entire western half of the Mannerheim line.
An estimated quarter million Soviet troops were concentrated in the unceasing push to seize Viborg, while another quarter million were attacking other sectors of the
Mannerheim line.

 

 

 

 

 DEIFICATION OF DICTATORS, AS IN THE CASE

OF HITLER, IS FANTASTIC AND YET REAL

Among Americans today there is a disposition to be cynical about the avowed aims of the British and the French to crush the menace of Hitlerism. It may very well be that the Allied statesmen, in their attacks on dictators, are providing the ideals for power politics. Nevertheless, we cannot properly be cynical about the dangers of dictatorship as manifested in Italy and Russia, as well as Germany.

George Catlin makes this point clear in his new book, "The Story of the Political Philosophers." He shows clearly the development of the idea of deifying the dictator from the time of the Caesars, through the age of benevolent despotism, down to the modern leadership principle. Hitler, for example, poses not only as the successor to Charlemagne's Roman Empire "of the German people," but as the .head of a new religion— a political religion of the sword, a new Islam, with himself as its Mohammed." Mr. Catlin thinks that Hitler has accomplished this deification more than in the case of either Italy or Russia.
Goering has revealed the dangers of the "fuhrer-princip" in this passage:
We Nazis believe that, in political affairs, Adolf Hitler is infallible, just as the Roman Catholic believes that, in religious matters, the Pope is infallible. .. . His will is my law. .. . The laws of Nature demand that authority should be exercised from above downward and responsibility from below upwards. . . the leader at the top is responsible to the people as a whole and to their future.
The religious aspects of the Nazi secular faith have been stated by Hans Kerrl:
As Christ in his twelve disciples raised a stock fortified unto martyrdom, whose belief shattered the great Roman Empire, even so in Germany we are experiencing the same thing . . . Adolf Hitler is the true Holy Ghost.
This heroic, patriotic faith has had a long history, having derived its force from the idolatrous East and the bureaucrat's feeling that there must be some sentiment to cement the political structure. The Roman Empire, having conquered Egypt, absorbed Egyptian manners and began to salute Caesar as the godlike Pharaohs before him:
Prince of princes, elect of Ptah and Nun the father of the gods, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, lord of the two lands, autocral, son of the sun, lord of diadems, Kaiser, ever living, beloved of Ptah and Isis.
The same deification has come to light in Germany, where, however, there is none to remark with the dry skepticism of Vespasian on accepting his official fate: "Bah! I see I'm becoming a god."
To many Americans this dictatorial theology seems fantastic, and yet it is real. It accounts, in no small measure, for the feeling in Europe that Hitlerism must go before there can be security and orderly life on the Continent.

February 20, 1940; RAID ALARMS IN LONDON

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1940:

Oslo Accused of' Indifference'

in Altmark Incident, Premier

Declares in House of Commons

By J. C. STARK

LONDON, Feb. 20.—(AP)Norway was accused today by Prime Minister Chamberlain of failing in her duties as a neutral and of displaying "complete indifference" to the usa which the German fleet might make of her waters. Chamberlain told the House of Commons that Norwegian authorities three or four times failed to make the proper inspection of the prison ship Altmark, from which 299 British  prisoners were rescued by the British destroyer Cossack last Friday.

Norway's view that the Altmark was a warship and thus not subject to search, would legalize the German fleet's use of neutral waters creating a precedent Britain

"could in no circumstances accept."

Chamberlain, described Britain's seizure of the prisoners from the Altmark in Norwegian waters as "a very gallant affair" and expressed confidence that the House of Common, would "want to congratulate the Royal Navy."

'MOST SURPRISING'

 He termed the statement of Norwegian Foreign Minister Halvdan Koht that the Norwegian authorities did not know British prisoners were aboard the Altmark "most surprising," since reports to that effect were published 1 weeks ago. It was not until after Norway failed to investigate, Chamberlain said, "that His Majesty's ships took action.

Finnish Fort

Cut Off; Repels

Attack on Ice

COPENHAGEN, Feb. 20.—(UP)—A Berlingske Tidende dispatch from Stockholm reported today that the Russian 164th Division was in a difficult position, with its communications cut, as the result of Finland's claimed annihilation of the 18^th Division.

The dispatch, quoting Helsinki sources, said the Finnish commanding general on the Lake Ladoga front after announcing the destruction of the 18th Division, said the Finns in that area were still confronted with difficulties, and that the fight would not become easier,

DIFFICULT SITUATION

"Our task is to economize troops, and it will be necessary for us to make miracles," he was quoted as saying.

The dispatch added that a well known Russian officer, a hero in the Soviet Union, had been made prisoner in recent fighting on the Lake Ladoga front

 

London Gets

Raid Alarm

German Bombers

Renew Air Attacks

On Coastal Shipping

LONDON, Feb. 20.—(AP)—Antiaircraft fire was heard and air raid alarms were sounded in the London area today as reports came in of widespread German warplane attacks on shipping off Britain's east coasts. The all clear signal was given an hour after the alarm was sounded.

Fragmentary wireless messages from ships at sea and battle noises heard along the coast gave the first indication of the renewed German aerial attacks. Outcome of the attacks was not known. Radio operators said they heard the S O S of at least one vessel.

A lifeboat was put out on receipt of word that Nazi bombing planes were blasting at steamers about 30 miles out to sea

 

 

February 9, 1940; ALLIES RUSH ARMS, AID, MANPOWER TO FINNS:

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1940:

French Give Reds Peek

At Near East Army;
Reject Protest by Kremlin

PARIS, Feb. 8 (AP)—France Thursday night gave soviet Russia a warning glimpse of the French manpower which stands ready to defend the near east against a red army thrust,' turned down a soviet protest against seizure of Russian documents during a Paris police raid and saw a Polish expeditionary force off for the Finnish battlefields.

The day's developments:

1. Authorized persons asserted France has 275,000 troops concentrated in the near cast as a precaution against the possibility, among other things, of any Russian military activity there or against the Balkans.
(After publication by American  newspapers, a London Dispatch that the total allied concentration in the rear cast numbered about 500,000 men was canceled by the British censor.)
2. Reliable reports said the government rejected a protest by Soviet Ambassador Jakob Surits against a police raid Monday on the Russian commercial office a raid some sources said was part of a campaign against communist propaganda In France.
3. An expeditionary force of Polish veterans of the losing fight in Poland against Germany and Russia, augmented by Polish- American volunteers, was sent to Finland to aid in the fight against the Russian invaders.
4. French parliamentary support for Finland spread to the senate, where the democratic left approved a motion congratulating the French government on the "important effort it has accomplished in favor of Finland."
5. Phiilippe Rogues, Propaganda chief of the ministry of colonies, wrote in the publication Our Fight that French colonies by the end of 1940 will have sent 700,000 native and black troops to bolster France's war machine, leaving behind an additional 2,000,000 reserves. These figures included only troops from territories under the ministry of colonies, and exclude North Africa and Syria.

 

British Military Leader

Urges Naval Attack
On Russ in Arctic Area

LONDON, Feb. 8 (UP)—Great Britain and France Thursday night rushed to fortify Finland with armed aid and manpower, as diplomatic reports from Helsinki said that the Finnish army is "suffering reverses" in its attempts to beat back the Russian invaders.

  The extent of the reported "reverses" suffered by the Finns was not indicated but British military experts believed that the Russians would be unable at this time to force a decision in their eight-day-old offensive against the Mannerheim line on .the Karelian isthmus.
  Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain told the house of commons Thursday that further British aid is en route to Finland and asserted that the Finns' valiant defense of their homeland "has evoked the admiration of the world."

6      Friday Morning- Salt Lake Tribune February 9, 1940

Finns' Heroism

Encourages
Help by Allies

French See

Chance to
Merge Wars

By Kirke L. Simpson
Associated Press Staff Writer
The belief is apparently growing in France and Britain that little Finland can withstand the attack of Russia's red armies long enough to become a vital sector in the French-British-German war. Whether it is the opinion of Franco-British military leaders or is merely a popular reaction to the Finnish stand, is not clear. But it is stirring both the Paris and London governments to action which might result in the merging of the two wars into a single conflict before spring comes.
Raiding of Russian nondiplomatic missions in Paris by French secret police creates the impression that French policy is already crystallized. It looks like a possible preliminary to formal military assistance for Finland, even at the price of a declaration of war against Russia.
Demands on Press
The raids synchronized with demands by powerful elements of the French press, close to the Daladier government, for complete French cooperation with Finland.
That is a distinct change from the caution with which both the French and British press approached the problem when the red army attack started in November.

 

February 3, 1940; BALKANS SEEING ESCAPE FROM INVOLVMENT IN WAR:

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1940:

SHIPPING ATTACKS

ARE CONTINUED
BY INVADING
FLYERS

Pursuit Ships Rush to Aid

Of Freighters and Send
Three Crashing Down
Nazi Air Forces Reported
To Have Resumed Raids
Off British Coast

LONDON, Feb. 3. (AP) — Deathdealing British pursuit planes today shot down at least two and perhaps three German bombers which had resumed the Nazi air forces' widespread raiding of shipping off Britain's coasts.

THREE REPORTED DOWNED

One Nazi bomber was downed near a Yorkshire farmhouse four miles southwest of Whitby after a battle with three British fighters over a Yorkshire town.

  The air ministry announced that another raider was shot down off the mouth of the River Tyne. It reported that a third enemy plane intercepted by British fighters off the Northumberland coast "was very seriously damaged" and later unofficial reports said it had crashed into the sea.
  It reported that a third enemy plane intercepted by British fighters  theNorthumberland coast "was very seriously damaged" and later unofficial reports said it had crashed into the sea.
  Considerable air activity also was reported In the vicinity of the Firth of Forth between dawn and early afternoon, and residents heard machinegun fire out at sea. A number of British planes were seen circling above the Firth at various times.

   One of the. crew of the. –plane downed in Yorkshire was killed, another died after he and his two surviving comrades, all wounded, had been taken to a hospital.

LANDEDED UNDER CONTROL
  A Royal Air- Force pilot was quoted as saying admiringly of this Nazi plane that the "landing was carried out under control" although the craft had been riddled by bullets.

 

BALKAN SEEKING

WAY TO ESCAPE

INVOLVMENT IN WAR

BELGRADE. Yugoslavia, Feb. 3

(AP)—Fearful of the possibility that war may reach the Balkans by spring, the four powers of the Balkan Entente sought today some makeshift storm cellar in which to pass the next few months.

RESUME DISCUSSIONS

  The foreign ministers of Yugoslavia, Rumania and Turkey and the premier-foreign minister of Greece began the second day of their conference with a two-hour sitting which started at 11 a. m.

   They discussed their conflicting interests which already have led to a conference decision that each country must be left free to fend for itself.

  This precluded any definite plan for cementing the entente into a stronger union and cost Rumania her chance for automatic support in case the rival demands of Germany and the British-French Allies for oil become unbearable.

  The conference representatives still hoped, however, to agree on some common declaration and friendly program to improve their chances of escaping any imminent upheaval

 

Eyes of Europe are on Belgrade (1) where representatives of the four "Balkan Entente" powers—Rumania, Greece, Turkey and Yugoslavia—assembled to find a way to keep out of war. Plan for "economic neutrality" was first discussed. Caught In the middle of the conflict, Rumania was faced with the chance of Hungary's striking at Transylvania (2), Russia's marching into Bessarabia (3), and Bulgaria's cry for part of Dobruja (4). German pressure on Rumania for oil, industrial and agricultural products was reported.

 

CLAIMS OF FINN
VICTORIES DENIED
BY SOVIETS

Reports of Big Offensive

Declared Merely Local

Skirmishes
Helsinki Asserts Invader
Suffered Heavy Losses
In Latest Attack
MOSCOW, Feb. 3 (/P)—The headquarters of the Leningrad military area asserted today that Finns, although equipped with "airplanes of the most up-to-date designs from Britain, France, the United States, Sweden and Italy," not only had not attacked Russian warships in Kronstadt and other Soviet objectives but were unable to protect their own headquarters.
NO BIG OFFENSIVE
   It also contended that instead of a big offensive by the Russians on the Karelian Isthmus and north of Lake Ladoga there were "reality only partial clashes" of several companies of "purely local nature."
  The headquarters' announcement, circulated by Tass, official news agency, suggested that only in comparison with "the microscopic scale of operations on the western front "could the clashes of several companies be considered a "big offensive."
   The Finnish army communique of last Tuesday said Finnish planes had bombed "a certain harbor and vessels lying there," Informed sources in Helsinki said they assumed the Russian naval base of Kronstadt near Leningrad was meant.)

February 2, 1940; FINNS HOLD POSITIONS ON MANNERHEIM LINE:

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1940:

FINNS HOLD

STUBONLY TO
POSITIONS

Offensive Is at Surtma^

20 Miles Inland From
Coastal Fortress Which
Has Stood for 9 Weeks.

HELSINKI, Friday, Feb. 2.— (/P}—The Russian army struck with surprise force at the Mannerhelm line last night,-employing a new offensive t e c h n i q u e with armored, sledges supported by a swarm of 130 battle planes, even as Finland's white-haired president was issuing an appeal for an "honorable peace."

The Red army, which has beenplaying dead on the Karelian Isthmus since mid-January while fierce battles were waged along the Arctic circle and north of Lake Ladoga suddenly came to life with a violent onslaught aimed straight at Viipuri; Finland's second largest city.

Attack at Summa, :
The attack was made at Summa; 20 miles inland from the coastal fortress of Kolvlsto, which has withstood nine weeks of hammering from land and naval artillery and aerial bombardment.

Advices from observers with the Finns' Karelian army said the .attack continued early today, with this entrenched Finns holding, doggedly to 'their 'positions 20' miles south of Viipuri.

Tha Russians "began digging in on" the .-Karelian": Isthmus '-front last month, and-.only Wednesday; night Gen. Hugo Ostenrinnri, Finnish commander-in-chief, declared the war there had been reduced to a "war of position.”

The Karalean attack coincided, with a Finnish army communique which Indicated the Russians are attempting to resume the offensive all along the line from the Arctic to Lake Ladoga. The communique told of the re-

(Conllnued on Page 3, col. 4)

MONTANA STANDARD. BUTTE. FRIDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 2, 1940.     Page 3

SOVIETS LAUNCH

FRESH ATTACK

(Continued from Page One)

pulsed Russian attacks In the Arctic Petsamo area, on the Salla front, and on an island off the northwestern shore of Lake Ladoga in southern Finland, and Rovanlemf in the north.

Helsinki's first midnight air raid alarm chased the citizens out of bed into their bombproofs at 12:05 a. m. today. No planes were sighted, however, and the alarm was ended after 20 minutes.

Several buildings were set afire by Incendiary bombs at Rovanienvi, but early reports Indicated few persons were killed.

Appeal Is Qualified.
President Kyosli Kalllo's appeal to end this "barbaric, senseless attack" was firmly qualified by the assertionFinland would not cringe before "imperialistic alms."

The president used the final, solemn session of the war diet as a sounding board for his pica, but It really was addressed to the Soviet government which docs not recognize his government and which does not even admit It Is "waging a war against Finland."

Russia Invaded Finland two months ago. Firmly and proudly Kallio Insisted, despite the second peace offer, that Finland will not crlnge before "imperialistic alms." This he reiterated in general the previous offer of peaceful negotiations made on December 15 by Foreign Minister Valno Tnnncr, In a broadcast message,

Japanese Military

Leaders Present
Big Arms Program

Army Warns That It Is Maintaining

a Close Watch on Borders
of Soviet Russia

TOKYO, Feb. 1.—(AP)—A seven-year arms program costing $671,000,000 was presented by Japan's military leaders today to a parliament stirred by the warning that the 'army is maintaining a close watch on Soviet Russia's borders because of "scores of illegal acts" committed by the Russians