military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (12/04/89)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Monday, 4 December, 1939 The Britsh battleship HMS Nelson is damaged by a magnetic mine off Loch Ewe. The damage is extensive, and repairs will take until August, 1940. The Germans have been employing this and other type of mines to good effect. By the end of 1939 year the Allied shipping lost to mines will amount to 79 ships of 262,700 tons. Finland reinforces Aaland Islands in the Gulf of Bothnia. 1500 Soviet prisoners are reported to have been captured in a snowstorm north of Lake Ladoga; the battle for Petsamo continues; and mines and tank traps are frustrating the drive up the Karelian Isthmus, leading a Pravda correspondent to complain that the Finns are "perfidious, cowardly, and filled with base and tricky cunning." Finnish reports indicate that the Russians are not equipped with proper clothing for the blizzard conditions, and that their mobile, white-clad ski troops are able to move freely about the Russian positions. The USSR rejects Sweden's offer to mediate the conflict. Finland's offer to reopen negotiations is also rejected, as the Soviet Union refuses to recognize Premier Ryti's Helsinki government. The USSR also notifies the League of Nations that it will not attend the upcoming meeting called in response to Finland's request. Argentina proposes the expulsion of the USSR from the League, while Italy proposes sanctions similar to those levied against her during the Ethiopian war. Reporter: waisnor_r@apollo.com -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@cbnews.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "RED ARMY HURLS BACK INVADING FINNISH TROOPS, CROSSES FRONTIER." -Headline from the Daily Worker, U.S. Communist Party newpaper.