military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (12/05/89)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Tuesday, 5 December, 1939 Forward units of the Soviet Seventh Army reach the main Finnish defenses, the Mannerheim Line (named after the Finnish CinC), on the Karelian Isthmus. Already the Finns are learning to exploit the poor management of the Soviet advance. They are developing tactics to master the Soviet tanks by separating them from their supporting infantry and emerging from concealed positions during the night to destoy them in close combat. Finland claims the capture of 64 tanks, with many more destroyed. Soviet troops continue to gain ground north of Lake Ladoga, penetrating as deep as 50 kilometers into Finnish territory. The USSR now controls Hogland and Tytaersaari islands in the Gulf of Finland Elsewhere, the Finns claim 60 Soviet aircraft destroyed by bombing raids on their bases. Foreign aid begins arriving, as well, including Italian volunteers flying Finland's new Italian-built aircraft, while the U.S. announces plans grant small amounts of monetary aid for relief purposes. Britain requests that Rumania cease delivering raw materials to Germany. Reporter: waisnor_r@apollo.com -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@cbnews.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "On the Western Front the problem of modern material is presenting itself to the Germans, that is, the futility of using it when there is equal material on the other side to meet it." - G.H. Archambault, N.Y. Times