Finland - Winter War
Day 92
The massive Soviet offensive continues across Viipurinlahti Bay to Häränpäänniemi and Vilajoki. Withdrawal from the intermediate and delaying positions in the Suur-Pero sector disintegrates into panic when Soviet tanks get in among the Finnish troops. Timoshenko's troops overrun the second Finnish defensive line. The defending Finns manage to defeat the Soviet detachments that have come ashore, but later in the evening the islands of Tuppura and Teikari are lost to the Soviets. In the Ladoga Karelia, the eastern Lemetti 'motti', also known as the 'general motti', is captured about 4:00a.m. giving IV Army Corps its greatest haul of Soviet materiel. Included in the take are 71 tanks, 268 trucks and several truckloads of guns and shells. Brigade Commander Kondratiev, the general after whom the 'motti' was named, is killed along with his staff officers in a desperate attempt to break out. The Russians lose about 3,000 men in the action here. In northern Finland, a fierce artillery bombardment precedes a third attempt by the Soviets to come to the aid of the surrounded 54th Div at Kilpelänkangas in Kuhmo. The Finnish positions are pounded with about 3,000 rounds in about 2 hours.
The Battle of Viipuri begins. The Russians make an all out effort to crush resistance in the Karelian Isthmus by encircling the city of Viipuri and reaching the Viipuri-Helsinki highway. This battle ends Mar 13.
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In a dogfight in the skies above Ruokolahti on the southeast edge of Lake Saimaa, 15 Finnish fighters engage 36 Russians. The battle lasts a little less than half an hour. The Finns have 7 aircraft shot down and several more are damaged. Soviet bombers hit Turka, Haapamäki, Savonlinna and Kouvola.
The Finns decide that they must give in to the Soviet demands but their note to that effect is not sent immediately because of British and French reactions to the news. The French government has become deeply committed to a policy of supporting Finland and persuades the British to join in making rash promises that cannot possibly be kept.
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]France, Home Front
Paul Reynaud, Minister of Finance, broadcasts a message on runaway inflation. Some government measures to help the problem include a price 'freeze', stricter food rationing, petroleum rationing, revaluation of gold reserves and compulsory use of female labor.
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