Knitting Needles Busy Throughout The World News of Finland's heroic resistance of the Russian invader tells the world of brilliant strategy and personal bravery in a land of ice. But the world must hear eventually of the part the women of Finland are playing behind the Mannerheim Line and in the home.
To-day, in Finland, 80,000 women are on active service. They belong to a great national organization known as the Lotta-Svard, which is guided and inspired by the Baroness Mannerheim.
These women are on active service as cooks, as nurses, as makers of warm clothes. They are Finland's second line of defence. But every woman in Finland, not a member of the Lotta-Svard, is also an active enemy of Russia.
And Finnish women who live abroad, realizing that all they have ever held dear—freedom, education, religious tolerance, kindness, and the ability to realize one's personal ambitions—is in danger of being obliterated forever, have also gone into action, Long before Russian troops crossed the border hopeful that they would Crush a small nation in one cruel blow, Finnish women in Sydney clamoured for wool for knitting.
"We women know that the pre-Parations made in the home quietly and steadily for many years now are having a tremendous influence in- keeping our men active in a climb ate that seeks out weakness in a man and quickly strikes him down," said Miss Aano Pofinkara, a Finnish woman now living in Sydney, in an interview given to the "Sydney Morning Herald."
"Cable messages have told the world how the ice and the raw Arctic wind have been fighting the Russians, There has not been one word of the death of a Finnish soldier by exposure to the cold. We would have been surprised if there had been such a word."
Miss Potinkara said that for years the women of Finland had been preparing for the day when their men would go out to meet the Russians.
"It has been a real fear with me ver since I was a child," she said, "a real fear with everyone. We all knew that some day Russia would strike. As a child, I lived at Wiipuri, which is only about 10 miles from the Russian frontier, and about 120 miles from Leningrad. So that the Russian bear cast a shadow over our "So the women were trained to become cooks for the army and to accompany the army on its manceuvres right up to the front line, They were trained in army ambulance work, and in nursing. Women learned to become doctors and engineers, There are, perhaps, more women doctors in Finland than anywhere else.
Finland is small and her manpower is limited. Thus, to defend herself, Finlend had to train women for jobs held by men in most other countries. Women took jobs as station masters to release men for the army. They became architects, and the number of women dentists grew rapidly.
"Women learned to become tailors, and to look after the clothing of their soldiers, Years of experience taught them what the soldiers should wear to keep out the cold. So that today, Finland's army is well equipped to fight in the ice.
"Finland realized fortunately that preparations on the home front were just as vital as preparations on the field. Today, Finnish women are near the front line. They are part of our defence machine."
Miss Potinkara said that every Finnish home with an able-bodied man ju it had for years had a precious corner where uniforms, rifles, ammunition, ski, and other gear for the men in the house had been kept. The rifle and the ski had been kept in repair by the men, but the women overhauled the clothing and added to it frequently.
"No sacrifice has been too great for our women," she added. "They have given their time and their skill liberal. ly. They had faith that when the terrible day came, Finland would be able to offer such resistance that the invader might regret his mission,"
When Miss Potinkara was a member of the Lotta-Svard, a Finnish "woman was Minister for Social Ser-lives from the start.
"In 1917, when I was a child just able to understand things, the Bolsheviks came to our home. My brothers fled. All the men fed.
They took away our cows and our horses, But they left us with our lives, "Today, I have three brothers fighting for Finland. If I could be of use, I would gladly go back, but I am only one. I have determined to do what I can for the Finnish cause in Australia."
The Lotta-Svard Before she left Finland for Australia, Miss Potinkara became a member of the Lotta-Svard.
"We gave our services voluntarily just as the men offered their services for the volunteer army," she said. "The volunteer army and the members of our organization were like brothers and sisters, We knew that the mission of the men was to fight we decided it was the mission of the women to take away from the men all details not associated with actual uxe
BEAUTY SALON
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