OTHER GERMANS MARCHING TO WIDEN NORTHERN CAMPAIGN

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 190, 8 May 1940, Page 9

OTHER GERMANS MARCHING TO WIDEN NORTHERN CAMPAIGN

(By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.) Received May 7, 7.5 p.m. LONDON, May 7. Narvik is being continuously bombarded by the ■ Allies, the latest report states.

A German pilot who made a forced landing in Sweden said he was returning from flying 80 troops to the Narvik garrison. The “Daily Mail’s” Stockholm correspondent states that large numbers of German transports are going north, which explains a report from the frontier that the British, faced with greatly superior forces, have been compelled to withdraw to other positions north of Narvik.

The Stockholm correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” states that the Germans are reported to have created an airfield in the Narvik district, and in any case the icefields can be used for several more weeks. The Germans originally landed 4000 men, and since then they have augmented the garrison considerably. The “News Chronicle” says that the Germans are sending in very considerable reinforcements to Narvik by parachute. ’ LONDON, May 6.

It is authoritatively stated in London that the Allied forces attacking Narvik, where it is believed some three to four thousand Germans are besieged, are gradually closing in, but that no rapid success is expected, largely because of the severe snowstorms which are raging in that area (says the British Official Wireless). The Germans who have been in Narvik for a fotnright, have been able to dig themselves in, and a state approaching trench warfare has developed. It is pointed out that encounters must therefore take the form of attacks by. British troops on set German positions.

Reports that heavy naval 'bombardments have been directed against the shore batteries are regarded as greatly exaggerated. A War Office communique states that there is nothing to report from the Narvik area. A German communique states that the Allies continue to bring up artillery reinforcements from the north to Narvik. A later Press Association message says that the battle for Narvik continues, with ruthless German air raids. The Germans are reported to be strengthening their entrenchments. The Norwegian and Allied strength in men and material here is reported to have increased ten to twentyfold since the withdrawal from Namsos. Germans’ Northward Push. Along hazardous mountain tracks northward of Mo, Hitler’s alpine troops are pushing toward Bodo, about 100 miles south of Narvik. Informed circles in Germany have hinted that the objectives are not only Bodo and the relief of Narvik, but also the establishment of air bases from which bombers can operate and air transports refuel while flying northward in connexion with attempts to occupy Hammerfest and Kirkenes in the far north. Tlie occupation of Kirkenes would give the Germans a new line of communication witli Russia, because the Russians have the right of transit to Norway under the Russo-Finnish Treaty. ' A British broadcast announced King Haakon’s arrival in tlie Finmark district, northern Finland, simultaneously with the announcement of the German bombing of Kirkenes. In southern Norway Norwegians east from Storen are lighting desperately, but their retreat and dispersal are regarded as a matter of days.The German news agency says that the Germans at Oslo, instead of sending 10,000 Norwegian prisoners to Germany, have decided to release those who are unfit and aged and to employ the others in agriculture and industry.