Manawatu Evening Standard. TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 1940. A PLEDGE REDEEMED.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 117, 16 April 1940, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 1940. A PLEDGE REDEEMED.

The pledge given in tlie House of Commons to send the fullest possible help to the Norwegians lias been amply redeemed. It was again mentioned by His Majesty the King in his memorable and most sympathetic message to the King of Norway. To-day the British Adihiralt.y and the War Office announce the landing at several poinfs in Norway of British troops. An expeditionary force requires time to assemble, equip with the necessary munitions of war, food, and other essential services; transport must be arranged and a naval escort supplied. A r et wtiliin less than a week after the Nazis’ “rash and wicked outrage” this has been accomplished and the troops landed in Norway. It is an achievement of supreme importance, emphasising again the remarkable efficiency of British organisation. The French, even if they have no forces in this field, must have played a not unimportant part in escorting the troops. In this particular case while preparation naturally had to be hurried, the Norwegian people also had to be informed to some extent of what was transpiring and how to assist the British soldiers against the Nazis. With the Germans .in possession of the main ports landing places had to be chosen at the best points to ensure success, and in this connection Norwegian experts have been of tremendous assistance to the Allied Command. The ground had to be carefully prepared and so systematically was this ' performed that British soldiers now are safely in the field ready to take up the gauntlet against Hitler’s forces in conjunction with the Norwegians, whose gallant defence has been maintained in spite of the greatest difficulties against a foe that is continually striking at them. Nazi Germany without doubt is paying dearly for this latest act of aggression. Control of the sea was imperative for its success and the Nazis do not possess this. On the contrary, the Allies have it in full measure and they are sweeping the seas clean of German shipping. The minefields laid from Norway to Denmark, in the Skagerrak and Kattegat, and finally in the Baltic up to the Lithuanian border, tell a story of great heroism and audacious achievement. Heavy punishment has been inflicted upon the German Navy and naturally all the losses it has suffered will not be known until the Germans at least learn to tell the truth. Supply ships, troopships, and tankers also have been sunk; other vessels have been scuttled by their officers to avoid capture, which fate has befallen others. Up in Narvik the German destroyers which captured the town have been destroyed by a British naval force and the gallant Glowworm, Hunter, and

Hardy avenged. Britain now controls the town,' the German forces having fled to the hills above it, there to be harried by the Norwegians until they surrender. The report that British warships, defying German bomb ers, have entered .the strategic Aalesund harbour also has a very important bearing upon the operations. In the events of the greatest week of the war the exploits of the British air units stand out most impressively. With the greatest intrepidity they have flown 300 miles from their bases, fought against German naval and land batteries, shot dowu Nazi attackers in the air, and bombed their objectives, as well as harried ground troops at the Stavanger air base. Losses they have suffered as the casualty lists tell, but the damage inflicted has largely contributed to the safe landing of the troops. How Hitler will meet the situation created in Norway, with his army practically marooned in hostile and difficult country and compelled to face a new army, is not the least interesting of the dilemmas he is confronted with.