IN BRITAIN’S FAVOUR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 April 1940, Page 5

IN BRITAIN’S FAVOUR

COURSE OF THE NAVAL BATTLE i AROUND WEST AND SOUTH OF NORWAY. EXPEDITIONARY FORCE SAID TO BE EN ROUTE. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. LONDON. April 10. Pile Stockholm correspondent ol I lie Associated press of Great Britain says that a yreat naval and aerial battle is being waged off Ihe west and south coasts of Norway, mid that it seems to be running ill Britain's favour. Reports are circulating in Holland that a fleet of British ships carrying an expeditionary force is steaming north close to territorial waters. Belgian and Dutch fishermen stated that numbers of trawlers have been stopped and taken to a British control station. This, it is believed, indicates that Britain is sweeping the North Sea free of shipping. The Stockholm report says that in addition to a German cruiser believed to have been sunk a German .destroyer seriously damaged, has entered a Norwegian port. There is no confirmation of the sinking of the Gneisenau and Bremen.

The Stockholm correspondent of the Associated Press of America says that British warships are reported to have sunk a German cruiser in a battle off Svolvar, West Fiord (the fiord in which Narvik is located). The “New York Times” says that the National Broadcasting Corporation has picked up a Berlin broadcast stating that a squadron of British bombers raided the north-west of Germany. No details were given.

NEWS CONFIRMED

FOUR GERMAN CRUISERS SUNK TWO SERIOUSLY DAMAGED. ACHIEVEMENTS OF SUBMARINE SALMON. (Received This Day, 10.15 a.m.) LONDON, April 10. Official quarters confirm that four German cruisers were sunk and two seriously damaged. According to some estimates all the eight cruisers with wmeh Germany started the war have now been sunk or damaged. The submarine Salmon sunk a Koln class cruiser in December, and one each of the Leipzig and Bluecher classes and several were damaged.

GERMAN REPORT (Received This Day. 10.15 a.m.) LONDON, April 10. Today’s German communique states that the Bluecher and Karlsruhe have been lost. One cruiser is believed to have been sunk at Narvik and another is believed to have been submarined and sunk in south Norway. Two others were damaged by an air attack. It is assumed that one cruiser, damaged in earlier operations, has since been made seaworthy. , The Bluecher, which sank near Oslo, was of 10,000 tons and was completed only last year. Her armament included eight eight-inch guns and she carried three aircraft. The Karlsruhe, of 6000 tons, is of the Koenigsberg class, and was completed in 1929.

LAND FIGHTING BATTLES IN MOUNTAIN PASSES. LOSSES ON BOTH SIDES. t (Received This Day, 10.15 a.m.) STOCKHOLM, April 10. Norwegian troops are reported to have suffered 200 casualties near EJverum and German casualties were heavy in the advance on Elverum. Fighting continues and other major battles are raging in the northern mountain passes. IN OSLO FIORD COASTAL BATTERIES FIRE ON GERMAN SHIP. ATTEMPT TO SILENCE GUNS BY RADIO. (Received This Day. 10.20 a.m.) STOCKHOLM. April 10. The German ship Curityba (3081 tons) sent out distress signals from a position far up the Oslo fiord, after shelling by coastal batteries, indicating that the Germans are not yet masters of South-Eastern Norway. This indication is confirmed by the fact that the German-controlled Oslo radio station has ordered coastal batteries to cease fire. The order purported to come from the Norwegian commander.

STANDING ALONE ICELAND BREAKS AWAY FROM DENMARK. KING UNABLE TO EXERCISE POWERS. (Received This Dav. 10.15 a.m.) REY.IAVIK. April 10. Parliament has broken with Denmarl:. A proclamation states: “Because the King of Denmark is unable to exercise his powers, the Iceland Government is empowered to exercise the King's prerogatives.” DANISH GOVERNMENT REMAINING IN OFFICE. (Received This Day, 10.55 a.m.) BERLIN. April 10. The Official News Agency says Mr Stauning announced that the Danish Government was remaining in office, after Germany’s assurance that she had no intention of interfering with Denmark's territory or political integrity. Mi- Stauning is quoted as saying that the Government bears full responsibility for the decisions made and feels that they arose from an hon-’ est conviction that the land and people should be spared a hard blow of fate.