The New York Times Book of World War II, 1939-1945
Page 26
[The Oslo radio announced this morning that the Norwegian Government had ordered general mobilization after an all night session of the Cabinet, The Associated Press reported.]
Reuters also reported from Paris that the Oslo radio announced this morning that the Germans had occupied Narvik.
The Norwegian legation here issued the following communiqué this morning:
“The German Minister in Oslo saw the Norwegian Foreign Secretary at 4:30 o’clock this morning and demanded that Norway should be handed over to the German administration. If this was not done all resistance would be defeated. This demand was refused and hostilities have started.”
LONDON, April 9 (AP)—A Reuters, British news agency, dispatch from Paris, said there had been air raids on Oslo, capital of Norway, but that the Oslo radio was still in operation.
[The Oslo radio announced today that the Norwegian capital had been bombarded several times from the air and that the government had ordered that it be abandoned by the civilian population within two days, The Associated Press reported from Paris.]
KRISTIANSAND REPORTED BOMBED
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, April 9 (UP)—A flash picked up here from the Norwegian radio asserted that German planes had bombed Kristiansand, on the southern Norwegian coast, in the early hours of this morning.
The radio asserted that Kristiansand had been evacuated. Coastal batteries at Oskarsberg, near by, were said to be shelling German warships which were attempting to effect a landing.
REICH MINES SWEDISH PORTS
LONDON, April 9 (AP)—A German navigation service broadcast, intercepted by Reuters, British news agency, said that all of Sweden’s important harbors on the Skagerrak, arm of the North Sea, had been mined early today by Germany.
FOUR WARSHIPS REPULSED
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, April 9 (AP)—High authoritative quarters early today confirmed reports that four foreign warships had attempted to force an entrance into Oslo Fjord, water gateway to the Norwegian capital. The invaders were reported repulsed by shore batteries.
These quarters said that one of the attacking ships was a heavy cruiser. The attack took place about 12:30 A.M. and was over within a short time.
The engagement was marked by heavy bursts of cannon fire. Thereafter the invaders were said to have retired into the darkness.
Difficulties in obtaining details of the fighting were heightened by the fact that Norway snapped telephone communication with the rest of the world except for “state calls.” Per sons who tried to place telephone calls to the Norwegian capital were told that only these official calls would be handled.
APRIL 11, 1940
OSLO ENTRY DESCRIBED
Witness Says Germans Bristled With Guns Ready for Instant Use
Wireless to The New York Times.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, April 10—In an eyewitness account of the entry of a German column a thousand strong into the center of Oslo at 3 P.M. yesterday, a Reuters [British news agency] reporter who escaped over the frontier to Sweden writes that every man was armed with a formidable-looking rifle or machine gun and carried a bandolier, uncovered and glistening with bronzed machine-gun bullets, ready for immediate action.
But they met no resistance. The inhabitants, bewildered by the swift sequence of events and the incredible experience of the preceding eight hours, lined the streets to watch the invaders’ entry.
The city had capitulated about an hour earlier, after a night and morning of terror during which German airplanes bombed all military objectives in the neighborhood and machine-gunned districts around the harbor defenses.
Already the Germans had taken over control of all military air fields, including Fornebo, just outside Oslo, where fifty German bombers landed. With these they had threatened to blow the populace of the city out of existence if any resistance was shown.
By noon the main railroad station in Oslo was packed with evacuées, hurriedly leaving the city. Women, children and elderly men carried all the possessions they could muster. All seemed dazed, but there was no outward sign of fear or panic.
APRIL 10, 1940
DENMARK PROTESTS BUT YIELDS TO NAZIS
CAPITAL REPORTED QUIET
Occupation of Country Almost Complete, Germans Assert—Blackouts Are Ordered
Wireless to The New York Times.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, April 9—Denmark surrendered to Germany under protest but without attempting any resistance, and today German soldiers were patrolling the streets of Copenhagen and other troops were moving into all parts of the country, especially along the Jutland coast, facing England.
King Christian and Premier Theodor Stauning issued a proclamation calling upon the army and the people not to offer any resistance, and latest reports from Copenhagen say that the occupation is proceeding peacefully, that everything is calm and that the German authorities are already organizing the country economically and politically.
BERLIN REPORTS PROCLAMATION
BERLIN, April 9 (AP)—A Copenhagen dispatch of D. N. B., the official German news agency, said tonight that King Christian and Premier Theodor Stauning had addressed a proclamation to the Danish people asking them to refrain from untoward acts and assuring them that Denmark was submitting to the German invasion under protest.
The text of the Danish proclamation, as released by D. N. B., follows:
To the Danish People:
German troops tonight crossed the Danish border. Some German troops will debark at various points in Denmark. The Danish Government has decided under protest to handle the affairs of the country with dispatch and in view of the occupation to communicate the following:
“German troops that are now in this country have come in contact with armed Danish forces. It is the further duty of the people to refrain from every resistance to these troops. The Danish Government will endeavor to insure the security of the people and of the Danish land in face of disastrous consequences resulting from the state of war, and consequently asks the population to maintain a calm, thoughtful attitude.
“May peace and order reign in the country. May all who have to do with the authorities observe an attitude of loyalty.”
Copenhagen, April 9, 1940.
Christian Rex.
T. Stauning.
King Christian added the following personal message:
“In these circumstances, which are so grave to our country, I ask all of you inhabitants of the cities and country to maintain an attitude completely correct and dignified, since every inconsiderate act or word can draw in its wake most serious consequences.”
PLANES ROAR OVERHEAD
The air was filled with the roar of airplane engines as German fliers circled ceaselessly, hoping thereby to strike terror into the people. The streets were deserted. All offices and banks were closed.
From a hotel window a German fighting plane was seen power-diving over the harbor, its machine guns spitting amid desultory anti-aircraft fire. Toward late afternoon from the United States Legation, some distance from the city, the roar of airplane engines was heard again, and three bombers were seen circling at a great height. While the people watched, unconcerned, there was a terrific roar as an explosion blew up a house only 200 yards away. As the wreckage disappeared in black smoke, five more bombs landed near by in quick succession.
KRISTIANSAND RAID PICTURED
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, April 10 (AP)—Eyewitness accounts of the attack by planes and warships on Kristiansand fortress, on the south coast of Norway, said the streets were filled with granite splinters and the spire of the cathedral was shot down. Crying women and children filled the air raid shelters for three hours until the fortress fell. Three or four buildings were set on fire.
As many as 150 planes took part in the Oslo occupation, other eyewitnesses reported. Some of them ferried 400 German soldiers armed with machine guns and grenades. About 120 Norwegian soldiers were reported killed in this operation.
APRIL 12, 1940
Editorial
THE BAT
TLE FOR NORWAY
When Winston Churchill refuses to “lift the veil” for the British Parliament, when the families of thousands of fighting men are told to wait still another day for definite news, the outer world must hold its breath a little longer as it reads the bulletins of the sea fighting around Norway. The outcome of these widely flung naval combats cannot yet be known; the greatest struggle of the war is still going on. In these circumstances the British and other admiralties are probably wise in keeping silent. After Jutland the British tried to satisfy the hunger for news but their premature reports gave the public a totally false picture of the great battle. Mr. Churchill himself told yesterday of one huge British battle cruiser, the Renown, which had her wireless apparatus shot away in a duel with two German ships and was cut off for hours from contact with London. The agonized suspense over the Renown may have its counterpart with other ships, in all the navies engaged; and there can be no conclusive report until the fate of the last ship has been reported.
But out of the mist that hangs over the North Countries there emerge two facts whose validity and importance are now established beyond question. The first is that Norway has chosen to fight and not to yield; to put no faith in German promises, to accept no regime of “protective custody” unless it is imposed on her by sheer overwhelming force of alien arms. With splendid courage Norway has mustered her small army in a desperate effort of resistance. The question now is whether aid from her allies can come to her in time.
The second fact is that the British fleet has struck with promptness and with power. Even a smashing victory at sea, if this is what we find when the curtain lifts, will still leave ahead the formidable problem of landing an expeditionary force in Norway and driving the invader from that country. But the counter-attack has been begun with courage, dash and a full realization of the critical importance of the issue.
APRIL 15, 1940
APRIL 18, 1940
DEWEY SAYS ISSUE IS KEEP OUT OF WAR
Neutrality Safer If Change Is Made, He Adds—Holds New Deal Broke Pledges
By JAMES C. HEGERTY
Special to The New York Times.
OKLAHOMA CITY, April 17—With a declaration that the record of the New Deal was “a record of covenants abandoned, pledges blithely cast aside,” District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey, candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination, told a gathering here tonight that the continued neutrality of this nation toward the European war would be in “safer hands” under a Republican administration.
Mr. Dewey spoke at a rally in the Municipal Auditorium sponsored by the State Republican organization. While the primary problems facing the nation were those at home, he said, another inescapable issue was to safeguard American peace in a war-torn world and to keep a determination to stay out of the war.
“The pledge to keep the nation out of war is one which admits of no temporizing. It can be accepted only from men who have kept their pledged word in the past and will keep their pledged word in the future.
“We must judge this administration, not by its commitments for the future, but by its past conduct. The record of the New Deal is a record of covenants abandoned, pledges blithely cast aside. On the basis of that record, we as Americans must conclude that in the emergency of a world again at war the destiny of the nation would be safer in other hands.”
APRIL 20, 1940
AP GIVES REPORT ON WAR COVERAGE
Kent Cooper Describes How Press Association Has Overcome Obstacles
The story of how The Associated Press has met the vast obligations imposed by the European war and its censorships—at the same time not permitting this “dislocation” to interfere with its coverage of this country—was told by Kent Cooper, general manager, in his annual report to the board of directors, made public yesterday.
“The management,” he said, “takes pride in the record of news accomplishment during the year. At the same time it realizes that however high its standards are set, further improvement always is possible. Again it invites constructive criticisms and suggestions from the membership.”
He recalled, too, that in pictures as well as news 1939 had brought extraordinary tasks, remarking that for AP’s news photo service it was “the heaviest year in its history from a viewpoint of coverage, on both sides of the Atlantic.”
PREPARATIONS MADE EARLY
Discussing the war coverage in detail “because of the unusual problems presented,” Mr. Cooper mentioned the period of preparation that found the personnel abroad “reinforced materially long before the beginning of hostilities,” and said this corps was able to “carry on with credit in reporting every major turn of affairs.”
“The German march into Poland,” he added, “found an Associated Press bureau, capably manned by American staff men, in readiness at Warsaw. Similarly, the first Soviet onrush into Finland was reported promptly and vividly because our own staff was on the ground well in advance.
“Meanwhile, in the less active sectors, at the capitals of belligerent and near-by neutral nations and along the Western Front, Associated Press men were reporting all there was to report. When the war came to American shores our bureaus at Buenos Aires and Montevideo distinguished themselves in turn with their accounts of the flight and destruction of the Admiral Graf Spee.
“Naturally, in such times, many important questions of news direction must be decided by the management. Rumors and speculation spring up prolifically in an atmosphere of war. Every censorship creates multitudinous problems of conduct for the correspondents caught in its grip.
TRUTH HARD TO OBTAIN
“Belligerency loosens all remaining restraint from the hand of propaganda, at the same time that it seeks to interpose every possible obstacle to disclosure of the real truth.
“We have tried to deal with these questions soundly and realistically. Where the truth was not ascertainable, Associated Press dispatches have not presented rumor in its stead. Particularly we have refrained from giving currency to fantastic reports, printed or otherwise circulated in one belligerent nation with respect to supposed happenings in an enemy country.
“Every correspondent and every editor has made it his concern to weed out propaganda, and to present official statements for what they are, and no more. These practices have been followed as being sound and proper. It is hoped they represent the overwhelming desire of the membership.”
This description of the AP’s war effort was but part of Mr. Cooper’s summary of AP’s world-wide operations in news, features and news pictures in 1939—of the growth of wirephoto to international scope and of the increase in the number of newspapers outside of the United States which now are participating in The Associated Press service.
APRIL 26, 1940
Ill-Armed British Face Disaster North of Trondheim, Writer Says
Remnants of Inexperienced Force of 1,500 Will Be Cut to Ribbons Unless They Are Strengthened, Witness Asserts
Unless the British expeditionary force seeking to advance in Norway from Namsos north of Trondheim receives adequate reinforcements and large supplies of anti-aircraft guns within a few days, it will be cut to ribbons, Leland Stowe, veteran war correspondent, reported yesterday in a copyrighted dispatch from Gaeddede, at the Norwegian-Swedish frontier, to The Chicago Daily News foreign service, which was published here by The New York Post.
The British force consisted of one battalion of Territorials [the equivalent of this country’s National Guard] and one battalion of the King’s Own Light Infantry, totaling fewer than 1,500 men, the majority of whom averaged only one year of military service, and who were without anti-aircraft, airplane or field artillery support, Mr. Stowe said.
“After only four days of fighting, nearly half of this initial B.E.F.F. contingent has been knocked out—either killed, wounded or captured,” he reported. “On Monday these comparatively inexperienced and incredibly underarmed British troops were decisively defeated. They were driven back in precipitate disorder from Vist, three miles south of t
he bomb-ravaged town of Steinkjer.”
Mr. Stowe told of having been the only newspaper correspondent to enter Steinkjer Monday evening and to pass beyond to the British advance headquarters and the edge of the heavy firing zone. He continued:
“A battalion of 600 Territorials were fighting desperately to hold Vist, the point of their farthest southward advance toward Trondheim. As twilight closed they were completely done in. For hours they had been torn and broken under the terrible triple onslaught of German infantry, tri-motored bombers and naval artillery firing from destroyers at the head of Breitstad Fjord.”
Within two hours, Mr. Stowe said, the British troops were in flight, having no chance whatever with nothing but Brenn machine guns and rifles. Steinkjer was occupied by the Germans Tuesday.
British troops pick through the ruins of Namsos, Norway after a German air raid, April 1940.
MAY 10, 1940
NAZIS INVADE HOLLAND, BELGIUM, LUXEMBOURG BY LAND AND AIR
Nazi Parachute Troops Land at Key Centers as Flooding Starts
First Bombing in France
Special Cable to The New York Times.
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, May 10—Germany invaded the Netherlands early today, land troops being preceded by widespread air attacks on airdromes and by the landing of parachute troops.
The Netherlands resisted and announced she was at war with Germany. Anti-aircraft batteries and fighter planes engaged swarms of German aircraft when they appeared simultaneously over a score of Netherland cities.