Thursday, April 18, 1940

A NAZI “TRICK” SPLITS NORWAY. The Associated Press calls the latest German ploy in Norway “an audacious coup.” And it was simple -- a train full of German soldiers sped rapidly through Norwegian-held territory, bisecting the nation in a horizontal line going from Trondheim almost all the way to the Swedish border. As the train moved eastward along the Trondheim-Storlien railway, the Germans posted guard units at all bridges and stations, “giving them complete control of the railway.” The A.P. describes how the Nazi troops managed to travel unmolested through Norwegian-held territory in the first place --

“Advices reaching Stockholm said Norwegian railway employees, supplied with false information that the train bore their own forces, gave right of way to the Germans, who reached Storlien Heights, 3 miles from the Swedish frontier and 50 miles east of Trondheim port on Norway’s west coast.”

James Reston writes in Wednesday’s New York Times that Norwegian officials now view the situation in south Norway as critical. Even though British troops are said to be engaging the Germans in the far northern port of Narvik, “in the south, the Germans are consolidating their gains and the disorganized Norwegians are still without effective Allied aid in that region.” Norway’s ambassador to Britain met Tuesday with Prime Minister Chamberlain to plead that Allied troops were “urgently needed” to fight the Germans in the south.

GERMAN OFFENSIVE AGAINST ALLIES DELAYED? According to the New York Herald Tribune, the “unexpected difficulties” facing the Germans in Norway have delayed the start of a major Nazi offensive on the Western Front. The story cites neutral observers in Berlin as “convinced that Germany planned to have control of Norway as well as Denmark by the end of the first day and then intended to keep things moving by striking toward the west -- though not necessarily at the Maginot line.” But now, the observers say, Hitler’s generals are forced to throw an increasing amount of military weight at subduing the Norwegian army, plus dealing with the growing threat of British troop landings.

As far as what comes next, the Herald Tribune doesn’t offer any new predictions. But I still think the likeliest possibility is that the Nazis will send their troops into Holland with no warning, then use that country’s air bases for an all-out attack on England by warplanes within a few weeks.

DENMARK’S BEING LOOTED. C.B.S.’s William Shirer said in his broadcast from Berlin yesterday morning that several of his German friends have been “watering their mouths” at the prospect of the butter, eggs, and bacon which will soon be brought into Germany from occupied Denmark. Meanwhile, Frank R. Kelley writes in Wednesday’s New York Herald Tribune that the German Army is appropriating Danish food, and more --

“Scarcely had the Nazi invaders established themselves in Denmark, it was said, than the slaughter of Danish pigs, cattle, and other livestock reached mass proportions. At the same time the Germans were said to have begun to strip Copenhagen and other cities of removable metal, such as park railings, traffic stanchions and ornamental objects, in order to feed them into the maw of the war machine.”

Does it surprise anyone that the Germans promised the Danish government a little over a week ago that they were only on hand to “protect” Denmark and would not exploit her resources for the war effort?

HOW NORSE TREASON HELPED HITLER. Several reports have said the Nazi ships which sailed into Oslo Fjord on April 9 were benefited by “mysterious orders” to Norwegian vessels and naval batteries not to fire on the invaders. Other highly-placed “fifth columnists” holding high positions in the Norwegian army are said to have helped German ships land troops at several ports, to have assisted in the seizure of Oslo, etc. But now Donald Day writes in Wednesday’s Chicago Tribune that Hitler is backing away from the top Norwegian traitor, Major Vidkun Quisling, who the Germans appointed as premier of the new Oslo government just a few days ago. It seems to be one last attempt by the Nazis to conciliate King Haakon’s government, who just a few days ago Nazi forces were trying to bomb into oblivion. Just maybe the Feuhrer’s getting a little bit worried.

Mr. Day notes new examples of treason in Norway, and what some patriotic Norwegians are doing about it -- “At the Belerne fort, the garrison mutinied and refused to obey a command to surrender. The troops locked up their officers and opened fire on the Germans. They said they sank two destroyers before the fort was put out of action.” On the other hand, the treason apparently is ongoing and continues to harm Norway’s defense effort -- “The Norwegian government has been shocked by the surrender of some military commanders to German forces without resistance. Bewildered and dismayed by false orders and information, other commanders have ceased resisting the German advance.”

BEWARE OF “FIFTH COLUMNS” ELSEWHERE. In his Washington Post column on Wednesday, Barnet Nover seconds the view that Hitler was helped a great deal by Norwegian traitors --

“In his brilliant dispatch to the Chicago Daily News Monday, Leland Stowe, who was present in the Norwegian capital when the German invaders arrived, declares that Oslo was captured not with armed force but by a gigantic conspiracy. In their bold and almost successful bid to dominate the country by a lighting coup, the Nazis apparently depended far less on naval, military and air power than on treachery and sabotage. The results justified the accurance with which they went through with their plans....Oslo, a city of 300,000, was taken by 1,500 men.”

Mr. Nover adds that what happened in Norway constitutes a warning for the remaining neutrals -- “every little nation in Europe knows now what it faces, not only from without, but also from within. The next days and weeks are thus certain to see an elaborate search everywhere in neutral lands for Trojan horses bearing the sign of the swastika. Even at this late date to be forewarned is to be forearmed.”