STILL OBSCURE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 94, 20 April 1940, Page 9

STILL OBSCURE.

MILITARY POSITION. No Official Declaration Of British Disposition. DIVERGENT REPORTS. United Prees Association.—Copyright. (Received 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, April 1!>. The British United Press correspondent at Lulea (Sweden) says there is rib foundation for reports that the British have occupied Narvik. It is understood the British have not yet begun their attack. A Stockholm message says British and German forces clashed at Grand, on the Trondheini-Namsos railway. Germans arrived by air. British troops have landed in Norway midway between Bodo and Trondheini, and are reported to be preparing a base for a major attack on Trondheim, says a correspondent of the British United Press in'an earlier dispatch from Sweden. The German commander, Colonel Weiss, is evidently expecting an attack. Another report from Sweden states that British troops landed at Namsos, SO miles north of Trondheim, and at the railway terminus. British aeroplanes bombed Stjordal, a station on the railway leading north toward Namsos. An engagement between British and German troops has already occurred near Namsos. The Germans were driven back. A correspondent of "The Times" says ir. a inessage from Stockholm that empty trains have been waiting at Trondheim station since last Sunday to transport German troops to the north, but these apparently have not yet arrived. • The correspondent adds that weak German forces which had been sent by air to Namsos are reported to have been destroyed or dispersed, probably by the Allied forces. The Norwegians are concentrating south of Namsos. The Germans are bringing reinforcements to Trondheim in a large supply ship in preparation for an offensive. German forces are advancing some miles north of the town. At Trondheim the Germans are making a determined effort to hold the railway to Sweden in an attempt to cut Norway in half. Latest reports from Swedish correspondents suggest that operations against the Germans may soon begin. The comparatively flat area around Trondheim provides better scope for military operation than the hills to the west and north. An attack may be expected between Trondheim and Dombas, which is an important railway junction to the south. The Stockholm radio says the Norwegian Government has received reports from North Trondelag and the north of Norway declaring. that the forces in those districts consider they •will be able to maintain their positions as they are now in contact with the Allied forces. The German commander in Norway has proclaimed that all Norwegian men between the ages of J6 and 5Q must report to the German headquarters before noon next Wednesday, otherwise they will be shot. They must assist to build fortifications and'transport war materials.