LATEST WAR NEWS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 147, 15 April 1940, Page 5

LATEST WAR NEWS

NAVY STRIKES AGAIN TWO MORE CRIPPLING BLOWS BRILLIANT RAID ON NARVIK The Royal Navy has delivered two more crippling blows against the German forces occupying Norway. Led by the veteran battleship Warspite, the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, under the command of Vice-Admiral Whitworth, entered Narvik fjord and in an operation described by the Admiralty as vigorous, daring and skilfully conducted, sank 7 German destroyers and silenced newly-erected shore batteries. An Admiralty communique states that the objects of the attacking flotilla were two; namely, to finish off the German ships in the harbour and to destroy the shore batteries placed in position by the enemy since their occupation. Both of these objects were accomplished. With their mine-sweeping gear in action as they steam,ed up the fjord, the destroyer flotilla promptly sank four enemy destroyers in the Narvik harbour and pursued and sank three which endeavoured to escape up an inlet. The enemy's loss of men is not known but it is estimated that the crews of the vessels sent to the bottom aggregated one thousand men

It is reported that the arrival of the Royal Navy sent German troops scurrying to the hills around the town, where Norwegian troops await them. One of the attacking destroyers was the Cossack, which will be remembered for the rescue of three hundred British prisoners! on the Altmarck. The British! losses were stated as being three destroyers slightly damaged. Complete Ignorance. The German Propaganda Ministry professes complete ignorance of this latest example of British daring and superiority. According to the Berlin radio last night/nothing of im-' portance had occurred at sea except that two British submarines, travelling on the surface, had been sunk as the result of direct hits from Nazi aeroplanes. The German radio also claimed that the British cruiser York had been sunk by direct bomb hits. She is said to have foundered off English coast. Minefield Extended. The minefield which was laid around the Kategat and Sagerrak has been extended by the British Navy and now encloses the whole of the German Baltic coast. This will ensure that German lines of communication to Norway are closed except from the air.

British Troops in Norway. According to the message of a former attache at the British Embassy, who is now a general stationed iin England, British troops are already in Norway. In his message to the Norwegian people, he asked them to I report movements of enemy ships and troops to the nearest British Norwegian military headquarters. The War Office made no comment. Fighting is continuing where Norwegians have contacted enemy troops and the former are holding their own, checking the enemy advance on all fronts. It is stated that the German position in Norway is perilous and the soldiers there have little hope of a successful conclusion.