Turning Point in-Norway

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23002, 23 April 1940, Page 8

Turning Point in-Norway

The communiques on the situation in Norway issued by the British War Office and the German High Command are so reticent that it is still impossible to form any clear idea of the relative strengths of the opposing armies or of the nature of the fighting that is taking

place. Reports from Sweden, though more detailed, appear to be little more than guesswork. It is at least reasonably clear, however, that the Allies have overcome the greatest immediate danger, that of a collapse of the Norwegian forces in the south and acceptance of German peace terms by the legitimate Norwegian Government. “ All news reaching “official quarters in London,” said “The “ Times ” on Wednesday, “ shows that time is “running short in Norway. Norwegians here “ declare that everything depends on the “ dispatch of speedy and effective Allied help, “ not merely in a narrow strip in north Nor- “ way, but south-west, where the Germans are “ fortifying positions.” The latest reliable reports show that Allied forces have taken up positions north, south, and east of Trondheim, that Namsos is in British hands, that British forces are fighting in the Hamar-Elverum sector in the south, and that the Germans have not, as was previously announced, succeeded in cutting Norway in half along the line of the railway linking Trondheim with Sweden. The significance of these developments is best indicated by the news that the Norwegian Minister in Berlin has been expelled because of the stubbornness of his Government. That he should have remained for a fortnight after the German invasion of his country can only mean that, up till now, neither side has wanted to close the door on peace negotiations. With the Germans in greatly superior force and in possession of almost all the important strategic points, it would be unjustifiably optimistic to expect quick results from the Allied counterattack in Norway. But the mere fact that the German High Command is now faced with the certain prospect of a long and arduous war in Norway is in itself a strategic victory of the first importance. What Germany sought when she invaded Norway was a complete victory, in the south at any rate, before Allied help could become effective. Failure to reach this objective is a defeat.