EARLIER REPORTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 96, 23 April 1940, Page 9

EARLIER REPORTS

LONDON, April 22.

It appears to be established that the German forces advancing north from Oslo arc now faced with Allied as as Norwegian troops near the heart of Norway.

Swedish Fres; reports are more specific than the recent British and Norwegian communiques, but are unconfirmed. These persist in stating that' British troops, advancing nearly 200 miles along the Gudbrandsdal valley equipped with tanks and other heavy armaments, made contact with Norwegian forces north of Lake ftfjosen.

' The, Germans bombed Lillehammer, ■ b'39'rnijes north ?'i>t "Haniar in the Gudbrandsdal valley, indicating the presence of strong forces at least close to '.' .Hamar. ■' .;'•' ,■....' \'. ■'. , , Some reports state that the British and French troops travelled by road and rail to near Hamar, and it is even asserted that th v Germans are being driven, back from Elverum. '..,..■ The suggestion that the" Allied troops reached eastern Norway by rail is {supported. by German accounts of bombing pf the costal termini of the railways and at Lillehammer and / Dombas, an. area where the Germans . have made repeated attempts, to cut the line by landing parachute troops. The Stockholm correspondent of the "News Chronicle" says that 3000 Germans are feverishly attempting to strengthen the defences at Trondheim, from which 35,000 civilians, representing half the population, have been evacuated to the hills. The Germans are fearful of being trapped from north and south.' The German attempts to link their forces in Bergen, Trond'

heim, and Oslo have jnow been completely foiled.

A Norwegian communique says: "The Germans on Saturday, supported by planes and artillery, attacked on both sides of Lake 'Mjosen, but our troops held their positions. The Germans also machine-gunned and bombed Lillehammer and dropped leaflets. A house near the railway was set on fire. The Germans bombed other towns, including Andalsnes. Many planes were seen flying northward, and one was shot down."

The German official- rfews agency says that German troops, advancing rapidly from the south, reached Lillehammer.

The Stockholm representative of the Associated Press of Great Britain says that the ■■ Norwegian Legation confirms that British*1 forces';- supported by Norwegians, recaptured Elverum. It is also stated that a French division has landed at Namsos.

The Norwegians shot down three large German planes at Dombas yesterday and the British shot down a fourth.

A representative of the Exchange Telegraph Company at Stockholm describes the mopping up of the last of the German parachute troops at Dombas yesterday. The parachutists occupied a farmhouse, and the Norwegians surrounded it and advanced under cover of machine-guns. A 'grenade thrown into the cellar wrecked the farmhouse, and the Germans capitulated after the loss of 25 killed and 25 wounded. One hundred and fifty, were taken prisoner.

The parachutists had carried a surprising amount of equipment, including machine-guns, collapsible bicycles, two-way radio sets, saws, cameras, and welding apparatus, and had compelled 50 civilians to carry the equipment.