RINGING OSLO

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20223, 16 April 1940, Page 6

RINGING OSLO

EFFORTS OF GERMANS OBVIOUS OPERATIONS NORWEGIAN CASUALTIES (Rcccl. Aoril 1(1. 2 p.m.) ' LONDON, April 15. By the occupation ot Halden, Sarpsborg and Fredrikstad, the Germans now control the whole of the southeastern corner of Norway, otherwise known as the Lower Ostfold. While the whereabouts of the British forces in Norway remains a secret, there are necessarily vital gaps in any attempt to picture the strategy of the Norwegian defenders. On the contrary, the invaders obviously are engaged in operations aiming at the creation of a ring round Oslo. The occupation of Tongsberg and Larvik, on the western side of the Oslo Fiord, must be considered a primary precaution against attacks from the sea, which the German command of the Lower Ostfold also renders difficult. The Germans meanwhile are vigorously attacking on a wide front in the hinterland to the northward and north-eastward of Oslo, aiming at the capture of Kongsvinger and thus further diminishing the NorwegianSwedish railway communication. The Norwegian resistance is stubbornly centred in this section, but the Germans are reported to have crossed the surface of the Glommen River and now are engaged in severe fighting near Santer, four miles westward from Kongsvinger. Hundreds of Norwegians are reported to have been killed hereabouts.- The defenders are maintaining positions still further west in the Skarnes region, where increasing concentrations of Germans are reported.