GERMANS ON ALERT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21551, 2 November 1944, Page 5

GERMANS ON ALERT

NORWAY'S COAST

INVASION EXPECTED REICH DEFENCES RUSHED (9 a.m.) LONDON, Nov. 1. The Germans are expecting Allied landings on the coast. of northern Norway, says the Daily Express’ correspondent in Stockholm. German deserters who have reached Sweden in the past 24 hours report that the Germans are pushing ahead with their preparations against invasion. These men say that the German High Command is convinced that the present weather and tide conditions favour an early Allied attempt to invade Norway. Landings are expected to take place at Narvik and on the coast north of the port.

Reports from Norwegian underground sources say that a state o alert exists all along the north western coast of Norway. The Germans believe that the threat oi in vasion has increased considerabl; since the latest attack on the Tirpitz which is reported to have been hi with a 12,0001 b. bomb.

Other , Stockholm reports say that the Germans are strengthening the coastal defences in north-western Germany against a possible Allied landing. One thousand members of the German Labour Corps and the Hitler Youth organisation have been sent to the bay of Heligoland to build a “Frisian Wall.” This wall, it is believed, is intended to cut off any Allied attempt to sweep across northwestern Germany towards Berlin. The Daily Telegraph’s diplomatic correspondent says that following General Eisenhower’s recent warning that intensified attacks against shipping along the Norwegian coast are about to begin, Norwegian seamen are refusing to sail ships under German orders. The master and crew of a ship loading at Oslo for Germany yesterday refused to accept sailing orders and went ashore.

The Paris radio, quoting a dispatch from Stockholm, stated that no ships have left Norwegian harbours in the past few days. Gestapo and S.S. troops have made numerous arrests and taken hostages.