Evening Star Newspaper, April 27, 1940, Page 3

Vist Battle Story Given by Wounded Corporal, Sfowe Says British Surprised South Of Steinkjer, American Told by Truck Driver By LELAND STOWE, Chicago Daily News Foreign Correspondent. OSTERSUND, near the Swedish- Norwegian frontier, April 27.—The clearest account of the battle of Vist, where the British expeditionaries met their first defeat and where more than nalf of a battalion of 600 was killed or captured, was told to me by a young English lance cor- poral. Every time our truck got stuck I climbed up beside him in the driver’s seat and he told me a bit more. That was on the Tuesday morning that it tock us four hours to cover 15 miles of the muddiest, slimiest, roughest road in creation. The lance corporal had two bul- lets through his shoulder. He had been traveling like this half the night, trying to get back to what is called a hospital and over this hell and damnation road. The truck growled deafeningly. Every few minutes as it struck a rut under 2 feet of mud one of its wheels took a dive toward China. From behind I could see that the corporal's body was thrown a foot to the right of 2 feet to the left. He had only one good hand to hold on with. He had patches of dry blood on his face. After every spell of in- fernal bronco-busting, I found him as pale as cigarette paper, but he al- ways managed a shadow of a smile. He had guts—no other word for it in the English language. Just no end of guts. Said he used to be a grocer's clerk in—well, in one of the greenest, prettiest places in Eng- land. Shot By Norwegian. ‘The corporal had been shot by a Norwegian, by mistake, during the retreat. He did not complain about it. Ee never uttered a groan and he never complained. All he said was four well-chosen words—about certain topnotchers who, for some time, had been supposed to be saving the British Empire. With an ugly burning wound and after seeing more than half of his battalion chewed up for lack of artillery and anti-air guns he dismissed the re- sponsible persons with four short words. Only a man born with the British gift for understatement and self-restraint could have done that. But about the battle. The corporal #aid that his battalion had pushed through Steinkjer and on down the railroad. Everybody thought the Germans were no nearer than Lev- anger, about 30 miles to the south. But at Vist, three miles below Steinkjer, that illusion ended very suddenly. “We were taken by surprise,” said the corporal. “We thought the en- emy were much further down. We had to rush about and do the best we could. The Jerries were in the woods right ahead of us. Buf we managed to find not a bad position where the Jerries had to come through the deep snow. We sent one company forward to held them while we got what positions we | could. “At first that was all right. We heard the Germans had a cruiser and destroyer in the upper fjord. You know, it goes right up to Steinkjer. But we thought their troops were below us. Meanwhile, if we had to we could wipe out the! Jerries in the woods completely. But they had the field guns and 4- | inch mortars—and then the de- stroyer got around the neck of land | and began shelling us straight on the right flank, and the bombers | kept coming over, too.” Had No Artillery. “You did not have any guns?” I asked, though I had asked the same | question a dozen times already. I got the same answer. “Oh, no,” said the corporal. “We've | got no artillery at all with us. That was what finished us, and we were getting it from the Jerries in front of us, from the bombers, and from shells from the destroyer in the fjord. Then the Jerries came around the woods and encircled one of our companies. We saw them running | out, but we did not shoot because we | thought our men had taken the | Jerries. It was just the other way. “It got worse and worse. We had a lot of our boys killed and wounded. I don’t know how many. But when | it got dark those of us who were left had to get out as fast as we could. | Some of us were running back along | the railroad. Just before we got to Steinkjer, we saw a lorry waiting by the road. We ran into the snow, not knowing if they were Jerries. They were Norwegians, but they thought we were the Jerries. They let go one round at us and I got it here in the shoulder. The rest were :;lck,v. I was the only one that got it.” ‘We managed to find some ciga- rettes for the lance corporal before the surgeon went to work on his wounds. We left him there knowing what kind of men will yet redeem British arms north of Trondheim— providing certain people in London give them the weapons with which to do it. (Copyright, 1940, by the Chicago Daily News, Inc.) Von Ribbentrop (Continued From First Page.) — — tion In an otherwise deliberate ad- dress Von Ribbentrop exclaimed: “The government of the German Reich will furnish documentary proof in a series of publications sbout to be made that: “Pirst, Britain and France had prepared for the occupation of Nor- way for some time before. “Second, the Norwegian govern- ment was cognizant of this fact. “Third, in contrast to Sweden, the Norwegian government had acqui- esced in this faet and was even pre- pared—as was then afterward actu- elly the case—to participate in the war on the side of Britain and France, “Fourth, the. British attempt was frustrated in the period of a few hours by Germany’s intervention. “Finally, fifth, declarations since made by those in power in Britain (that the allies had no designs on Scandinavia) are entirely without foundation.” Charge d'Affaires Alexander C. Kirk represented the United States in the assemblage of diplomats called to the chancellery for Von Ribbentrop's statement by a sudden invitation last night. ‘The documents announced by Von Ribbentrop were issued in a “white EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, SATURDAY, < A long row of bomb hits on a highway, an unusual example of accurate bombing. DID THIS TERRORIZE THE NORWEGIANS?—Two photos from the German movie “Feuertaufe” (Baptism of Fire) which was shown to Norwegian officials the night before Germany invaded Oslo. The film is intended to strike terror to small nations, and ends with a symbolic power dive on a map of the British Isles, followed by a bomb explosion. Is was assembled from pic- tures taken by flyer during the bombing of Poland. The movie represents a frank account of how Poland’s nervous system was rapidly paralyzed by the Nazi airmen and explains how the Germans were able to destroy a nation with steam- roller tactics almost unparalleled in history. The commentator at one point says: “Mr. Cham- berlain, this is your fault. You will be the guiltiest of the guilty if this happens to England. The film has been shown extensively in Germany, Italy and Rumania, as well as the smaller countries. —Wide World Photos. as orders found on English officers captured in Lillehammer, Central | Norway; code telegrams to the Brit- ish consul in Narvik, espionage or- ders to that official, extracts from papers of the French naval attache in Oslo and Norwegian Foreign Of- | fice documents. Setting Is Dramatic. The setting for Von Ribbentrop's | declaration was in keeping with the penchant for the dramatic of which Nazidom is fond. The diplomats and newspapermen who had been asked to come to the chancellery had to pass through the celebrated long corridor past two sentinels before Hitler's study and into the richly ornamented hall where Von Ribbentrop and Italian Foreign Minister Count Galeazzo | Ciano last May 22 signed the Ger- man-Italian alliance. Diplomats sat in gilded chairs while the newspapermen stood in horseshoe formation enveloping them. Before them was a long table behind which virtually the entire foreign office staff and other Ger- man officials stood. Hitler was not present. Von Ribbentrop walked in with attendants at 2:30 p.m., pale, deter- mined and unsmiling. He wore the dark blue Foreign Office uniform and saluted the assemblage before sepaking. He spoke in an even tone, his left hand, in which he held his manu- script written in unusually large script, trembling slightly, and the other resting on his breast, thumb inside his coat except when he ges- tured. Views War Situation. Before coming to the climax, in which he announced the publica- tion of documents purporting to prove the German thesis against the allies and Norway, Von Ribbentrop reviewed the Scandinavian situation from the German standpoint. The alleged attempt to make this area one of combat, he contended, came after the allies saw they could not do anything about winning the war on the western front or through Poland. Von Ribbentrop claimed the cam- paign for allied intervention was opened when attacks on Scandi- navian neutrality followed in quick succession, beginning with the speech January 21 by British First Lord of the. Admiralty Winston Churchill. Alfred Duff Cooper, former Pirst Lord of the Admiralty, on April 12 finally “completely let the mask fall,” the Foreign Minister said. ‘The allies, he charged, then tried to use the Finnish conflict as a pretext for widening the war. Paul Reynaud, France’s premier, in a conversation with the Finnish Minister to Paris, Von Ribbentrop asserted, “gave a definite assurance that immediately upon receiving a call from Finland, British and book” divided into groups described French troops- who were standing by and ready would set out from | their harbors to make a landing | in Norway. The passage of troops | simply would be notified to Nnrwayi and Sweden in a note without ask- ing the governments of the two | countries previously for permission.” Plans Systematic. | He went on that all details of | plans for occupation had been made “in an astonishingly systematic way through the espionage organization of the secret service.” After marshalling alleged evidence of impending allied intervention in | Norway with the connivance of the | Norwegian government, Ribbentrop contipued: “The Fuehrer consequently gave the order for the German fleet to sail so that it would be able to in- tervene immediately should the plan (for the allies to land in Norway) be put into operation.” The Foreign Minister then called | attention to Prime Minister Cham- berlain’s assertion that “at no time did the allies contemplate any oc- cupation of Scandinavian territory 50 long as it was not attacked by Germany.” To this he replied with gestures to emphasize his words: “In the name of the government of the German Reich and above all in the name of truth and justice I wish now to lay before you the documents which prove that -these assurances of those in power in Britain and France are only lies and falsehoods.” - i The remainder of his remarks was devoted to a brief survey of the oflgin of the purported documents. Operations Plan Scheduled. Especially valuable, he said, were those seized when German forces “in the region of Lillehammer took prisoner the British brigade staff in command of that sector as well as part of the 8th Battallon of the Sherwood Foresters belonging to the 148th British Infantry Brigade.” A complete plan of operations for the: British occupation of Norway then was found, he said, and it also was disclosed that “the order to land had been given to first forma- tion of the expeditionary corps on the 6th and Tth of April.” As he finished his address, Von Ribbentrop gave the Nazi salute in various directions and then went through the first two rows of diplo- mats, shaking hands. First came Msgr. Cesare Orsenigo, papal nuncio in Germany; then and. Swedish Ministers appeared finally, in the second row, charge d’affaires. : The greeting to the Hungarian and Swedish Minister sappeared especially cordial; United States Charge d’Affaires Kirk was expressionless as. Von Ribbentrop shook his. hand. Kirk wore a regulation cutaway, but some other diplomats appeared in business suits. ‘Von Ribbentrop made clear that today’s collection of alleged docu- ments, which he offered to the dip- lomats at the conclusion of his & handshaking, was only the begin- ning. It was expected that during the ensuing days Germany will release many more. Before the newspapermen walked into the chancellery, Otto Dietrich, Germany’s press chief, briefly ad- dressed the correspondents. “There is one thing for which every true newsman will gladly sac- rifice his week end—for a sensa- tional news item,” he said. “Today we will offer you a polit- ical bomb of the heaviest caliber which will pierce any armor, no matter how heavy. The British web of lies will be ruthlessly torn.” London (Continued From Pirst Page.) declared the public was troubled by reports of allied unprepaxedness and demanded straight news on the situation instead of “boastful speeches.” The public “is prepared—much more than the government realizes —to take bad news of the war with the good,” the paper said. Sir Samuel Hoare, home secretary, is scheduled to broadcast a speech at 7:20 pm. (1:20 pm. E. 8. T and it was expected he would tell of allled determination to throw their full weight into the Norwegian campaign. Chamberlain Statement Expected. Diplomatic quarters said Mr. Chamberlain probably would make & statement early next week in the House of Commons on the Nor- wegian campaign. After consulting with opposition leaders Clement Attlee and Arthur Greenwood, the Prime Minister de- ferred any statement this week since the high command requested as much secrecy as possible while the race for battle positions is on in Norway. ‘There was no indication that the opposition in Commons would at- tempt to make an issue of any iso- lated military reverses in Norway. The Labor party’s policy has been to refuse participation in the gov- ernment and stand aside in the role of critic without any attempt to un- seat the government. Mr. Chamberlain, however, has kept the opposition leaders in- formed on all major questions of policy. When Commons reconvenes next week opposition is expected to cen- ter on the broad question of whether the government is calling on the nation’s fullest resources to wage ‘Wwar, some opponents contending the new budget is not large enough to get the maximum from Britain's economy. ! oy e e Powell School Paper Wins in Competition The Powell Junior High School was notified today that its news- paper, the -Powell Echo, won first class honors from the National Scholastic Press Association, Minne- apolis. Mrs. Floretta Gibson Barton, sponsor of the paper, said Leslie T. Walter, the principal, had been in- formed by mail that the certificate had been awarded the school in competition with other junior high school newspapers. Betty Armstrong, 14, 3114 S8ix- teenth street N.W.,, is the editor. APRIL 27, 1940. State of War Exists With Norwegians, Hifler Declares Way Is Opened by Decree | ™" For Use of Himmler's Police in Occupied Area BY the Associated Press. BERLIN, April 27.—Adolf Hitier, in a sweeping proclamstion, today ended the twilight diplomatic status of the German invasion of Norwsy by ‘declaring that s state of war exists between the Reich and the Kingdom of Haskon VII. Prior to Hitler's surprise move, shrouded in secrecy like many other of his acts, Germany had held the invasion starting April 9 was to “protect” Norway from s similar step which the Germans accused the allies of planning. Today the Puehrer declared that the Norwegian government itself had “created a state of war” by re- sisting Germany. Only yeste: the foreign press had been told response to inquiries that no state of war existed with Norway. A decrezulenlmnx the appoint- ment of Josef Terboven as governor of occupied areas in Norway re- :‘uhd the shift in Germany’s posi- on. Police Powers Invoked. Dated April 24, but not published until today, the decree invoked au- thority of the German police in Nor- way, & proviso which seemed espe- cially significant since it opened the way for Heinrich Himmler's fAmed ‘lecret muee. l':lulch were effective n quelling civilan opposition in Poland. Hitler attempted to put blame for the war on Premier Johan Nys- gaardsvold’s government, saying that by its acts, conduct and orders for military resistance it had “created & state of war between Norway and the German Reich.” Another clause gave the German military and civil commands the right to abrogate Norwegian law whenever they deem it necessary. Hitler was careful, however, to retain for himself all fundamental decisions regarding Norway. Ter- boven and the German commander- in-chief in Norway, Gen. Nikolaus von Falkenhorst, must operate along guiding lines laid down by the Fuehrer or two of his appointees, Dr. Hans Lammers, the secretary of the chancellery, and Col. Gen. Wilhelm Keitel, chief of the high command. The Norweglan administrative council, formed in Oslo after the invasion with Ingolf Christensen as head, was left in the position merely to carry out orders from Terboven and Gen von Palkenhorst. (A Norwegian proclamation is- sued from secret headquarters declared the council was not rep- resentative of the legal Norweg- ian government and that no basis existed for negotiations with Germany as long as German troops remained in Norway.) Text of Decree. The decree, dated April 24, was published today. It said: “The Ny rdsvold government, through its proclamation and its conduct, as well as military activity carried on by its orders, created a state of war between Norway and the German Reich. “In order to safeguard public law and order in Norwegian regions un- der protection of German troops, I herewith decree: “l. Occupled Norwegian regions are subordinated to the Reich's commissar. His headquarters is Oslo. “The Reich’s commissar is the guardian of the Reich’s interests and exercises supreme government au- thority within the civil realm. “2. The Reich’s commissar may in- voke the assistance of the Nor- wegian Administrative Committee and Norwegian civil authorities for carrying out his orders and admin- istering affairs, “3. Section 1—The existing law remains in force in so far as it is compatible with the occupation. Section 2—Decrees will be made public in the ‘Verordnungsblatt fuer die Besetzten Norwegischen Gebiete’ (Official Gazette for Occupied Nor- wegian Areas) “4. The commander of German troops in Norway exercises sovereign military rights. His demands are given effect within the civil realm solely by the Reichs Commissar. In 5o far and as long as the military situation so demands, he has the right to decree measures necessary troops in Norway in 5o far necessities demand and cordance with guiding lines gi by me for the civil realm by Negro Congress (Continued Prom First Page.) this morning, roundly applauded declarations of policy denouncing the poll tax, lynching and various discriminations against the Negro race. Secretary Davis delivered a bitter castigation of lynching and de- clared: “We are here to act as a mass lobby for the anti-lynching bill. Lynching curses our land. Congress after Congress has refused to pass an anti-lynching bill. President after President has been silent in the face of this crime. This con- gress must demand passage of this law now.” In an attack on the poll tax, Mr. Davis declared that 3,000,000 persons in the South are denied the right to vote. “This was not ordained by God. It is & man-made evil and we con- demn it as such. Our Congress has the duty to say to the politicians of the country that no party will get the 4,000000 Negro votes in the North which does not guarantee the ballot to the voteless Negroes in the South. This means repeal the poll tax laws in this session of Con- gress.” A way must be found, Mr. Davis declared, to employ the 3,000,000 Negroes who are now unemployed. In a denunciation of war, he said flatly, “the Yanks are not coming.” Woman’s Talk Broadcast. An appeal to the American people “fight for a better status for culture and economic freedom” was broad- cast over the coast-to-coast net- work of the Columbia Broadcasting System this morning by Mrs. Fay E. Allen, Negro member of the! Board of Education of Los Angeles, | Calif. The congress, consisting of dele- gates from 38 States, was to hear | other annual reports of officers and later to go into panel discussions of | various problems affecting the Negro | race. The congress members, who filled the Government's large depart- night were stirred by Mr. Lewis to! frequent applause and cheers, as the speaker championed rights of their race to full participation in “the American way of life,” including the | vote. % | Extending the hand of eo-open-; tion in what was interpreted to be‘ another definite bid of the president | of the Congress of Industrial Or-| ganizations for an extension of his| political orbit, Mr. Lewis said: | “I call upon you and the millions of Americans you represent to Join‘ in common cause with labor that we may seek out as American citi- zens together those political means and instruments by which the com- mon welfare may be promoted.” In his carefully prepared speech, which Mr. Lewis read from manu- script, the speaker sharply attacked IS MOTH for support of Negro women in their | 3 mental auditorium to capacity, last |y the Roosevelt administration, which .| he previously had supported, H Mr. Lewis omitted one of the strongest .and most pertinent para- .| graphs in his speech, as heard by the assembly and through radio by & potential large listening audience throughout the country. After outlining several points of his program, including increased employment, proposed old-age and security payments of at least $60 monthly to individuals and $90 to married couples, and adequate housing and heslth programs, he declared: “It is' not & program to drain the wealth and sap the re- sources of our country. It is & pro- gram designed to create new wealth and to conserve our investment, emphasizing the great assets of our human riches and designed at the’ same time to command full use of our productive machinery.” He then omitted this paragraph from his prepared speech: “It is on the basis of such prin- ciples that we of labor call upon other groups of American citizens interested in the common welfare to join in demanding that the politi- cal leaders of the Nation stand by and deliver or give way to those who can.” Explaining he had publicly urged the President and the Attorney General to have the Justice Depart- ment bring into Federal courts a Judicial “proceeding to attack and strike down the cowardly restraints inflicted upon the citizens of the Southern States by poll tax laws,” the speaker said “there has been no reply. Nothing has been done.” He drew applause when he declared slowly, with emphasis: “Let there be no mistake about it, labor will not rest until the right to vote becomes the right of every citizen, unhampered by such devices as the poll tax.” Charging that the people who want to “get us into war are grow- ing bolder,” the speaker drew ap- plause, cheers, and even yells of approval when he firmly declared in & low voice, “We will not go to war. If it is our mission to save Western civilization,” he added, “then let us begin by saving it high here in our own country.” All So\:ls_’ Unitarian At the 11 a.m. service Dr. Ulysses G. B. Pierce will speak on “Words That Steady Us.” The class in com- parative religion at 10 a.m. will haye as its speaker V. Valta Parma, cently of the Library of Congress, who will discuss “The Religion of John Burroughs,” his intimate frlend. Willlam A. Reid, formerly of the Pan-American Union, will speak before the current problems class at the same time on “Mingling With Immigrants and Refugees.” e —— ERLITZ 624 Téor—rrene] £ man or any ether language wade the itz Method—available oniy 2t the OF LANGUAGES, National 023! h, 8 Beri) BERLITZ SCHOOL 1115 Conn. Ave. (at L) THERE IS A BERLITZ SCHOOL IN EVER: _LEADING CITY OF THE WORLD PACKARD WASHINGTON Showrooms and Service 24th ot N *RE. 0123 BRANCH SHOWROOM Dupont Circle Building European News Map A specially prepared European News Map is yours for the ask- ing. Helps you follow and under- stand current news events. Sup- ply limited=—stop in today. S ol LLLY ! ... TIME TO PHONE FOR . .. Tolman's Safe them, # 10 —Fur Service PERFECT , uniform Cold—the ideal storage for furs —is assured by TOLMAN'S modern vault facilities. 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