Evening Star Newspaper, May 16, 1940, Page 4

Weakeninq Garrison Bolstered by Plane And Sea Expedifions : Cleanup. and Repair . Work on Quays and Rail Lines Rushed By JAMES ALDRIDGE. SOMEWHERE NEAR NARVIK, Norway, May 16 (N.AN.A,, by Wire- less via Stockholm)—This is the first direct report from the Narvik area for many days. It can be re- vealed that the Germans hope to hold Narvik for a long time. At the end of last week fresh Ger- man troops arrived at this north- ern Norway port. Most of them ar- fived by transport plane, but it is possible that some arrived by a ship that sneaked up the coast from the inland waterway at Trondheim, car- rying some troops, but mostly sup- plies. Certainly they have got fresh supplies in Narvik and not by plane. The supplies arrived in time to relieve a dangerously weakening German garrison which had been suffering from maladies caused by undernourishment and confinement. Ore Quay Still Workable. Narvik itself has been well plas- tered by bombs and shells and little remains of the actual town, though essential services are still operating. Snows that have melted in the Jast couple of weeks have made the place a muddle and the bomb craters are like swimming pools. All roads and railroad tracks are in a bad way, as water from the snows melting on the high rock mountain behind Narvik is running in little rivers down to sea. Most of the docks remain more or less undamaged. The iron ore quay, which is the most important section of Narvik, is mostly un- touched and workable. Neither of the belligerents bombed it much because both probably hope to use it some day soon. The Germans hope to use it soonest, for they have put Norwegians to work cleaning up around it and filling in the bomb craters. German engineers have been re- pairing the Haakvikdal power plant 3 miles to the south, which supplies power for the ore- quay, and also the reserve Diesel plant of 1,000 horsepower which the ore company owns. The Diesel oil store for the reserve plant was soon used up, however, by German planes. May Try to Move Ore. The other power plant at Ny- gaards, which supplies the rail and quay transport systems, is also able to function. It is run by water power, like that at Haakvikdal. The Germans also are evidently attempting to salvage the sunken ore ships in Narvik Harbor, which were victims of the raid by British destroyers led by Capt. Warburton- Lee. If the Germans can get a few of these ships up and floating and get them to the Luossavara and Kerunavadra repair yardse they would have valuable aides, and this is evidently what they are hoping to do. There are about 100,000 tons of iron ore in and around Narvik wait- ing to be taken out. If the Nazis can get a couple of ships repaired it would be worth their while to try a daring dash along the sea- coast as far as Trondheim, where the ore could be shipped by rail to Oslo. . Other evidences of Germany's “long-term” policy in Narvik and hopes to hold it are to be seen everywhere, Cleanup squads are trying to clear the debris of smashed houses, etc., and repair gangs are going over all the railways. The tracks near the iron quay, which were damaged by shelling from Brit- ish ships, have now been repaired. Germany's hope to reopen this Nar- vik route, as well as the Lulea (Sweden) route for iron ore, is mani- fested by squads repairing the vital rail link to Sweden’s border. Swedish Stores Eyed. Germany has her eyes on the half-million or more tons of iron ore ready and waiting in Sweden to be transshipped anywhere. Ger- many gets 6,000,000 tons of Kiruna ore from Lulea each year in the warm months and can get that now, but, combined with the Narvik passage for ore, the total would almost sat- 1sfy her needs this year. In the present condition of repair, the railway from the Swedish bor- der to Narvik could transship about 30,000 tons daily and the iron quay could handle all that could be brought in. Only a few tunnels, which Norwegian mountain guerril- las blocked up, need clearing away and the railway will be usable, un- less the British do more bombing. The main fighting around here seems to be done by the Norwegians, with parties of British and French tropps occasionally storming the German positions at Bjerkvik, north of Narvik, and all along the valley. But there has been no decisive fighting. The forces the Germans now have in Narvik are small, but there is little hope of dislodging them from it, even as there is little hope for them to make much use of it either. . Churchill Expresses Thanks to Fleet By the Associated Press. LONDON, May 16 —Prime Minister Winston Churchill, relinquishing direct control of naval affairs, thanked all officers and men of the British fleet today for their accom- plishments in the first eight months of war. Of the new First Lord of the Admiralty in the coalition govern- ment, A. V. Alexander, Mr. Churchill said: “I leave you in good hands both afloat and ashore.” PIANOS for RENT Neow full keyboord spin- ots ond smoll uprights, enly $5 monthly. Grand pianos, $9 monthly. AN the money you pay & | sontal applies on the purchese price if you decide to buy later. FRONT COVERS 110 MILES—Arrows locate hot spots today on 110-mile front from Antwerp to Sedan. Heaviest fighting was at latter point, with Nazis trying tank flanking movements, indi- cated by-curving arrows, while main force hit the center. Brussels front was at Louvain. counterattacks. Warning (Continued From First Page) indicated official fears that danger of new countries being engulfed by the war was imminent. Renewed advices to Americans in Great Britain and France to leave those countries also emphasized fears of intensified aerial bombardment in the interior of England and France. An official British radio broad- cast, according to the Associated Press, said the warning to Ameri- cans made a “deep impression” in England because that country knows “how well informed the United Staes authorities are about the situation in Europe.” Americans were urged, the State Department said, to proceed from danger zones to the Bordeaux re- gion in Southwest France or to Spain ‘or Portugal, from where they might be brought home by American ships. 40,000 Americans Affected. This procedure indicated definite fears that Italy might be in the war. soon. Until this week the mlln1 avenue for evacuation of Ameri- cans from other portions of Eur- ope has been through Italian ports. Latest State Department estimates list more than 40,000 Americans resident in Southern and Western Europe last January 1, with the largest number — 19,561 — concen- trated in Italy. The United States Consulate in Rome sent the following circular to American residents there: “The consulate has been directed by the Embassy to call the attention of American citizens residing in the Rome consulate district the advice of returning to the United States at the earliest possible moment.” Warned to Leave France. Ambassador William C. Bullitt advised Americans in France with- out “compelling reason” for remain- ing there to congregate “expedi- tiously” in Bordeaux for repatria- tion. The January estimates listed 5927 Americans in France. In Switzerland, where 1,415 Amer- ican citizens were estimated to live, warnings went out to all who are “not prepared to remain in Switzer- land in the event this country is involved in war” to leave the coun- try “as speedily as i The State Department said Amer- ican representatives in Southern Europe, Great Britain and France had exercised their discretionary authority to advise Americans “of dangerous situations and invite them to leave” in view of “recent developments and the possible spread of hostilities.” , “There can be no insistence upon the departure of our citizens,” the department added, “since the Gov- ernment may not compel the return of its citizens and the decision whether to remain or to depart is one the individual himself must make ” The department said arrange- ments for evacuating Americans congregating around Bordeaux in =3 31k a%g%ifi McDougall-Butler Co, - 421' Tenth 8t. NW. NAsone 788 White arrows indicate allied —A. P. Wirephoto. Southwestern France or in Spain or Portugal by American vessels would be considered. American ves- sels are prohibited under the Neu- trality Act from calling at French ports, but exceptions may be made for emergency evacuations. Meanwhile, Associated Press dis- patches said Italian troops con- tinued to protect British and French Embassies in Rome against possible demonstrations, but none material- ized. Students of English, Scotch and Canadian ecclesiastical colleges in Rome left for London. On Frontiér Facing Ifalian-Held Albania Britain Reported Renewing Demands For Island Bases By the Associated Press. ATHENS, May 16.—Greece poured troop reinforcements today into her mountainous frontier region facing Italian-occupied Albania, just across the entrance of the Adriatic from the heel of the Italian boot. (Insecurity of communications from Athens, by way of Budapest, - the channel of this dispatch, and perhaps Greek censorship ob- scured the full meaning of the troop movements. The telephone connection from Athens to Buda- pest was broken in the middle of the dispatch.) It was reported anew, without confirmation, that Great Britain was pressing Greece for permission to establish naval bases on Greek islands. Fleet Begins “Maneuvers.” The British-French battle fleet based at Alexandria, Egypt, had put to sea for “scheduled maneuvers” acd this caused new uneasiness among the Greeks. Col. Papademas, Undersecretary of ‘War and outranked only by Premier Gen. John Metaxas as head of Greece's armed forces, arrived at the frontier region of Yanina to take personal charge of general preparedness measures. The Yanina district on the Greek mainland is flanked at sea by the Greek Island of Corfu, at the neck of the Adriatic, the Otranto Strait. Troops at Piraeus, near Athens, began embarking and disembarking exercises with infantry, cavalry, artillery, aviation and engineering units participating. Similar exercises were to be conducted at other ports Greece, with Rumania and Turkey, holds a promise o! aid from Britain and France in case independence is threatened. v Corfu, back of which the Greeks laid their frontier defenses, has been the object of Italian ambitions be- cause of its dominating position— virtually a cork for the Adriatic if fortified strongly enough. - Reports that Britain was pressing for bases on Corfu and other Greek islands had been circulated pre- viously, some attributed to German sources. E—— s Berlin (Continued From First Page.) air bombs yesterday off the coasts of the Netherlands and Belgium and two destroyers and four merchant- men were “hit severely,” while a submarine torpedoed a tanker and an armed merchantman, Enemy flights over Western Ger- many last night, the high command sald caused “immaterial damage,” but killed and injured a number of civilians, The war continued in Norway. In far Northern Narvik the Ger- mans “again repulsed attacks, with heavy losses for the enemy.” Brussels Bombing Threatened. Brussels was threatened with devastation from the air. She faced the fate that Qvertook Warsaw during the Nazi “blitzkrieg” in Poland, and that which would have befallen Rotterdam and Utrecht if the Dutch commander in chief had not surrendered to Nazi invasion, The threat to release the Ger- man_“Stukas” (dive-bombers) on the Belgian capital was contained in the Nazi high command’s warn- ing to Belgian authorities that “mili- tary objectives in Brussels will be altacked by the German air force” unless troop movements and work on fortifications in the city were suspended immediately. y The high command announced in & communique last night that re- connaissance flights over Brussels the last few days had established beyond doubt that it no longer is an open city, as the Belgian govern- ment declared it to be when hos- tilities in the Low Countries began last Friday. The high command’s communique on Brussels’ status as an open city said the Belgian government’s dec- laration of last Priday that no troops were in Brussels and that none SALLY would move through the city did not correspond with present facts. ‘The communique said aerial re- connaissance during the last few days had disclosed military columns of all sorts marching through the city and troop trains coming in on the various railway lines. It warned the Belgians to stop all military ac- tivity in the capital at once if they wished to protect Brussels from the “horrors of war.” But if Brussels is in imminent danger of destruction from the air, it also is vulnerable to the westward drive of the heavily-mechanized Nazi land forces, it was pointed out in authoritative military circles. Here emphasis was placed on the fact that Brussels' chief hope of protection lies in the so-called “Dyle position” in Central Belgium. This is the second Belgian de- fense line, after the Albert Canal, which follows the northward course of the River Meuse as far as Namur, continues north from there to the Dyle River near Louvain, and then runs west along the Dyle to Antwerp near the sea. It is along this line that the long- anticipated major battle in the west, outcome of which is regarded as of decisive importance, already is developing, according to well-in- formed sources. (From the British expedition- ary force in Belgium came word of & major battle for the Lou- vain “gate,” only 16 miles east of Brussels, in which the British hurled heavy fire against Ger- man tanks and armored cars ad- vancing ahead of the main Nazi forces (The British line was said to extend from Zeeland, lone Dutch province still resisting the Ger- man invasion. south through Antwerp and Louvain.) But even more important, these sources said, was the fact that the German forces, repulsing French counterattacks, were able to force crossings of the Meuse south of Namur. SHOPS 3324 14th Street N.W. Is Now Being Air Conditioned ~ Cngstors AIRTEMP (] SUMMER COMFORT 1S INEXPENSIVE AT PEPCO. LOW RATES How to’Pronounce Increasing List: of War Names in News ‘The pronunciation of many of the places in the war news can only be approximated by the English tongue, Authorities offer these approximations, AACHEN Ah’ ken AMIENS Am’ i-enz ARLON Ar’ long AMERSFOORTAm’ ers fort ANTWERP Ahn vair Ar denn’ Bass tonye’ Broo’ jez Breus sell’ Dee nan’ DUNKERQUE Dun’ kirk EBEN EMAEL Ebben Em eel’ EUPEN U’ pen GRONINGEN Gro’ ning en 1JSSELMEER Ais’ al mair LEYDEN Ly’ den LIEGE Le ayzh’ LILLE Lin LOUVAIN Loo’ van MAASTRICHT Mahs’ trikt MALINES Mah leen’ Mo buzh’ Muhrs Nah meur’ Ny may’ gen New sha toe’ Ost end’ Rhems Swah’ sone U’ trekt Var dun’ ‘Wahl Ee’ pr ZEEBRUGGE Zay’ broog uh ZUIDER ZEE Zy’ der zay _(Continued From First Page) progressing and the situation is “se- rious,” he said. However, the French remained confident of their ability to restore control of a situation which at the moment is admittedly “very con- fused.” The French reported heavy artil- lery fire east of Sedan, along the French-Luxembourg frontier, as well as farther east in the Vosges moun- tain sector. All Details Withheld. The battle of the Meuse broke out into mechanized open warfare along from Namur to Sedan with such tre- mendous impact as to cause the French high command, in a cryptic morning communique, to withhold all details “for the sake of the higher interests” of the operations. The communique said only that the battle along the Meuse “is tak- ing on the characteristics of open warfare, with participation on both sides by motorized units and avi- ation.” “These higher interests of the con- duct of operations,” the communique added, “compel us not to give at the present moment any precise infor- :::lon as to the actions now taking Allies Adopt Nazi M!flla. It became apparent that. Ger- many's army, slowed by fierce coun- ter-attacks at Sedan, was crashing headlong into allied warfare-of the Nazis’' own style in a great battle of movement. That was the picture of the conflict to be pieced together in Paris, Germany’s vaunted war of speed and flexibility which blitzkrieged Poland was adopted by the French to meet thrusts of Nazi tanks on the front from Sedan to Namur. When German troops were halted in the Sedan sector by FPrench counterattacks, onrushing Nazi tanks had succeeded in battering their way across the Meuse at three points. Pushed back by ‘strafing planes and powerful tanks, the French infantry had given way. Defending Lines Reformed. Then the defending lines reformed to hold off the Nazi-infantry rush- ing into three gaps in the Meuse line. At the same time, Frencn tanks closed in behind the lines to engage those of the enemy that had broken through. The decision of the French high command to fight speed with speed meant that it had abandoned, at least for the moment, any plan to fight & war of position in the line of concrete pill boxes built on the Belgian frontier as a northwesterly extension of France’s Maginot Line. In Belgium, said the Belgian high command, the Liege forts “‘continue to resist.” (The Germans claim to arvik; Hope to Ship Ore Wilhelmina Appoints Admiral Van Der Stad To Head Dutch Forces All Military as Well as Naval Units in Unbeaten Zeeland Are Under Him By the Associated Press.. LONDON, May 16—Queen Wil- helmina of the Netherlands has ap- pointed Rear Admiral Van Der Stad commander of all Dutch military and naval forces in the province of Zeeland, the Netherlands Legation announced last night. The Queen herself announced the appointment to the Dutch forces by radio. “I know that my people in the Netherlands as well as in the over- seas territories, are looking toward you with hope and admiration for the way in which you are carrying out your duties,” she said. “I know that I can have confi- dence in you. I am constantly with you in thought.” Zeeland is the province of low is- lands south of Rotterdam and north of ,Antwerp, Belgium, not yet sur- rendered to the Germans. Queen Wilhelmina in an earlier broadcast yesterday declared that her nation’s spirit would remain intact “because our conscience is clear.” The ruler who lost her country, but retained her empire, told the et have occupied Liege itself and some of the forts buttressing the city.) The Belgians told of several infan- 1try engagements which checked German attempts to advance, of demolitions which hampered seri- ously the movements of the Reichs- wehr, and of stiff and “effective” defense against German warplanes. Internal Precautions. Elaborate precautions against parachute troops and possible “Aifth- columnists” were taken today throughout France. The Paris police rounded up large numbers of foreigners for investiga- tion last night in a city-wide sweep through cales and other meeting places. A mobile guard is posted at the city gates to stop every car and in- vestigate its occupants. Gendarmes and customs officers have been given rifles. Provincial mayors have been ordered to organize into a civil guard all eligible men not mobilized. Treasury Revokes Permit To Remove Dutch Funds By the Associated Press. ‘The Treasury revoked today, at Holland's request, authority to re- move Dutch government funds from the United States without special permission of the United States ‘Treasury. Dr. A. Loudon, the Dutch Minister, asked Secretary Morgenthau to re- voke the license, granted a few days ago, after the Germans occupied virtually all of Holland. ‘The Treasury Secretary told re- porters the reason for the revoca- tion request was “obvious.” He indicated that, now that Ger- many occupies the Dutch capital and most of its European territory, a technical dispute -might arise as to who constitutes the legal Dutch government. The Dutch government recognized by the United States has fled to London, but officials en- visaged the possibility of the Ger- mans setting up a new government in Holland and claiming ownership of the vast Dutch deposits in the United States. Latest figures indicate that the Dutch government and its people had at least $200,000,000 cash in the United States, not counting gold and securities. The Dutch government will still be able to use the funds in America by asking permission of the Treas- ury for each separate transaction. Y. W. Club Play The Players Club of the Y. W. C. A. will present a play, “Prunella,” or “Love in a Dutch Garden,” at 8 pm. Saturday in Barker Hall, it was announced today by the educa- tion department of the Y. W. C. A. A “curtain raiser,” given by the children’s Saturday morning class, will precede the play. Britons that “we have to admit that no happiness can be expected in this world if those who are solely responsible for the present situation are not' definitely checked in their course of unscrupulous destruction and utter disregard of law and the most elementary principles of mo- rality.” “After s heroic struggle,” the Queen said, ‘my nation that has attempted everything to maintain peace, is being onr;,wered by sheer superiority of force." But morally, ‘she added, Holland can never be conquered. “Notwithstanding the great dis- tress my people are suffering at the present moment and the oppression under which they will live until the country is free again, 1 am convinced that they will never give up their faith in the cause of freedom and "Justice.” 2NN/ s s/ s s K\l e\t e e\ gd i Want tofeel like a (-0-0-L MILLION? 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