Evening star., 1940-04-24
Stockholm
Rena, but only after the bloodiest
fighting
Continued From First Page.)
Battle East of Rena

Rena, but only after the bloodiest
fighting
Battle East Of Rena.
A bitter battle was said to have
been waged Is miles east of Rena,
where the Nazis attacked twice
without success before finally gain
ing their bjective-possession of q
bridge over Lake Osa.
On the first two attempts, the
Germans were met by whitening
fire from Norwegian machine guns,
Swedish dispatches said. These as
saults, however, enabled them to
spot the location of the machine gun
nests, which they finally silenced on
the third try.
Both the Norwegians and the Ger
mans were reported to be making
extensive use of ski troops in the
| fighting around Rena. The Stock
holm newspaper Tidningen said that
one such German detachment of
400 men. executing swift flanking
movement. had attacked the Nor
wegians from the rear. only to be
virtually annihilated by machine
| gun fire.
British Forces Stalled.
British forces previously reported
closing in from the north and south
on the German-held port of Trond-
helm. key to Central Norway, ap-
parently were stalled, for the time
being at least, after a series of ad-
vance guard skirmishes.
Tidningen said that British ad-
vance parties had been compelled to
retire from Steinkjer. so miles north
of Trondheim and approximately
the same distance south of their de-
barkation point at Namsos.
Other British forces were reported
still holding positions at Storen. Is
niles below Trondheim.
(Of1icial British sources said last
night that sharp encounter"
had been fought north of Trond-
helm and that operations are
proceeding in cooperation with
Norwegian forcesD
Nazis Hammer at Valleys.
A communique issued last night
by Norwegian military headquarters
said that the German attempts to
force an entrance to the Gudbrands-
dal and Osterdal Valleys were sup
ported by artillery, tanks and air.
craft.
The Norwegians insisted that they
held command of the railway from
Andalsnes to Lillehammer. a dis
tance of some 1876 miles, and said |
their defenses at the latter place I
had been strengthened by mountain
artillery.
THE Norwegians are being
equipped with arms by the allied
powers" the communique said.
South of Lillehammer the Ger
mans were reported in control of the
area surrounding Lake Mjosen, in
Guiding the towns of Hamar and
Gjovik. approximately 60 miles from
Oslo, and Raufoss. important as the
site of an ammunition factory.
West of Lake Mjosen, the Nor
wegian communique said, the Ger
mans were beaten back with the
loss of 100 prisoners in an attempt
to advance up the Valdres River VAL
ley.
Narvik Nazis Holding Out.
The German garrison at Narvik.
on Norway's northwestern coast. was
reported still holding out. although
surrounded on land and sea.
German versions of the situation
there said their position was i'm
| pregnable, that they had mined the
harbor and quays and that attack
from sea was out of the question.
A first-hand account of the Ger
man occupation of the town was
given by Patrick P. King. an Ameri-
can sailor, who succeeded in making
his way from the port to the
Swedish border.
In an interview published in a
Swedish newspaper, King was
quoted as saying that the Germans
had arrested the British consul and
his assistant when they first landed
and that the former had been shot
when he offered resistance.
Most of the women and children
have been removed from the town,
King said, adding that both the
Germans and the British apparently
had attempted to avoid injury to
civilians in the struggle for possess
sion.
King arrived in Narvik as the
member of the crew of a Finnish
fishing vessel. He had intended to
proceed to Finland to volunteer for
service against the Russians, but
was taken sick and was discharged
from hospital only two days be-
fore the Germans arrived.