Evening star., 1940-04-14
By BLAIR BOLLES.

BY bLAlR DULLES.
Today only the waves and the see
birds and the oceans fish and the
men in the thick of battle know
how the fight is going on the water.
that lie between Britain and Den.
mark and around the Skagerrak and
northward along the Norway Coast
1t was much the same "a years
ago, when the British Grand Flee,
and the German High Seas Fleet
fought the battle of Jutland Or
May 81, 1916, the enemies met for q
decisive combat in the North Sea
near the spot where the Skagerrak
joins it, A day and night it lasted
Twenty-three ships went down. Ter
thousand five hundred men and Of
flcers we're killed.
And the world did not know about
it until June 2.
And even on June it was i'm
possible to tell whether victory be-
longed to the British or the Ger
mans. The British lost more ships
and more men. But those were not
the deciding factors. The Germs ms
concluded that their naval strength
was too slight to brave the allied
blockade, end the high seas fleet
retired to Helgoland Blight, to leave
it only once again during the World
War.
Victory for British.
So Jutland was British victory.
What of the new Jutland of
1940-the battle which in magnitude
might be putting Jutland to shame,
the battle that may stretch along
sea front Of 1000 miles, from
Jutland Peninsula to the Lofoten
Islands, off Narvik? Or maybe it
isn't much of battle. The birds
| and the waves and the fish don't
talk, and the fighters are too busy
at their fighting or their navigat-
ing.
Are the British winning? What
strength are the Germans showing?
What displays of heroism, what
demonstrations of military genius,
what show of force is taking place?
Perhaps within a week, within a
month or within some longer period
we shall know in full the detailed
answer to these questions. All we
know today is enough to let us guess
that naval battle must be in prog
ress or gathering.
First, we know that the Germans
have attacked Norway. In order
to protect the land troops, they need
to employ their navy along the
Norway coast to keep off the Brit
ish. In order to relieve Norway and
In order to prevent the German es-
tablishment of raiding bases in Nor
way, the British task is to drive out
the German land troops, and to drive
them out, they must land troops of
their own; they must land these
troops under cover of naval pro-
lection.
Reports Are Sketchy.
There is bound, then, to be naval
war from the head of the North
Sea almost to the Arctic, and per-
haps into the Arctic.
Each days paper since Monday
when the Germans invaded Norway
has carried news of naval OPERA
tions. But it is sketchy news.
The most daring war CORE.
spondent in the world finds it i'm.
possible to give 'on-the-spot cover.
age to a naval battle-unless it is 6
battle like that off Montevideo, which
the correspondents could watch
through spy glasses.
Consider how slowly the news OF
the Battle of Jutland seSped out
into the world, and how long the
world waited for details even after
1t knew the battle was a fact.
On May 18, the High Seas Fleet
received a plan of strategy: Nava'
vessels would lombard the British
base of Sunderland in order to brine
forth the British navy. German U.
boats lying near the British coast
would launch a torpedo attack or
the approaching British ships.
A German victory would break
the blockade. British blockades hao
been holding for centuries. Napoleon
could not break the blockade, and
the Dutch in the 17th Century could
not break it for long.
Weather Changes Strategy.
Continued bad weather forced a
change in the German strategy. On
May 80 the German scouting force
was ordered to demonstrate of
Norway in order to bring out the
British.
The British naval intelligence
had knowledge of intended Ger
man activity. On May 80 the Brit
ish fleet began to move eastward
over the North Sea, from three
bases-Scapa Flow, Invergordon and
Rosyth. Thirteen hostile German
submarines lay of the British coast.
They had little effect.
At 3:45 pm, May 81, the two
fleets met, IS miles west of the
Danish coast. The meeting began
with an engagement between battle
cruisers-new type of ship-and
ended with battleships, the super
dreadnaughts, commanding the fight,
In command of the British was
Admiral Sir j. r. Jellicoe, aboard
ship. Iron Duke, and In command
Of the Germans was Vice Admiral