Evening star., 1940-05-05
German Offensive
Toward Narvik
Now Predicted
Allies Reported Closing
In on Nozis, Weakened
By Three-Week Siege
~ the Associated Press.

~ the Associated Press.
STOCKHOLM, May "A Ger
man push northward toward Mar
vik, along hazardous mountain trails
and fjords exposed to the guns OF
the allied fleet, was predicted by
military experts in Stockholm to-
night.
This forecast was made while the
massive German Army machine, al
ready numbering around 100000
and being strengthened daily, over
ran Central Norway, precipitately
abandoned to the invaders by Brit
ain and France.
Unconf1rmed reports said British
naval units were bombarding Arctic
Narvik, but informed Swedish OBJ
servers believed the German Army
would take advantage of the offen-
sive momentum developed in Cen
trail Norway to drive to the rescue
of several thousand Nazis trapped
between allied land and sea forces
at Narvik.
Allies Closing In.
Refugees arriving in Sweden from
Narvik said Nazi force greatly
weakened by three weeks of fight
ing and a lack of supplies was
clinging tenaciously to positions in
the hills above Narvik, while allied
land units were slowly closing in
around the Arctic ore port.
The Germans in Central Norway
are separated from their be-
leaguered comrades and the allied
besiegers at Narvik by a long and
narrow stretch of mountains flank
ing rd-indented coastal strip.
Experts said the Germans could
push with little diffculty 100 miles
northward of Namsos to Mosjoen.
But from Mosjoen to Narvik, the
experts believed, the German ad-
vance would be extremely hazard
Gus, as 1t would involve traversing
difncult country, expose the Ger
mans to allied attacks from the sea
and necessitate ferrying across a
network of fjords and lagoons.
Morse Give Up Fight.
These Swedish experts thought 1t
would be easy for the allies, if they
complete occupation of the Narvik
area, to block any German attempts
to drive to the Arctic port, provided
the allies maintain a sufficient and
active naval force off the coast
north OF Mosjoen.
Norwegian resistance In Central
Norway came to virtual standstill
today after Col. o. B. Getz. acting
commander of Norwegian forces in
this area, issued an order saying
that the fight against the Germans
was finished.
Disorganized and dispirited Nor
wegian units continued to offer scat
tered resistance. but Swedish reports
said these Norwegians lacked arms.
A dispatch from the Swedish-N
wegian border said 130 Norwegians
fought off d Nazi force for hours
near Roros yesterday, but were
eventually forced to retreat in the
face of powerful German on
slaught.
Thousands Flee to Sweden.
The collapse of allied resistance
4IA SCAAVAd "a 0AA0 hoOuVA4CAA ANOA Wdy
caused thousands of Norwegian civil
ians to flee to Sweden, particularly
along the northern border.
The. Stockholm newspaper Alton
bladet published dispatches today
describing the return to the Swedish
frontier of only Is cars and Is staff
men out of a Oscar, 56-man ambu-
lance unit sent into Norway by the
English Quakers. The reports said
the fate of the missing cars and
men was unknown, but that they
might have left Namsos with the
British Army.
More Germans flooded into Nor
way. Reports from Goteborg, Swed-
1sh port on the Kattegat opposite
the northern tip of Denmark, said
six or seven German transports, con-
voyed by eight destroyers, were
steaming northward into Norwegian
waters.