The Wilmington morning star., 1940-04-14

They were told to Tell trees ana
destroy bridges to check the ad-
vance of the Nazi blitz troops, and
to hasten to the nearest British
or Norwegian military headquar-
+ers with any news they hear about
movement of the German units.
The broadcast, keynote of the
British Broadeasting company's new
news service for N~orwegians, con-
cluded:
"Allied help is coming and com
ing quickly! Hold out! Long live
Norway! Long live King Haakon"
However, any plans the Allies
have for military land action, as
well as the actual movements of
their naval forces, were BACKED
out tonight by military censorship.
At acknowledged high cost in
planes and pilots, the fleet air arm
and royal air force recounted these
new exploits:
Bombardment of the Stavanger
airdrome with sa1vos of heavy
bombs" with heavy damage to a
hangar and planes and the shoot
ing down of a twin-enginer Ger
man fighter by a wounded Raj.
pilot;
Destruction of a Nazi munitions
warehouse at Bergen;
The bombing of three more big
German supply-transport ships;
The Notwithstanding of a Ger
man destroyer and motor torpedo
boat;
Destruction of at least four other
German fighting planes.
A total of eleven British planes
were acknowledged lost since early
Friday (The Germans claimed
tWelve.)
No Mention Made
British official sources avoided
mention of what they intend to do
with the Allied eXpeditionary force
of 100, 900 which was declared ready
to so to Finland when Finland, just
a month ago, decided not to fight
Russia any more, but there is a gen
eral s%upposition that at least some
of these troops still are ready for ac.
ton.
British censorship forbids mention
of the possibility that this force will
be sent to NorWay.)
However, since troops in movement
at sea are a most vulnerable target,
it is doubtful whether the Allies will
care to risk ~largescale landings in
Scandinavia until they can be sure
of offering ADEQUATE sea and air pro-
lection and avoid the dangers of
enemy lanking operations.
The admiralty showed no inclin.
alton to lift the veil' Gas Winston
Churchill put it, fro the hone fleets
far-f1ung operations. but most OBJ.
servers believed the broad plan was
to sweep the seas clear of German
naval units, and beat back Nazi war
planes so that the Allies can render
real aid to the struggling Norwegian
land forces.
Persistent British attacks on Ger
man supply and transport ships and
munitions bases in Norway thus are
folloW-ups to the plugging of the
Skagerrak and Kattegat with mines,
in order to isolate the invaders, de-
prive them of supplies and keep the
German fleet in the open where the
British can take its time about
smashing it, unit for unit.
In new fleet air arm operations
at Bergen, it was disclosed today,
one British plane was forced down at
sea near an island and the crew of
two others were seen abandoning
their machine.
A Good Account
However, a plane of the R.A.F,
coastal command gave a good &C.
count of itself in action against a
German destroyer and a Dornier fly
ing boat, according to a British ac.
count.
The British plane dropped through
clouds Of swirIing snow straight 1T
the German warship. The gunner
raked her decks from 500 feet with
machine-gun fire. Then he poured a
stream Of bullets at the flying boat.
THE Dornier lost height and soon
both engines We're af1re," said the
official report.
The British plane got home with
a bullet hole in its gasoline tank.
Another coastal command plane,
after scouting so miles of Norwegian
coast, u into anti-aircraft fire
which wounded the pilot in the head
and ripped the planes oil line, but
the plane made the 35O-miles HON
landing with one dead engine and
riddled wings and tail.
Also on the credit of B~ritain's
ledger was the announcement that
three German tTaWlers had been seiz-
ed in northern waters and that a
crack 26-seat Danish airliner had
been Confscated when it arrived in
England on the day of the German
invasion. The plane will be used by
the Allies and the crew of four, in
Guiding a pretty air hostess will be
invited to work in this country.
HE. I