Evening star., 1940-04-16
The British in Norwdy

way since Germany occupied Oslo
and strategic coastal points a week
ago, it is clear that British sea power
has altered the situation rapidly and
materially to the Nazis' disadvan-
tage.
The tables have not been COM
pletely turned on the invaders, nor
is their dislodgment imminent. But
there Is persuasive evidence that the
Germans have lost the initiative,
and, with it, warships, transports
and thousands of troops and trained
naval personnel It must presently
dawn upon Hitler's propaganda -dosed
people that the day of unresisted
German assaults on weaker neigh
bors has gone. The demonstrated
allied capacity to aid the victims of
aggression has suddenly given the
European situation a new and more
hopeful aspect. From it the Dutch
and the Belgians and the menaced
Balkan states are certain to derive
encouragement to stand fast against
German threats, or even German
Russian-Italian threats, should Hit
Ter, baked in the north, now attempt
to goad his Moscow and Rome part
ners into supporting Nazi adventures
In the east and southeast.
1t was years before the veil of his
tory was lifted sufficiently to supply
an accurate picture of what hap
pened when Britain and Germany
previously grappled for supremacy
in the North Sea, at Jutland, or in
the adjacent Skagerrak, by which
geographical designation Germans
prefer to call the naval battle be-
tween Jellicoe and Beatty and Scheer
and Hipper. Even today, twenty
four years afterward, naval experts
are at odds over details of the great
est encounter at sea since Trafalgar.
Britons claim Jutland was a decisive
victory for them. Germans are
taught to believe that Skagerrak was
a triumph for the Kaiser's Navy
because British losses in ships and
personnel were considerably heavier
than anything inflicted upon the
Reich's fleet. The all-dominating,
indisputable fact is that the Ger
mans made their supreme throw for
mastery of the sea, and that it failed.
The outside world probably will not
be able to judge for some time to
come who has won the day in Nor
way. Even roundup of successes
and failures on either side thus far
is hazardous, because rival claims in.
many instances lack irrefutable con-
firmation. But the weight of the evi-
dence supports Britain's conten-
tions that the fuctuating tide of bat
tie has flowed steadily in her favor.
The Royal Navys reported feat in
sowing a vast mine field across the
lower Baltic. just south of Denmark,
from the Kattegat to the coast of
Lithuania, is an accomplishment of
immense Importance in the allied
plan to cut the Gulf of Bothnia-
Baltic Sea road for iron ore transport
from Northern Sweden and the
water route for supplies of guns,
ammunition and food from Germany
for the Nazi forces operating In Den
mark and Norway.
OF even greater magnitude than
this interference with the Germans
lines of communication is the land
ing OF British armed units at various
points along Norway's jagged coast.
Narvik is said in London to be one
of the places to which the British,
under protection of their naval guns,
have penetrated this week, as a pre-
liminary to driving out or compelling
the surrender of the German in
vaders.
With great ironclads like the
pocket battleship Admiral Scheer
torpedoed and probably out of action,
though not yet reported sunk;
with the battleships Gneisenau and
Scharnhorst apparently also serious
ly damaged; with the cruisers
Bluecher, Karlsruhe and Emden re-
portedly lost, and with the sinking of
anywhere from seven to a dozen de-
Stroyers and unknown number Of
submarines, Nazi adventures at sea
off Norwegian and Danish waters
during a week of blitzkrieg have
proved extremely costly. There were,
of course, British losses, too.
The Royal Navy has had its first,
eagerly awaited chance to measure
it's strength against Hitler's fleet.
1t has taken advantage of the oppor-
tunity with devastating effect. To
date, the silent service" has fully
justified the sailors contention that
a surface navy is not at the mercy
of an enemy marshaling great air
power, but the supreme test of the
bombing plane against the battleship
is still to come. Fighting off Norway
may bring about the historic decision
before many more days or hours
have passed.