Evening star., 1940-04-10
Stunned Denmark
Resigned 10 Nazi-
RuIe;Life Unchanged
German Sentries Dot
Streets as City People
Cycle to Work as Usual

Cycle to Work as Usual
ASSOCIATED Press STAFF Men
Wes Gallagher and Lynn Helm
serling ,Uere in Copenhagen aDhen
German forces marched in yes
terday. The Germans quickly
snapped Copenhagen's comnuni-
cations NTH the outside iDorld.
fThe tollo,oing dispatch is the
collaboratiue Uork OF Mr.. Gal
lagher and Mr.. Heinserling, their
first to be sent from the Danish
capital since German "protec-
tion" 1Oas imposed)
COPENHAGEN, 7::50 am, April
8 (by way of Berlin) (delayeO -
With minute Teutonic efficiency
Germany took control of the affairs
of the entire Kingdom of Denmark
after swift, relentless two-hour
military coup which left the nation
stunned but resigned to German
rule.
BY land, sea and air the Reich's
green-clad legions swept into the
little kingdom, crushing slight op-
position in Jutland and at an air.
port Just outside Copenhagen.
A sleepy-eyed German machine
gunner-his head sticking out of a
shallow hole in the lawn near the
east railroad station-gave many
Copenhagen east siders the first
news of the German occupation
this morning.
Danes who had gone to bed with
alarming news from Oslo and the
Skagerrak pouring from their radios
awoke today to find German troop
ers installed at strategic points OF
Copenhagen. Barricades were set
up at the free port, where many
Germans landed. Machine guns
guarded approaches to those places.
Everyday Life Undisturbed.
On east side streets tired-looking
German sentries stood on corners
near the railway station, rerouting
traffic. One of the soldiers, asked
how many Germans had entered
Denmark, replied, 1.-TWO hundred
thousand" but he smiled when he
said it. .
So swift was the smooth Nazi
thrust that the everyday life was
virtually undisturbed-for Danes,
that is. Scores of British and
French were trapped when the ad-
vancing Germans cut all means OF
communication and transportation.
Americans flooded into the United
States consulate, seeking passports
and visas.
A proclamation by King Christian
and Premier Stauning declared that
Reich troops would take up con-
nection with the Danish Army and
that it is the duty of the Danish
population to refrain from every
resistance" to the Nazis.
Sentries Well Armed.
All the German sentries carried
rifles with bayonets and had three
or four long handled grenades stuck
in their belts. They barked out
their commands in German to the
Danes, many of whom were unable
to understand and were completely
bewildered.
At one place, when an inquisitive
crowd pressed too close to a sentry,
he ordered them back sharply and
fired his rifle into the air to en-
phasize the command.
At another point young Dane
was halted by German troopers
when he attempted to ride his BIZ
cycle down a closed street He ex-
planned he had to get through to
reach the building where he was
employed, but the sentries merely
smiled Work today?" one of them
said This is a holiday"
King Christians royal flag con-
tinued to fly over Amalienborg
Castle, showing that he still was
in residence.
The trim royal guards who usually
patrol the castle square had doffed
their shakos, however, for trench
helmets such as worn by the new
arrivals from the Reich.
No Estimate of Germans.
A few blocks away. at the citadel
barracks, German troopers we're in
stalling themselves in the old for
tress,, but it was impossible to esti-
mate their number
The Germans went about their
business without opposition, al
though here and there a few Incl
dents occurred as Danes grumbled
over the occupation of their city.
Many foreigners, hoping to leave
the city, hastened to the airport and
railroad stations, only to find them
thronged with soldiers or closed to
the public.
The Copenhagen airport, from
which planes usually depart every
Is minutes, presented strange
sight with only one small training
plane visible on the entire field
Baggage with foreign labels, mostly
British, was piled high in trucks.
A few glum looking people sat
around the waiting room hoping
against hope that air service might
be resumed.
With the exception of Interrupt
tions in transportation and CON-
munication, however, life went on
much as usual. Thousands of
Danes cycled to work as usual, paus-
ing only to glance overhead as Nazi
bombers roared over rooftops to
drop pamphlets.
Many Vessels at Sea.
The swift German occupation
caught many scores of Danish YES
sells in the harbor, but the major
portion of the merchant fleet was
at sea. Work along the waterfront
appeared virtually normal.
Small crowds gathered around
newspaper offices. When the papers
appeared they were filled with Ger
man and Danish proclamations and
were quickly snapped up by the
news-hungry public.
From time to time the radio