Evening star., 1941-08-17

nice clean flesh wounds from Nazi ma
chine gun bullets. At this stage the
Germans really turned the heat on.
So, wobbling along with almost no am
munition left, little gas and no airport,
the Norwegians headed for secluded ice
and snow covered lakes. For the rest
of NorRay's stubborn 62-day resistance
these lakes were their airports. For
miles around Norwegian farmers would
siphon gasoline out of their automobiles
and take it in tins to these lakes.
First they tried dive bombing by STALL
ing the machines over the targets; then,
because they had no bomb sights, they
would aim the planes at their targets.
This worked fine and finished off plenty
of Nazis.
Later, when ammunition ran low, they
even tried rigging up the empty gasoline
tins with dynamite to use as BOMBS, but
Maj. Reistad claims they weren't much of
a success. Often the snow on these
makeshift airports was deep and on one
occasion 5000 reindeer were rounded up
Sand herded onto an area to tramp it
down to permit take-offs
Ready for Use.
Almost useless as fighters, the Fokkers
were ready nevertheless for reconnais-
sance and daredevil bombing. Maj.
Reistads squadron alone destroyed IL
German aircraft on the ground and
downed two Heinkels. In other parts of
Norway other squadrons of ancient vim
tage planes also fought on.
Maj. Reistad explains why his 1924
models stayed aioft so long in the face
of the speedy Germans. The Fokkers,
he says, would cruise along and when
they saw a Heinkel would slow down to
stalling speed while the 300-mile-an-
hour Heinkel would swoop for their tails.
Just as the Heinkels would get into
shove their sticks ahead, barely missing
the Nazis' squirt of fire.
In less than a second the German
would have overshot his mark and be
miles ahead before he could get turned
and on his way back after the slow but
quick ducking Fokkers which usually
got away.
Flying a swift American-built Curtiss
fighter in Toronto and showing a
youngster from Boston, Mass, how to
do the same thing, was one of Maj.
Reistad's men who was cruising along
at 5000 feet after brush with some
German anti-aircraft shrapnel one
night. A snowstorm developed and his
motor quit cold.
The pilot and observer bailed out. The
observer landed on the edge of noun
tain-top cliff in drift. The drift gave
way tumbling him over the side Of the
mountain. BY some miracle his para
chute reopened and he landed safely in
another drift, 300 feet below, beside the
pilot.
That observer is also in Toronto today,
instructing in the latest in California
built Douglas attack bombers.
When Norwegian rifles and their few
machine guns finally gave way before
German tanks and artillery, Reistad and
the Is planes he had left flew to Fin
land and there the pilots disbanded,
swearing to meet again in Canada. All
but five reached Toronto.
Join Nations Fight.
Since they came hundreds of other
Norwegians have arrived to learn to
fly and join in their country's fight for
freedom. There were 20 from Nor
wegian whalers in the Antarctic. Whole
ships crews have volunteered and been
turned down, for 1t is Norway's mer-
chant marine, the worlds fourth largest,
which is earning the money that keeps
her planes aloft and now makes her
airmen among the worlds best equipped.
But when torpedo hits its mark on
q Norwegian freighter the survivors
usually head for Little Norway and
Little Norway today is full of torpedoed
"