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Post by Pumba on Apr 17, 2012 11:11:24 GMT 8
April 11, 1940 Germans now staging a victory parade through Oslo: "An amazingly small band of men, but they march in like conquerors."  -------------------------- UK: From today's Daily Sketch (paper): "Why should 70,000 aliens to go free? There is no such thing as a friendly German- intern them all!" -------------------------- 1000s of Norwegians, "armed only with sheath knives" are quietly slipping away from German-occupied coast, to join the army in the mountains ------------------------- Eiliv Hauge, a young clerk from Oslo, has hitch-hiked 40 miles to Hønefoss & asked to join up. He's told: "Just find a uniform that fits" ----------------------- For a week now, Polish prisoners-of-war in the Soviet Union have been taken to 5 secret NKVD prisons to be murdered- 1000-2000 per night. ------------------------- At Kalinin prison, an NKVD guard talks to a waiting Polish prisoner (who has no idea of his fate): "How old are you?" "18" he replies. --------------------------- "How long were you in the Polish army?" "6 months." Conversation ends. This boy, like the others, has been taken to a soundproof cell & shot ------------------------------ German 'pocket battleship' Lutzow has limped back to port after being torpedoed overnight by UK submarine HMS Swordfish  ------------------------------- Despite UK raids on Kriegsmarine, & Norwegian army mustering in mountains, Germans have tight hold on vital port cities --------------------------------- Nazi occupiers in Denmark have ordered a blackout. Danish paper Politiken: "Lights extinguished over Denmark, as they are all across Europe" ------------------------------ "Denmark -and Europe- will be lighted again. Nobody knows when, but they will be lighted again." ---------------------------- Polish city of Lodz has been renamed Litzmannstadt: part of the ongoing effort to "Germanise" Nazi-occupied Poland. ---------------------------- Norway's King Haakon & government-who have fled advancing the Wehrmacht to the town of Elverum- have rejected German demands for surrender. --------------------------- |
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Post by Pumba on May 17, 2012 9:10:22 GMT 8
April 12, 1940 German invaders explain "peaceful occupation" to Danes & Norwegians: locals will keep own govt, must quarter troops (payment in Reichsmarks) -------------------- 5.20PM Cars around Norwegian town of Elverum- where royal family & cabinet are sheltering- honking horns in warning: enemy aircraft coming. ---------------------- Luftwaffe bombing Elverum- punishment for Norway's refusal to surrender. Royals & ministers flee to shelter in woods  --------------------- Lying in snow as German bullets knock splinters from the trees, King Haakon (67) remarks: "This is Hitler's gift to me"  ----------------------- Australia has banned the import of foreign magazines & newspapers, in order to save valuable currency from going abroad. ----------------------- All leave cancelled in French & British armies; Allied forces ordered to be ready to fight at 6 hours notice- German attack expected soon. ------------------------ Journalist Erik Seidenfaden has arrived in Norwegian town of Elverum, now "overflowing with refugees joining the exiled Royal government." ------------------------ Erik: "Hotels full of ministers huddling round stoves & breaking icicles to clean teeth. All the town's stationery bought for govt business" ------------------------- King Haakon plans to leave Elverum, to protect civilians: "I cannot bear to watch children crouching in the snow as bullets mow down trees." |
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Post by Pumba on May 17, 2012 9:27:33 GMT 8
April 13, 1940 Speaking in UK House of Commons, PM Chamberlain declaring Britain will send troops to Norway: "Hitler has a real fight on his hands!" -------------------- UK War Cabinet arguing: army want to land at Trondheim to stop Germans cutting country in 2; Churchill obsessed with iron-ore port of Narvik ------------------- Austrian refugee Ruth Maier (19) is in occupied Oslo: "I think of the Germans more as a natural disaster than as a people." ------------------ 10 Royal Navy warships are steaming into Narvik fjord, aiming to finish off German destroyers guarding the port.  -------------------- Harry Neesdowne, sailor onboard 1 of the UK ships: "Grey cliffs of the fjord rise above us- very forbidding. It looks a grim & lonely place" --------------------- Royal Navy have defeated the Kriegsmarine at Narvik; 3 German ships sunk, 5 scuttled by own crews: ww2today.com/the-second-battle-of-narvik---------------------- Harry Neesdowne, on battleship HMS Warspite, is guarding rescued German prisoners: "They are impossibly arrogant- certain of victory" ----------------------- A detachment of UK Royal Marines have occupied Danish-owned Faroe Islands (north of Scotland)- amusing local children:  |
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Post by Pumba on May 17, 2012 9:29:29 GMT 8
April 14, 1940 20 prominent citizens of Oslo, incl. a Bishop, taken hostage by German occupiers; they will be shot if Germans face "resistance or sabotage" ----------------------- Norwegian forces, under command of a defiant new leader, General Ruge, are fighting desperately to keep Wehrmacht holed up in port cities.  ------------------------ US journalist James Aldridge: "Most nonsensical war ever seen: no-one knows where 'front' is, everytime I look for fighting, I just miss it" -------------------------- Aldridge: "Norsemen are like boys who've never fought a war. They need Allied aid- can't learn to fight & defend themselves simultaneously" |
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Post by Pumba on May 17, 2012 11:32:20 GMT 8
April 15, 1940 German paratroopers now dropping on town of Dombås, north of Oslo. Unfortunately for them, Norwegian army has set up a temporary base there. ------------------ Forced low by a storm, German planes are easy target for Norwegian machine guns. Paratroopers being shot out of the air  -------------------- Hans Frank, Nazi governor of occupied Poland, has announced that city of Krakow is to become "Jew-free"- via deportation to "labour camps" ------------------- Sgt. Raymond Trivass, with UK Army in France: "A French general inspected our parade. I saw him coming & had a bad idea what would happen…" -------------------- Raymond: "After I saluted him, the general kissed me on both cheeks. A huge laugh came from the men- I'll have trouble living that down." -------------------- Released tonight in US cinemas: "Lights Out in Europe", a new documentary on the start of the ever-growing war. Review: movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B06EFDF1230E43ABC4D52DFB266838B659EDE&pagewanted=print---------------------- After 6 days as self-appointed Prime Minister of Norway, Germans now order Vidkun Quisling to resign; King & Cabinet refused to accept him ------------------------- German troops now fortifying positions in Narvik, Trondheim & Oslo, confident that Norwegians cannot recapture cities.  ---------------------- Theodor Broch, Mayor of Narvik: "Gazing across the shell-torn port, a German officer said to me: 'Your friends the British will never come." |
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Post by Pumba on May 17, 2012 11:39:59 GMT 8
April 16, 1940 The 2000 Norwegian troops guarding Setesdal Valley have surrendered without firing a shot; commander says they are "depressed & confused". ------------------------- Last night 3000 soldiers marched, without orders, to internment in neutral Sweden. ¼ of Norway's 20,000 troops captured in 2 days. ------------------------ Ruth Maier, Austrian refugee in Oslo, overhears 3 Germans talking to newly occupied Norwegians: "We're here to protect you from the English" ---------------------- Ruth: "Soldier goes all misty-eyed: 'And our Führer! Obviously he's a human being, but he's the best in Europe! Are you laughing, fräulein?" ----------------------- Allied landings in Norway now beginning, aiming to (Churchill's words): "cleanse the Nazi plague from the ancestral shores of the Vikings" ---------------------- George Parsons is 1 of 20,000 raw recruits landing in Norway: "Imagine how we, south London boys, feel to see towering ice-capped mountains" -------------------------- Fearing Germans, troops won't land at Narvik. Admiral Cork, hoping to inspire them, goes ahead- but he's v. short. He's stuck in a snowdrift -------------------------- UK troops, under constant attack from German bombers, trying to disembark at Norwegian port of Namsos- total chaos.  --------------------------- UK force at Namsos led by Adrian Carton de Wiart, 1-eyed 1-armed Victoria Cross winner known mainly for suicidal bravery  ------------------------ The Red Army has assembled a conference in Moscow, to "learn from the lessons" of their disastrous invasion of Finland earlier this year. ------------------------ There are worrying signs that Italy may enter the war; foreign minister Count Ciano has announced on radio "the bugles will soon sound". ------------------------ German joke: Hitler is told Italy joining war. "Send 2 divisions, that'll finish them!" "Mein Führer, they're on our side!" "Oh! Send 10." |
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Post by Pumba on May 17, 2012 11:44:26 GMT 8
April 17, 1940 In biggest land-fight of Norwegian invasion so far, Germans have broken out of Oslo & captured fort of Kongsvinger, opening route to Sweden -------------------------- J Aldridge, witness: "It wasn't a big battle, as battles go, but it was bloody. Norwegians tragically underarmed- Germans came guns blazing" ------------------------- Music from an (increasingly rare) neutral nation in the European war: Fud Candrix & his orchestra, live in Brussels. youtu.be/t0wcksELz2U------------------------ UK troops landing at port of Aandalsnes; plan to attack Germans at Trondheim, 130mi north- but have no skis & few vehicles to get there |
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Post by Pumba on May 17, 2012 11:56:03 GMT 8
April 18, 1940 RAF bombers & cruiser HMS Suffolk attacking Germans at Stavanger, hoping to break Luftwaffe's control over Norway.  ---------------------- Undeterred by RAF planes, Luftwaffe have counter-attacked, bombing HMS Suffolk- she's fleeing for home, badly damaged:  ----------------------- The Norwegian government has now formally declared war on Germany- 9 days after being invaded, & 7 days after ceasefire talks broke down. ----------------------- Denmark's quick capitulation frustrating Nazis- they were never at war with Danish govt, so face diplomatic embarrassment if they depose it. -------------------------- A young Norwegian who fled from Oslo this morning (slipping through German lines on skis) reports bread, milk & meat shortages in the city. ------------------------- Germans advancing by foot, bicycle & captured bus, to occupy village of Bagn- where Norwegian army waits to ambush them  -------------------------- Germans have stopped to clear a roadblock of fallen logs- & machine-guns hidden on the hillsides around them open fire.  --------------------------- Eiliv Hauge (22) from Oslo, volunteered for Norwegian Army 1 week ago: "We poured down bullets- the Germans tried to hide under their buses" --------------------------- Eiliv: "The Germans raised a white flag, but the men around me didn't stop firing, so neither did I. We continued until they lay still." -------------------------- Hitler being told of British naval victories in Narvik; he rages at generals, demanding German troops be evacuated by air (too few planes) |
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Post by Pumba on May 17, 2012 13:22:11 GMT 8
April 19, 1940 On this day ten years ago, the BBC's radio news bulletin was: "There is no news." If only it were the same today. news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/newswatch/history/noflash/html/1930s.stm--------------- With the road to Bagn blocked by the Norwegian ambush, Germans now forced to use steep mountain paths, abandoning tanks  --------------------- New US film 'Gone With the Wind' now premiering in blacked-out London's cinemas. Critics: "Good, but no masterpiece" -------------------- Overnight, 3 battalions of French Mountain troops landed in Norway; but their skis have been packed without straps- completely useless. ----------------------- Dutch government declaring "state of siege" & mobilising border troops- but insists it is still neutral & does not favour Allies or Germany. ---------------------- Norway's General Ruge appeals to Allies: "My men are near exhaustion"; UK force split in 1/2, 2 regiments sent to try & stop German advance --------------------- 3 prototype Neubaufahrzeug heavy tanks have arrived in Norway; they're being paraded in Oslo to intimidate locals.  |
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Post by Pumba on May 17, 2012 13:30:33 GMT 8
April 20, 1940 Lt. Rob Winter, with British in Norway: "Luftwaffe been strafing us all day, & bombing little town of Dombaas. We left our flak guns in UK" ------------------ "To my undying surprise, we brought down 3 German planes with rifle fire- carelessness from the pilots & extreme enthusiasm from the troops" ------------------- Today is Hitler's birthday; Nazi propagandist Goebbels last night gave a congratulatory speech, titled "Our Hitler": www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/unser40.htm------------------- From Goebbel's speech: "We Germans all agree: nothing can separate us from our love, obedience, & confidence in & for the Führer." ----------------- In 1st large-scale fight with the Wehrmacht, UK forces in Norway have driven back a German attack that tried to drive them back into sea. ------------------- On his 51st birthday, Hitler has ordered creation of a new Waffen SS regiment of Danish & Norwegian fascist volunteers, to be named "Viking" |
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Post by Pumba on May 17, 2012 13:36:40 GMT 8
April 21, 1940 Luftwaffe have spent today bombing Namsos, Allied landing port in Norway- mostly wooden town smashed to splinters.  ---------------- Despite valiant 3-day defence by Norwegians, Germans have captured village of Bagn; Norwegians have no heavy weapons, helpless against tanks ------------------------ Allies badly outmatched in Norway by German tanks. Lt. Robert Wynter: "Our anti-tank rifle is completely ineffective- simply bounces off!" --------------------- A UK tribunal has ruled that expectant fathers may delay military service due to "potential nervous strain" on the mother-to-be. ----------------- UK troops at Dombås have routed a unit of German paratroopers & captured their equipment, incl collapsible bicycles, saws, & film cameras. ---------------------- Norwegian town of Steinkjer has paid dearly for quartering Allied troops: German bombers have destroyed 95% of it. 1,800 civilians homeless |
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Post by Pumba on May 28, 2012 16:40:25 GMT 8
April 22, 1940 At the order of the Nazi occupiers, the Danish army has been disbanded; it's weapons are to be seized for German use. ------------------- Picture of a street in Norwegian town of Steinkjer in the 30's and again after the bombings  ----------------- After a day of brutal fighting around Norwegian town of Lillehammer, Germans have broken through- Allied troops fleeing  ------------------ King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry retreating in darkness, afraid of German bombers seeing a light. They're holding hands to stay together --------------------- Lt. Robert Wynter: "Germans are behind us with a machine-gun. They're very keen on incendiary bullets- so we crawl under their line of fire" -------------------- From today, Germans & Poles may not enter Jewish ghetto of Lodz. Jews hope new ban will end random attacks by Nazis.  |
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Post by Pumba on May 29, 2012 9:59:33 GMT 8
April 23, 1940
Retreating UK troops in Norway hiding from Luftwaffe in a railway tunnel. 1 officer: "700 of us & a bloody train- we're almost suffocating"
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"We've been stuck here all day with Germans bombing us- 1 direct hit on the tunnel & we're done for. Train has to keep up steam- choking"
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New British budget announced: higher income tax, increased duty on alcohol, tobacco & matches, to raise an unprecedented £2bn for war costs.
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German troops landed from a warship have captured the only major bridge over the river Ogna, trapping over 700 UK troops in southern Norway
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Post by Pumba on May 29, 2012 10:04:35 GMT 8
April 24, 1940 Luckily, 1 UK officer, Lt. Col. Hibbert, visited Norway years ago on family holidays. He remembers a small wooden bridge over Ogna to safety ---------------------- This week's German humour magazine Lustige Blätter celebrates the U-boat blockade of Britain- poor hungry Churchill!  --------------------- Pictured: General Erhard Milch is addressing Luftwaffe pilots in Norway. German planes have dominated the air so far.  -------------------- Milch, a founder of Lufthansa, has a Jewish father. His friend Göring has saved him from the Gestapo, declaring: "I decide who is a Jew." ----------------------- Supreme Allied War Council- as yet ignorant of near-collapse of Allied troops in Norway- claiming Germany "overstretched" & "near collapse" ---------------------- BBC radio broadcasting in Norwegian: "Citizens of Olso: British planes will be bombing the Germans in your city in 1 hour; evacuate now!" --------------------- UK bombers now over Oslo, attacking airfields & German ships in harbour. Luftwaffe, alerted by radio warning, were waiting for them. |
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Post by Pumba on May 29, 2012 10:08:39 GMT 8
April 25, 1940 Fleeing UK troops in Norway leaving a trail of equipment; commander Carton de Wiart: "Men wrapped in their coats look like paralyzed bears." --------------------- A Norwegian volunteer to Finland has returned to fight in his native land: "What's in these ammo pouches is the end; there's no more" ----------------------- Canadian troops in France holding remembrance service at Vimy Ridge, where they fought the Germans 23 years ago; watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW-BJVUdrzk------------------------ In danger of being encircled & cut off by Wehrmacht, Allied forces in Norway are evacuating Lillehammer, abandoning the town to the Germans. ----------------------- It's Anzac Day: remembrance for Australians & New Zealanders killed at Gallipoli, 25 years ago. Anzac troops in Egypt:  |
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