NORSE EDITOR BRANDS NAZI INVASION GREAT BLUNDER
Kalnes, Iver M.
Norse Editor Brands Nazi Invasion Great Blunder Declares Hitler Is Riding For Fall; Navy Will Be Trapped BY IVER M. KALNES EAU CLAIRE, Wis.—Hitler's invasion of Norway was a tactical blunder,...
...Ager...
...With English warships corking up the outlets of the narrow fjords, the Germans are bottled ud for srood...
...Norwegian language weekly newspaper here, and Elmer Anderson, genera...
...There is not the slightest doubt but what the Hitler forces will be thrown out of Norway, although it may take a little time...
...said Mr...
...With Hitler as a neighbor on one side and Stalin on the other, Sweden's position would become unbearable...
...Arriving at Oslo, Vidkun Quisling, head of the Norwegian Nazis, met them and led the way as they first occupied the communication centers, such as the government radio station, the telegraph and telephone exchanges...
...Quisling's story was so thin that he was forced to resign from the cabinet, but Germany had the military secrets of Norway and made good use of them now...
...Ager...
...Reports are conflicting about who nor has possession of Narvik...
...Narvik is only 20 miles from the Swedish border, back of which are the rich iron mines of Sweden, from which the world's best steel is made...
...Anderson...
...said Ager...
...What do you think...
...Sweden would be subject to both Stalin and Hitler then, and the Swedes might just as well fight now as later," "But how were Hitler's forces able to get into all the Norwegian coast cities so quickly mid without opposition...
...I interviewed both men In Reform's office Monday...
...Quisling, in control of the government radio, sent out orders to Norwegian military commandants to offer no resistance, and the German naval forces sailed into Trondheim and other ports without a shot being fired by the Norwegian fortifications, the corn-mandates believing they had orders from the Norwegian government...
...Is the Nazi party strong in Norway...
...Is this the same Quisling who was the center of a great scandal somi years back...
...For once, England riske'i one of her big battleships, although of course she used the oldest one she had...
...that's the man," explained Ager...
...Anderson, national secretary of the great fraternal order of the S. A. F., which has strong branches in Madison...
...Yes...
...You remember, he was in the Norwegian cabinet some years ago when the Bondeparti (Farmers' party) controlled the government of Norway, Quisling at that time gave to the press a cock-and-bull story about having been hit over the head with a paper weight by some mysterious persons who invaded his office when he was minister of foreign affairs and that the 'burglars' had stolen some maps and descriptions of Norway's important defense forts...
...I inquired...
...explained Mr...
...Of course, those papers went to Germany at that time...
...Norway will fight for its independence, which makes the opposition to Hitler a double-powered opposition, from within and without...
...I can't understand how they could sail into Trondheim without a fuss...
...The coup was effected by the aid of traitors...
...Ager, himself a native of Norway and well acquainted with the rocky coast and bottle-neck fjords of that country...
...Vidkun Quisling is the Benedict Arnold, the arch-traitor of Norway...
...There are a few so-called 'intelligentsia' among university professors and others, like Quisling...
...He is a man of considerable ability, but he will never be the dictator of Norway...
...Navy Will Be Trapped BY IVER M. KALNES EAU CLAIRE, Wis.—Hitler's invasion of Norway was a tactical blunder, according to Waldemar Ager...
...It remains to be seen if Hitler's forces have not been trapped decisively as some of the most disastrous military traps of all history...
...There is a direct railroad from the Swedish iron mines and the Swedish steel mills to Narvik, which is the shipping port...
...It was several hours later that the government of Norway was able to get word out to the forts—but too late...
...the British ship with Its long range guns could stay out of range of the seven German destroyers and just sit there and blow the destroyers to kingdom come without any danger to herself...
...Stoughton, De Forest and in many cities all the Midwest states...
...secretary of the Scandinavian-American Fraternity, with national headquarters in Eau Claire...
...But even so...
...I put the questions to Mr...
...Hitler probably made the biggest mistake of his life when he undertook to occupy Norwegian cities deep in the fjords of Norway's broken coast...
...The English and the Norwegians have taken Narvik back from the Germans," said Ager...
...This man Quisling is a fanatic, as are his associates in the traitor ring...
...Riding For Fall" "Hitler is riding for a fall for sure," interpolated Mr...
...If Hitler is permitted to control Norway...
...They honestly believe that what they are doing is the best thing for Norway, Quisling is a great admirer of Hitler and he hopes to be the Hitler of Norway...
...Why should there be such a fight about Narvik, a city so far North...
...veteran editor of "Reform...
...Norway was taken absolutely by surprise," said Mr...
...Sweden will, of necessity, have to flglu with Norway against their common enemies, because even now Russia is trying to find an excuse for taking the rest of Finland...
...Says Quisling Fanatio "There is no party at all...
...Great Britain will become a second rate nation, and the British will never tolerate continued occupation of Norway for that reason...
...My father was born in the Trondheim area, which is why I was specially interested...
...I asked...
...Germany and England both need that iron and steel...
...I asked...
...was my next question...
...There would be no semblance of independence under such circumstances...
...When Hitler's forces landed at Moss in southern Norway, which is not fortified, they commandeered automobiles and trucks and rolled along the modem highways into nearby Oslo through a civilian area...
Vol. 10 • April 1940 • No. 17
