With plenty to occupy them elsewhere, the Germans took time last week to raid Spitsbergen the frozen, far-north island on the edge of the Arctic Ocean. Heavy naval forces shelled a garrison of Norwegians. Said a Berlin communiqué: German grenadiers, in the face of "violent resistance," landed, destroyed installations and coal dumps, seized prisoners, retired.
London minimized the importance of the raid, said the garrison numbered no more than 100 Norwegians. The installations included a weather station and docks. Defenses were three 4-in. cannon and some machine guns. Allied naval units were too...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
