April 13th 1940

Saturday 13th April

After almost two days of confused rumours caused by wishful thinking on the part of our friends, and downright malice on the part of our enemies and their backers, news has come of another crushing blow to the Nazis.

Narvik Fiord was entered by a strong force of cruisers and destroyers led by HMS Warspite and accompanied by the now notorious Cossack  (it rather looks as though Cossack may prove to be Hitler’s undoing), and seven of their destroyers were destroyed. That brings their losses up to 13 i.e. more than half their total destroyer strength.

It is now also known that the ship sunk in Oslo Fiord by the Norwegian coastal batteries was not the 10,000 ton Bleaucher, but the Gneisenau of 26,000 tons which with the Sharnhorst - which has been damaged - was one of their biggest ships. To put their casualties on this mad ill-advised venture at 5,000 would be a wholly conservative estimate. The complement of the Gneisenau alone would be in the neighbourhood of 1500. Our losses were three destroyers damaged. The action continues.

O Lord of Adam’s Rood,
No less of Adam’s blood,
Remember Adam’s good,
When he doth die,
By Adam’s love which drew thee,
By Adam’s sin which slew thee,
In Adam’s cross renew me,
Ex favilla Domine.
“We think that Paradise and Calvary
Christ’s cross and Adam’s knee
Stood in one place...”