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The Norwegian Campaign, lasting from 9 April to 10 June 1940, led to the first direct land confrontation between the military forces of the Allies — United Kingdom and France — against Nazi Germany in World War II. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The French Third Republic (in French, La Troisième République, sometimes written as La IIIe Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Operation Weserübung was the codename for Nazi Germany 's assault on Denmark and Norway during World War II and the opening operation The Elverum Authorization ("Elverumsfullmakten" was approved unanimously by the Norwegian Parliament on April 9, 1940 in the town of Elverum Midtskogen farm is situated approximately five kilometers west of the town Elverum at the mouth of the Østerdalen valley in southern Norway. The Battle of Vinjesvingen took place in May 1940 in Telemark county Norway. Starting with the invasion of April 9, 1940, Norway was under Military occupation of German forces and civil rule of a German Norwegian Resistance Movement (Norske Motstandsbevegelsen is a militant offshoot of the Swedish Resistance Movement, with its base in Norway During the German occupation of Norway in World War II the civilian occupying authorities with the Quisling regime and the German Wehrmacht operated a number of camps See also Time line of the Holocaust in Norway See also Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany In the middle of the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany Telavåg (sometimes spelled Tælavåg is a small village in the municipality of Sund, located 39 km south west of Bergen Norway, with a population of During the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, the occupying powers imposed Martial law in Trondheim and surrounding areas effective October 6 1942 through October Festung Norwegen (Fortress Norway was the German term for the heavy defense and fortification system of Norway during the occupation of Norway by The Norwegian heavy water sabotage was a series of actions taken by Norwegian saboteurs during World War II to prevent the German nuclear energy project from acquiring When the German occupation of Norway ended in May of 1945 several thousand Norwegians and foreign citizens were tried and convicted for various acts that the occupying powers sanctioned Haakon VII (Prince Carl of Denmark born Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel) (3 August 1872 in Charlottenlund 21 September 1957 in Oslo) Johan Nygaardsvold (6 September 1879 - 13 March 1952 was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. Carl Joachim Hambro (usually CJ Hambro) ( January 5 1885 15 December 1964) was a leading Politician from the Carl Gustav Fleischer KCB ( 28 December 1883 - 19 December 1942) was a Norwegian General and the first Otto Ruge ( January 9, 1882 - 1961 was a Norwegian General. He was Commander-in-chief of the Royal Norwegian Armed Forces Jens Christian Hauge ( 15 May 1915 - 30 October 2006) was a Norwegian World War II resistance figure and politician Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945 was a Norwegian army Officer and politician Jonas Lie (1899–1945 was a Norwegian councillor of state in the Nasjonal Samling government of Vidkun Quisling in 1940 then acting councillor of Sverre Parelius Riisnæs (1897–1988 was a Norwegian appointed councillor of state in the Nasjonal Samling government of Vidkun Quisling 1940–1941 Josef Antonius Heinrich Terboven ( May 23, 1898 - May 8, 1945) was a Nazi leader best known as the Reichskommissar (commissioner Wilhelm Rediess ( October 10, 1900 – May 8, 1945) was the SS and Police Leader during the German occupation of Norway Nikolaus von Falkenhorst ( January 17, 1885 &ndash June 18, 1968) was a German General who planned ' Operation Milorg (an acronym of the title Military Organisation mil itær org anisasjon was the main Norwegian resistance organisation in World War II. XU was a clandestine intelligence organisation working on behalf of Allied powers in occupied Norway during World War II. Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NORIC1 pronounced as Norisen in Norwegian wasa SOE group formed in March of 1941 originally for the purpose of performing commando The Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission (Nortraship was established in London in April 1940 to administer the Norwegian merchant fleet outside German controlled areas Nasjonal Samling (Norwegian for "National Gathering" or "National Unification" hereafter abbreviated as NS was a fascist party in Norway Nasjonal Samling (Norwegian for "National Gathering" or "National Unification" hereafter abbreviated as NS was a fascist party in Norway Events 193 - Septimius Severus is proclaimed Roman Emperor by the army in Illyricum (in the Balkans) Events 1190 - Third Crusade: Frederick I Barbarossa drowns in the Sally River while leading an army to Jerusalem Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Allies of World War II were the countries officially opposed to the Axis powers during the Second World War. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including
The primary reason for Germany seeking the occupation of Norway was Germany's dependence on Swedish iron ore shipped from the Norwegian port of Narvik. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional Swedish Iron ore was an important economic factor in the European Theater of World War II. Narvik ( Northern Sami: Narviika) is a town and municipality in the county of Nordland, Norway By securing access to Norwegian ports, Germany could obtain the iron ore supply it needed for war production despite the British naval blockade of Germany. A blockade is any effort to prevent supplies Troops information or aid from reaching an opposing force Additionally, it allowed both the German and Allied forces to confront each other without the large-scale trench warfare that both sides dreaded. Trench warfare is a form of warfare where both combatants have fortified positions and fighting lines are static Of particular importance as the Battle of the Atlantic escalated, Norwegian airbases, like Sola Air Station at Stavanger, allowed German reconnaissance aircraft to operate far out over the North Atlantic and placed distance betwen the enemy and themselves. The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous Military campaign of World War II, (though some say it was a series of naval Military campaigns Sola Air Station (Norwegian Sola flystasjon) in Sola municipality in Norway is operated by the Royal Norwegian Air Force. is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.
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Background
Value of Norway
Both the United Kingdom and France had signed military assistance treaties with Poland, and two days after Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, both western nations declared war against Germany. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland The Invasion of Poland (1939 precipitated World War II. It was carried out by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small German-allied Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. However, neither country opened up a western front, and no major engagements occurred between the sides for several months in what became known as the Phoney War. The Phoney War, also called the Twilight War by Winston Churchill, der Sitzkrieg in German ("the sitting war" a
During this time, both sides were looking for secondary fronts. For the Allies, in particular the French, it was based on a desire to avoid repeating the trench warfare of World War I, which had occurred along the Franco-German border. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914 the German army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining For the Germans, most of the military high command did not believe that it had the resources to launch an assault on France so soon. Norway was an area that each side viewed as a prime location to strike the other.
Norway, though neutral, was considered strategically important for both sides of the war for two main reasons. First was the importance of the port of Narvik, from which large quantities of Swedish iron ore, on which Germany depended, were exported; this route was especially important during the winter months when the Baltic Sea was frozen over. The Baltic Sea is a Brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N Latitude and from 20°E to 26°E Longitude. Narvik became of greater significance to the British when it became apparent that Project Catherine, a plan to gain control of the Baltic Sea, would not be practical. Project Catherine was the name of a proposed Baltic Sea offensive by the Royal Navy to be undertaken in the spring of 1940 Second, the ports in Norway could serve as a hole in the blockade of Germany, allowing access to the Atlantic Ocean. A blockade is any effort to prevent supplies Troops information or aid from reaching an opposing force
Norway was also of symbolic significance to the völkisch aspirations of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party, for the country was considered by many dedicated Nazis to be the birthplace of the so-called Nordic-Aryan race. The völkisch movement is the German interpretation of the populist movement with a romantic focus on Folklore and the "organic" Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German The " Aryan race " is a concept in European culture that was influential in the period of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
Winter War
When the Soviet Union invaded Finland on 30 November 1939, the Allies found themselves aligned with Norway and Sweden in support of Finland against the much larger aggressor. The Winter War (Talvisota Советско-финляндская война - official Зимняя война - unofficial Vinterkriget began when the The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. Events 1700 - Battle of Narva — A Swedish army of 8500 men under Charles XII defeats Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation.
This presented an opportunity to the Allies who, while genuinely sympathetic to Finland, also saw an opportunity to use the pretense of sending troop support to additionally occupy orefields in Sweden and ports in Norway. The initially planned two divisions had the potential to grow to approximately 150,000 Allied troops fighting a large campaign in central Sweden.
This movement caused the Germans concern. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact had placed Finland within the Soviet sphere of interest, and the Germans therefore claimed neutrality in the conflict. A sphere of influence ( SOI) is an area or region over which an organization or state exerts some kind of indirect cultural economic military or political domination This policy caused a rise in anti-German sentiment throughout Scandinavia, since it was commonly believed that the Germans were allied with the Soviets. Fears began to crop up in German high command that Norway and Sweden would then allow Allied troop movement to aid Finland.
Such deployments never occurred though, because Norway and Sweden, wary after witnessing the "Western betrayal" of Poland when it was invaded in September, did not want to risk their neutrality and be seen as involved in the war by allowing foreign troop movement through their borders. Western betrayal or Yalta betrayal are popular terms in many Central European countries especially in Poland and the Czech Republic which refers With the Moscow Peace Treaty on 12 March 1940, any such plan by the Allies was dropped. The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on March 12, 1940, and the ratifications were exchanged on March 21 Events 538 - Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
Vidkun Quisling and initial German investigation
It was originally thought by German high command that having Norway remain neutral was in its interest. As long as the Allies did not enter Norwegian waters, there would be safe passage for merchant vessels traveling along the Norwegian coast to ship the ore that Germany was importing.
Großadmiral Erich Raeder, however, argued for an invasion. Grand Admiral is a historic naval rank generally being the highest such rank present in any particular country Erich Johann Albert Raeder ( April 24, 1876 – November 6, 1960) was a naval leader in Germany before and during He believed that the Norwegian ports offered the best facilities for German submarines for use in a siege of the British Isles, and that there was a possibility of the Allies landing in Scandinavia. U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word, itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot ( undersea boat) and refers The British Isles (Irish variously Na hOileáin Bhriotanacha, Oileáin Iarthair Eorpa, Éire agus an Bhreatain Mhór; Ellanyn Goaldagh Eileanan
On 11 December 1939, Hitler and Raeder met with Vidkun Quisling, a pro-Nazi former Minister of Defense from Norway. Events 359 - Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945 was a Norwegian army Officer and politician Nasjonal Samling (Norwegian for "National Gathering" or "National Unification" hereafter abbreviated as NS was a fascist party in Norway A defence minister (or defense minister) is a Cabinet position which regulates the Armed forces in some sovereign nations Quisling reportedly told them that the threat of a British invasion of Norway was large, and that the Norwegian government would secretly support German occupation (the latter was untrue). He also informed them that he was in a position to ensure maximum cooperation with German forces, including a relaxation of the country's coastal guard and making military bases available. Three days later, Hitler ordered Oberkommando der Wehrmacht to begin investigating possible invasion plans of Norway. For other uses of OKW see OKW (disambiguation. The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ( OKW) ( English: "High Command
During a second meeting with Quisling on 18 December, Hitler reiterated his desire to keep Norway neutral but indicated that should Allied forces extend the war to Scandinavia, he would counter appropriately. Events 218 BC - Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia - Hannibal 's Carthaginian forces defeat those of the Suspicions arose that Quisling had overstated his strength for self-gain, and further plans for collaboration with him were dropped.
Altmark Incident
On 14 February 1940, the German tanker Altmark, carrying 303 British prisoners of war, was permitted to travel through Norwegian waters. The Altmark Incident ( Norwegian: Altmark -affæren was a naval skirmish of World War II between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany Events 842 - Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Altmark was a German tanker and supply vessel one of five of a class built between 1937 and 1939 According to international rules any noncombatant vessel from a warfaring nation could seek shelter for some time in neutral waters if permitted. When a group of British destroyers appeared on 16 February, Altmark sought refuge in a Norwegian fjord. Events 1249 - Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols A fjord or fiord (fjɔːd|fiːɔːd or fiːɔːd is a long narrow Inlet with steep sides created in a valley carved by glacial activity. Ignoring international rules and Norwegian neutrality, HMS Cossack entered the fjord and attacked the Altmark, boarding it, killing seven German soldiers and liberating the prisoners. While this violation of their neutrality angered the Norwegians, it also led to debate on both sides.
The Allies saw this as a sign of Norway's inability to prevent misuse of its territory and nearly undertook a plan, proposed shortly after the fall of Poland by First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill, to mine the area. The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of the Board of Admiralty, which exercised command over the Royal Navy. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC, PC (Can ( 30 November 1874 A naval mine is a self-contained Explosive device placed in water to destroy Ships or Submarines Unlike Depth charges mines are deposited It was only postponed in the hope that Norway might still agree to permit Allied troop movement to aid Finland.
For the Germans, the Altmark Incident showed that Norway was incapable of maintaining its neutrality and that the British were not in any compliance with Norwegian neutrality. Hitler ordered that the development of invasion plans be sped up. He did so to obtain assurance against Churchill's already existing plans to draw the Norwegians into the war and take control over the important harbour of Narvik. By 21 February, General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst was placed in charge of planning the invasion and command of the land-based forces. Events 362 - Athanasius returns to Alexandria. 1245 - Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland Nikolaus von Falkenhorst ( January 17, 1885 &ndash June 18, 1968) was a German General who planned ' Operation
Initial plans
Allied plans
With the end of the Winter War, the Allies determined that any occupation of Norway or Sweden would likely do more harm than good, possibly driving the neutral countries into alliance with Germany. However, the new French prime minister, Paul Reynaud, took a more aggressive stance than his predecessor and wanted some form of action taken against Germany. The Prime Minister of France ( Premier ministre français) in Fifth Republic is the functional Head of the government and Council of Ministers Paul Reynaud (15 October 1878 - 21 September 1966 was a French politician and lawyer prominent in the interwar period noted for his stances on economic liberalism and Churchill was a strong agitator for attacking and occupying Norway, because he wanted the battles and fighting moved away from Britain and France to avoid devastation of their territory, as in the last war. He saw the way into Germany from the north.
It was agreed to utilize Churchill's naval mining offense, Operation Wilfred, designed to remove the sanctuary of the Leads and force transport ships into international waters where the Royal Navy could engage and destroy them. Operation Wilfred was a British scheme to mine the waters between Norway and her Islands in order to prevent German convoys from using The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) Accompanying this would be Plan R 4, an operation where, upon almost certain German counteraction to Operation Wilfred, the Allies would then proceed to occupy Trondheim and Bergen, and destroy the Sola airfield. Plan R 4 was the World War II British plan for an invasion of the neutral state of Norway in April 1940 (Trondhjem is a city and municipality in the county of Sør-Trøndelag, Norway. is the second largest city in Norway. It is located on the south-western coast of Norway in the county of Hordaland in between a group of mountains known as De syv fjell Sola is a municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway. The old municipality of Håland was divided into Sola and Madla An aerodrome is an area on land or water (including any buildings installations and equipment used for the arrival and departure of aircraft
The Allies disagreed over the additional Operation Royal Marine, where mines would also be placed in the Rhine River. Operation Royal Marine was a military operation in World War II, in which Naval mines were floated down rivers from France into Germany to destroy The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge While the British supported this operation, the French were against it, since they also depended on the Rhine and feared German reprisals on French soil. Because of this delay, Operation Wilfred, originally scheduled for 5 April, was delayed until 8 April when the British agreed to perform the Norwegian operations separately from those on the continent. Events 456 - St Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary bishop Events 217 - Roman Emperor Caracalla is Assassinated (and succeeded by his Praetorian
German plans
Already in low-priority planning for considerable time, Operation Weserübung[1] found a new sense of urgency after the Altmark Incident. Operation Weserübung was the codename for Nazi Germany 's assault on Denmark and Norway during World War II and the opening operation The main goals of the invasion were to secure the ports and ore fields, with Narvik as a priority, and to establish firm control over the country to prevent collaboration with the Allies. It was to be presented as an armed protection of Norway's neutrality.
One of the subjects of some internal debate by the German military planners was the need to occupy Denmark as part of the greater plan. The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Denmark was considered vital because its location facilitated greater air and naval control of the area. While some wanted to simply pressure Denmark to acquiesce, it was eventually determined that it would be safer for the operation if Denmark were captured by force.
Another matter that caused additional rework of the plan was Fall Gelb, the proposed invasion of northern France and the Low Countries, which would require the bulk of German forces. In World War II, the Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the countries on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine, Scheldt Because some forces were needed for both invasions, Weserübung could not occur at the same time as Gelb, and because the nights were shortening as spring approached, which were vital cover for the naval forces, it therefore had to be sooner. Eventually, 9 April was decided to be the day of the invasion (Wesertag), and 04:15 (Norwegian time) would be the hour of the landings (Weserzeit). Events 193 - Septimius Severus is proclaimed Roman Emperor by the army in Illyricum (in the Balkans)
In Norway, the plan called for the capture of six primary targets by amphibious landings: Oslo, Kristiansand, Egersund, Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik. (called Christiania from 1624 to 1878 and Kristiania from 1878 to 1924 is the Capital and largest city of Norway. (formerly "Christianssand" is a city and municipality, and the capital of the county of Vest-Agder, Norway and of the geographical Egersund is a coastal town in the municipality of Eigersund in the county of Rogaland, Norway. Additionally, supporting paratroops (Fallschirmjäger) were to capture other key locations such as airfields at Fornebu outside of Oslo and Sola outside of Stavanger. Paratroopers are Soldiers trained in Parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force. (often rendered Fallschirmjager in English; from the German Fallschirm "parachute" and Jäger, "hunter Fornebu (local form Fornebo) is a peninsular area in the suburban municipality of Bærum in Norway, bordering western parts of Oslo. is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway. The plan was designed to quickly overwhelm the Norwegian defenders and occupy these vital areas before any form of organized resistance could be mounted. The following forces were thus organized:
- Gruppe 1: Ten destroyers to Narvik
- Gruppe 2: The heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and four destroyers to Trondheim
- Gruppe 3: The light cruisers Köln and Königsberg, with several smaller support vessels to Bergen
- Gruppe 4: The light cruiser Karlsruhe and several smaller support vessels to Kristiansand
- Gruppe 5: The heavy cruisers Blücher and Lützow, the light cruiser Emden and several smaller support vessels to Oslo
- Gruppe 6: Four minesweepers to Egersund
Additionally, the battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau would escort Gruppe 1 and Gruppe 2 as they travelled together, and there would also be several echelons of tankers carrying additional troops, fuel and military equipment. In naval terminology a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance Warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, Convoy The heavy cruiser was a type of Cruiser, a naval Warship designed for long range high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 8in in calibre History Admiral Hipper took part in the German invasion of Norway ( Operation Weserübung) A light cruiser is a Warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light Armoured cruiser " describing a small ship that carried armour in the same way Combat history Köln patrolled Spanish waters during the Spanish Civil War. Norway In early April 1940 Königsberg participated in Gruppe 3 of the invasion of Norway ( Operation "Weserübung") transporting troops Commanding Officers Construction Indoctrination - FK Eugen Lindau - 10 October 1929 - 6 November 1929 FK / KzS Eugen Lindau - 6 November 1929 - 25 September 1931(Promoted Design The Hipper class were built to a design that flouted the Washington Naval Treaty, to which major maritime Description Their size and characteristics were severely limited by the Treaty of Versailles, which limited Germany to ships of no more than 10000 tons displacement Commanding Officers KzS Richard Foerster - 15 October 1925 - 23 September 1928 FK / KzS Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière - 23 September 1928 Battlecruisers were large Warships in the first half of the 20th century that were first introduced by the British Royal Navy. For the German armoured cruiser commissioned in 1907 see SMS Scharnhorst The sisters - Scharnhorst and Gneisenau The Construction She was laid down in February 1934 at Deutsche Werke Kiel.
Against Denmark, two motorized brigades would be used to capture bridges and troops; the Luftwaffe would be sent to capture Copenhagen; and paratroops would be used to capture the airfields in the north. ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force. Copenhagen (ˌkəʊpənˈheɪgən ˌkəʊpənˈhɑːgən ˈkəʊpənˌheɪgən ˈkəʊpənˌhɑːgən kʰøb̥ənˈhɑʊ̯ˀn kʰøb̥m̩ˈhɑʊ̯ˀn is the capital and largest city While there were also several groups organized for this invasion, none of them contained any large ships.
It was hoped that Germany could avoid armed confrontation with the native populations in both regions, and German troops were instructed only to fire if fired upon.
German invasion
Movement of fleets
The German invasion first started on 3 April 1940, when supply vessels began to head out in advance of the main force. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England. Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Allies initiated their plans on the following day, with sixteen Allied submarines ordered to the Skagerrak and Kattegat to serve as a screen and advance warning for a German response to Operation Wilfred, which was launched the following day when Admiral William Whitworth in HMS Renown set out from Scapa Flow for the Vestfjords with twelve destroyers. The Skagerrak Strait runs between Norway and the southwest coast of Sweden and the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, connecting the The Kattegat ( Danish) or Kattegatt ( Swedish) is a sea area bounded by Jutland ( Denmark and extreme north Germany) Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks of the highest Naval officers Scapa Flow ( Old Norse: Skalpaflói) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands Vestfjord is a Norwegian Fjord, which would be described as a Firth or an open bight of sea between the Lofoten Archipelago
On 7 April, bad weather began to develop in the region, blanketing the area with a thick fog and causing rough seas making travel difficult. Events 529 - First draft of Corpus Juris Civilis (a fundamental work in Jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Renown's force soon got caught in a heavy snowstorm, and HMS Glowworm, one of the destroyer escorts, had to drop out of formation to search for a man swept overboard. Construction and commissioning Glowworm was ordered from the yards of John I However, the weather aided the Germans, providing a screen for their forces, and in the early morning they sent out Gruppe 1 and Gruppe 2, who had the largest distance to travel.
Though the weather did make reconnaissance difficult, the two German groups were discovered 170 kilometres (105 mi) south of the Naze (the southernmost part of Norway) slightly after 08:00 by RAF patrols and reported as one cruiser and six destroyers. A trailing squad of bombers sent out to attack the German ships found them 125 kilometres (78 mi) farther north than they had been before. No damage was done during the attack, but the German groups strength was reassessed as being one battlecruiser, two cruisers and ten destroyers. Because of a strict enforcement of radio silence, the bombers were not able to report this until 17:30. For the status maintained in telecommunications see Radio silence.
On learning of the German movement, the Admiralty came to the conclusion that the Germans were attempting to break the blockade that the Allies had placed on Germany and use their fleet to disrupt Atlantic trade routes. The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. A blockade is any effort to prevent supplies Troops information or aid from reaching an opposing force A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo Admiral Sir Charles Forbes, Commander-in-Chief of the British Home Fleet, was notified of this and set out to intercept them at 20:15. A commander-in-chief is the Commander of a nation's Military forces or significant element of those forces The Home Fleet is the traditional name of the fleet of the Royal Navy that protects the United Kingdom 's territorial waters
With both sides unaware of the magnitude of the situation, they proceeded as planned. The Renown arrived at the Vestfjords late that night and maintained position near the entrance while the minelaying destroyers proceeded to their task. Meanwhile, the Germans launched the remainder of their invasion force. The first direct contact between the two sides occurred the next morning without either side's intention.
The Glowworm, on its way to rejoin the Renown, happened to come up behind the Z 11 Bernd von Arnim and then the Z 18 Hans Lüdemann in the heavy fog around 08:00 on 8 April. Events 217 - Roman Emperor Caracalla is Assassinated (and succeeded by his Praetorian Immediately a skirmish broke out and the German destroyers fled, signalling for help. The request was soon answered by the Admiral Hipper, which quickly crippled the Glowworm. Being too damaged to outrun the larger German ship, the Glowworm proceeded to ram it instead. Significant damage was done to Hipper's starboard, and Glowworm was destroyed by a close range salvo immediately afterwards. During its fight Glowworm had broken radio silence and informed the Admiralty of her situation. She was not able to complete her transmission though, and all the Admiralty knew was that the Glowworm had been confronted by a large German ship, shots were fired, and contact with the destroyer could not be reestablished. In response, the Admiralty ordered the Renown and its single destroyer escort (the other two had gone to friendly ports for fuel) to abandon its post at the Vestfjords and head to the Glowworm's last known location. At 10:45, the remaining eight destroyers of the minelaying force were ordered to join as well.
At noon, the Polish submarine Orzeł confronted and sank the German troop transport ship Rio de Janeiro in the Skagerrak. History Orzeł was laid down 14 August 1936 at the Dutch Shipyard De Schelde launched on 15 January 1938 In the wreckage it discovered uniformed German soldiers and various military supplies. Though the Orzeł reported the incident to the Admiralty, they were too concerned by the situation with the Glowworm and the presumed German breakout to give it much thought and did not pass the information along. Many of the German soldiers from the wreck were rescued by Norwegian fishing boats and on interrogation disclosed that they were assigned to protect Bergen from the Allies. This information was passed on to Oslo where the Norwegian Parliament, Stortinget, dismissed it as ignorance on the part of the German soldiers and did not set about any defensive measures other than to alert the coastal guard. TalkParliament#Screen-size. -->A parliament is a Legislature, especially in those The Storting ( Stortinget, literally "the Great Thing /Assembly" is the Norwegian Parliament, and is located in the capital city
At 14:00, Admiralty received word that aerial reconnaissance had located a group of German ships a considerable distance west-northwest of Trondheim, bearing west. This reinforced the notion that the Germans were indeed intending a break out, and the Home Fleet changed direction from northeast to northwest to again try to intercept. Additionally, Churchill cancelled Plan R 4 and ordered the four cruisers carrying the soldiers and their supplies to disembark their cargo and join the Home Fleet. In actuality, the German ships, Gruppe 2, were only performing delaying circling manoeuvres in order to approach their destination of Trondheim at the designated time.
That night, after learning of numerous sightings of German ships south of Norway, Charles Forbes began to doubt the validity of the break out idea, and he ordered the Home Fleet to head south to the Skagerrak. He also ordered HMS Repulse, along with another cruiser and a few destroyers, to head north and join the Renown. Service in World War I Repulse first saw action on 17 November 1917 at the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight.
At 23:00, as Forbes was just learning of the incident with the Orzeł, Gruppe 5 was approached by the Norwegian patrol vessel Pol III at the entrance to the Oslofjord. Operational history Pol III was built by Akers mekaniske verksted as build no The Oslofjord (Oslofjorden is a Bay in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the Torbjørnskjær and Færder lighthouses The Pol III quickly sent an alarm to the costal batteries on Rauøy (Rauøy island) and opened fire on the torpedo boat Albatros with its single gun shortly before colliding with it. A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval Ship designed to carry Torpedoes into battle The Albatros and two of its companions responded with anti-aircraft fire, killing its captain and setting the ship on fire. Gruppe 5 continued into the Oslofjord and cleared the outer batteries without incident. Several of the smaller German ships then broke off in order to capture the bypassed fortifications along with Horten. This activity did not go unnoticed, and soon reports had reached Oslo, leading to a midnight session of the Storting. At this meeting, the assembly issued orders for a partial mobilization (to be delivered by post) and a statement that British and French ships were not to be fired upon.
At about this time, further north, the Renown was heading back to Vestfjord after reaching the Glowworm's last known location and not finding anything. Heavy seas had caused Whitworth to sail more north than normal and had separated him from his destroyers when he encountered the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. The Renown engaged the two battlecruisers and during the short battle Gneisenau had its fire-control system damaged, causing it and Scharnhorst to flee north. Note the term " fire control " may also refer to means of stopping a fire such as sprinkler systems A fire-control system Renown attempted to pursue, but by 04:00 it lost sight of them in the poor weather.
Weserzeit
In the Ofotfjord leading to Narvik, the ten German destroyers of Gruppe 1 made their approach. Ofotfjord ( Norwegian: Ofotfjorden, the suffix -en means " the " an inlet of the Norwegian sea, is Norway's 12th With the Renown and her escorts earlier diverted to investigate the Glowworm incident, no British ships stood in their way, and they entered the area unopposed. By the time they had reached the inner area near Narvik, most of the destroyers had peeled off from the main formation to capture the outer batteries of the Ofotfjord, leaving only three to contend with the two old Norwegian coastal battleships standing guard, Eidsvold and Norge. Description Eidsvold was built as part of the general rearmament in the time leading up to the political events in 1905, and remained along with her sister Description Built as part of the general rearmament in the time leading up to the events in 1905, Norge remained along with her sistership ''Eidsvold'' Though antiquated, the two coastal defence ships were quite capable of taking on the much more lightly armed and armored destroyers. After a quick parliance with the captain of the Eidsvold, the German ships opened fire preemptively on the coastal defence ship, sinking it after hitting it with three torpedoes. Norge entered into the fray shortly after and began to fire on the destroyers, but her marksmen were inexperienced and she did not hit the Germans ships before being sunk by a salvo of torpedoes from the German destroyers.
At Trondheim, Gruppe 2 also faced only minor resistance to their landings. In the Trondheimsfjord, the Admiral Hipper engaged the defensive batteries while its destroyers sped past them at 25 knots (46 km/h). Trondheimsfjord ( Trondheimsfjorden) an inlet of the Norwegian Sea, is Norway 's third longest Fjord, 130 km long A well placed shot by the Hipper severed the power cables for the searchlights and rendered the guns ineffective. Only one destroyer received a hit during the landing.
At Bergen, the defensive fortifications put up stiffer resistance to Gruppe 3's approach and the light cruiser Königsberg and the artillery training ship Bremse were damaged, the former seriously. The lack of working lights reduced the effectiveness of the guns though, and the landing ships were able to dock without much opposition. The fortifications were surrendered soon after, when Luftwaffe units arrived.
The fortifications at Kristiansand put up an even more resolute fight, twice repulsing the landing and damaging the Karlsruhe, nearly running the cruiser aground. Confusion soon sprung up though when the Norwegians received the order not to fire on British and French ships and the Germans began to use Norwegian codes they had captured at Horten. The Germans used this opportunity to quickly reach the harbour and unload their troops, capturing the town by 11:00.
Gruppe 5 encountered the most serious resistance at the inner defensive fortifications of the Oslofjord, in the vicinity of Drøbak. The Oslofjord (Oslofjorden is a Bay in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the Torbjørnskjær and Færder lighthouses Drøbak is an unincorporated city and the centre of the municipality of Frogn, in Akershus county Norway. Blücher, leading the group, approached the forts assuming that they would be taken by surprise and not respond in time like many others in the outer fjord. It was not until the cruiser was at point blank range that fortress Oscarborg opened fire, connecting with every shot. Oscarsborg Fortress ( Oscarsborg festning) is a coastal fortress in the Oslofjord, close to the small city of Drøbak. Within a matter of minutes, Blücher was crippled and burning heavily. The damaged cruiser was soon finished off by a salvo from land-based torpedo tubes, sinking the ship which carried much of the administrative personnel intended both for the occupation of Norway and also for the headquarters of the army division assigned to seize Oslo. A torpedo tube is a device for launching Torpedoes in a horizontal direction The cruiser Lützow, also damaged in the attack and believing the Blücher had entered a minefield, turned back with Gruppe 5, twelve miles (19 km) south to Sonsbukten where it unloaded its troops. This distance delayed the arrival of the main German invasion force for Oslo by over 24 hours, though Oslo would still be captured less than twelve hours later by troops flown into the Fornebu airfield.
Nonetheless, the delay induced by the Norwegian forces gave time for the King, Parliament, and with them the national treasury, to flee to the north and eventually escape to Great Britain. As a result, Norway never surrendered, the Quisling government was rendered illicit, and Norway, with its large merchant marine, remained as an ally in the war, not a conquered territory.
Fornebu was originally supposed to be secured by paratroops an hour before the first troops were flown in, but the initial force became lost in the fog and did not arrive. Regardless, the airfield was not heavily defended and the German soldiers who did arrive captured it promptly. The Norwegian Fighter Wing based on Fornebu resisted with their Gloster Gladiator bi-plane fighters until ammunition ran out and then flew off to whatever secondary airfields available. The ground personnel of the Fighter Wing soon ran out of ammunition for their anti aircraft machine guns as well, in the general confusion and stress to make the fighters ready for action no one had the presence of mind or the time to issue small-arms ammunition for the personal weapons of the ground personnel. Resistance at Fornebu came to an end. Norwegian attempts to mount a counter-attack was half-hearted and effectively came to nothing. On learning of this, Oslo itself was declared an open city and soon fully surrendered.
For Gruppe 6 at Egersund and the paratroops at Stavanger, there was no significant opposition and they quickly captured their targets.
Capture of Denmark
The Wehrmacht crossed the Danish border around 04:15 on 9 April. Wehrmacht (literally "defense force" was the name of the unified Armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945 Events 193 - Septimius Severus is proclaimed Roman Emperor by the army in Illyricum (in the Balkans) In a coordinated operation, German troops disembarked at the docks of Langelinie in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, and began occupying the city. Copenhagen (ˌkəʊpənˈheɪgən ˌkəʊpənˈhɑːgən ˈkəʊpənˌheɪgən ˈkəʊpənˌhɑːgən kʰøb̥ənˈhɑʊ̯ˀn kʰøb̥m̩ˈhɑʊ̯ˀn is the capital and largest city German Paratroops also captured the Aalborg airport. (often rendered Fallschirmjager in English; from the German Fallschirm "parachute" and Jäger, "hunter Aalborg ( IPA ˈʌlb̥ɒːˀ is a city in Denmark. Its population as of 2006 is 121540 making it the fourth largest in the country after Copenhagen, Simultaneously, an ultimatum was presented by the German ambassador to King Christian X. Christian X (Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm ( 26 September 1870 &ndash 20 April 1947) was King of Denmark Reports describing the German plans had been submitted to the government a few days earlier but were ignored. The Danish army was small, ill-prepared and used obsolete equipment but resisted in several parts of the country; most importantly, the Royal Guards located at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen, and forces in the vicinity of Haderslev in South Jutland. Amalienborg Palace ( Danish: Amalienborg, aˈmaːˀliə̯nbɔːˀʀ is the winter home of the Danish royal family, and is located in Copenhagen Haderslev (Hadersleben is a town and municipality on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark. South Jutland (Sønderjylland is the name for the region south of the Kongeå in Jutland. By 06:30, King Christian X, having consulted with Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning, decided to capitulate, believing that further resistance would only result in a useless loss of Danish lives. Thorvald August Marinus Stauning ( 26 October 1873 – 3 May 1942) was the first Social Democrat Prime Minister of Denmark The Danish public was taken completely by surprise by the occupation, and was instructed by the government to cooperate with the German authorities. Germany's occupation of Denmark was completed on 10 April and lasted until 5 May 1945. Nazi Germany’s occupation of Denmark began with Operation Weserübung 9 April 1940, and lasted until German forces withdrew Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama Events 553 - The Second Council of Constantinople begins 1215 - Rebel Barons renounce their allegiance to King John Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar
An important part of the Danish commercial navy escaped the occupation, as Arnold Peter Møller, President of the Mærsk shipping company, on 8 April instructed his 36 ships on the high seas to move to Allied or neutral ports if at all possible. The A P Moller-Maersk Group ( AP Møller-Mærsk Gruppen) is an international Business conglomerate more commonly known simply as Maersk. Events 217 - Roman Emperor Caracalla is Assassinated (and succeeded by his Praetorian
In a pre-emptive move to prevent a German invasion, on 12 April 1940 British forces occupied the Faroe Islands, then a Danish amt (county). Events 467 - Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Faroe Islands or Faeroe Islands or simply Faroe(s or Faeroes (Føroyar meaning " Sheep Islands" Færøerne Old Norse " Amt " is a type of Administrative division of some Northern European countries See: British occupation of the Faroe Islands in World War II. The British occupation of the Faroe Islands in World War II, also known as "Operation Valentine" was implemented immediately following the German invasion of Denmark
Allied response
Soon after this, the German invasions at Trondheim, Bergen, Stavanger, as well as the skirmishes in the Oslofjords became known. Not willing to disperse too thinly due to the unknown location of the two German battlecruisers, the Home Fleet chose to focus on the nearby Bergen and dispatched an attack force. RAF reconnaissance soon reported stronger opposition than anticipated, and this, along with the possibility that the Germans might be controlling the shore defenses, caused them to recall the force and instead use the aircraft carrier HMS Furious to launch torpedo bombers at the enemy ships. An aircraft carrier is a Warship designed with Genesis She was designed as one of Jackie Fisher 's "large light cruisers" to participate in an amphibious landing on the Baltic coast of Germany The attack never commenced though, as Luftwaffe bombers launched an assault of their own against the Home Fleet first. ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force. This attack sank the destroyer HMS Gurkha and then forced the Home Fleet to withdraw north when their anti-aircraft measures proved ineffective. Anti-aircraft warfare, or air defense, is any method of engaging hostile military Aircraft in defence of ground objectives, ground or naval forces This German air superiority in the area led the British to decide that all southern regions had to be left to submarines and the RAF, while surface vessels would concentrate on the north.
In addition to the German landings in south and central Norway, the Admiralty was also informed via press reports that a single German destroyer was in Narvik. In response to this they ordered the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, mostly consisting of ships previously serving as escort destroyers for Operation Wilfred, to engage. This flotilla, under the command of Captain Bernard Warburton-Lee, had already detached from the Renown during its pursuit of the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, being ordered to guard the entrance to the Vestfjord. Please see Captain (naval for other versions of this naval rank Bernard Armitage Warburton Warburton-Lee VC (13 September 1895 - 10 April 1940 was a Welsh recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious At 16:00 on 9 April, the flotilla sent an officer ashore at Tranøy fifty miles west of Narvik and learned from the locals that the German force was 4-6 destroyers and a submarine. Events 193 - Septimius Severus is proclaimed Roman Emperor by the army in Illyricum (in the Balkans) Tranøy is a municipality in the county of Troms Norway. Tranøy was established as a municipality January 1 1838 (see Formannskapsdistrikt) Warburton-Lee sent these findings back to the Admiralty, concluding with his intention to attack the next day at "dawn, high water", which would give him the element of surprise and protection against any mines. This decision was approved by the Admiralty in a telegram that night.
Early the following morning, Warburton-Lee led his flagship, HMS Hardy, and four other destroyers into the Ofotfjord. HMS Hardy was a Royal Navy Destroyer flotilla leader of the H Class destroyers laid down by Cammell Laird and Company at At 04:30, he arrived at Narvik harbour and entered along with HMS Hunter and HMS Havock, leaving HMS Hotspur and HMS Hostile to guard the entrance and watch the shore batteries. See HMS ''Hunter'' for other ships of this name HMS Hunter (H35 was one of nine H-class Destroyers of the Royal Navy HMS Havock (H43 was an H-class Destroyer of the British Royal Navy laid down by William Denny Brothers and Company Limited of Dumbarton HMS Hotspur (H01 was an H-class Destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Scott's Shipbuilding and Engineering at HMS Hostile (H55 was an H-class Destroyer of the Royal Navy laid down by Scott's Shipbuilding and Engineering at Greenock in The fog and snow were extremely heavy, allowing Warburton-Lee's force to approach undetected. When they arrived at the harbour itself they found five German destroyers and opened fire, starting the First Battle of Narvik. The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April until 8 June 1940 as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding Warburton-Lee's ships made three passes on the enemy ships, being joined after the first by Hotspur and Hostile, and sank two of the destroyers, disabled one more, and sank six tankers and supply ships. The German commander, Commodore Friedrich Bonte, lost his life when his flagship Wilhelm Heidkamp was sunk. Friedrich Bonte ( 19 October 1896 – 10 April 1940) was the German naval officer commanding the destroyer flotilla that transported invasion Warburton-Lee's flotilla then left the harbour, almost untouched.
At 06:00, the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla was making their way back to the entrance of the Vestfjord when from the Herjangsfjord behind them three German destroyers emerged, commanded by Commander Erich Bey, and a few minutes later two more arrived in front of them, surrounding Warburton-Lee's force. Erich Bey ( 23 March 1898 – 26 December 1943) was a German naval officer who most notably served as a The Hardy was the first ship to be hit and was quickly taken out of action, beached by one of her officers after she was crippled. Hunter was the next ship put out of commission, coming to a dead halt in the water after several hits. Hotspur was then hit and received damage to her steering system, causing her to crash into the Hunter. Several more hits were registered on the pair until Hotspur was able to reverse out of the wreck. The Hostile and Havock meanwhile had raced ahead, but turned about and came back to aid the retreat of the Hotspur. The German ships having received a few hits and, more importantly, being critically short of fuel, were not able to pursue. As they exited the Ofotfjord, the three British destroyers managed to sink the German supply ship Rauenfels.
Shortly after the First Battle of Narvik, two more German ships were sunk by British forces. A long range attack by Fleet Air Arm from their base at Hatston in the Orkney Islands was made against Bergen and destroyed the disabled German light cruiser Königsberg; recorded as the first major warship sunk by aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the Royal Navy responsible for the operation of the aircraft on board their ships Orkney (also known as the Orkney Islands or incorrectly the Orkneys) is an Archipelago in northern Scotland, situated 10 miles (16 km north Additionally, the submarine HMS Truant sunk the light cruiser Karlsruhe on the night of 9 April shortly after it had left Kristiansand. Career Truant had a relatively active career serving in the main naval theatres of war Home waters the Mediterranean and the Pacific Far East Events 193 - Septimius Severus is proclaimed Roman Emperor by the army in Illyricum (in the Balkans) The next day, 10 April, the Furious and the battleship HMS Warspite joined the Home Fleet and another air attack was made against Trondheim in hopes of sinking the Admiral Hipper. Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama Early career Warspite's first commanding officer upon commissioning in 1915 was Captain Edward Montgomery Phillpotts. Admiral Hipper, however, had already managed to escape through the watch set up outside of the port and was on her way back to Germany when the attack was launched; none of the remaining German destroyers or support ships were hit in the assault. Better luck was had in the south when HMS Spearfish severely damaged the heavy cruiser Lützow at midnight on 11 April, putting the German ship out of commission for a year. Events 491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I.
With it becoming more evident the German fleet had slipped out of Norwegian waters, Home Fleet continued north to Narvik in the hopes of catching the remaining destroyers. En route the ships suffered further harassment from German bombers, forcing them to divert course west away from the shoreline. By 12 April, they were in range of Narvik and an aerial attack on Narvik from Furious was attempted, but the results were disappointing. Events 467 - Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. It was instead decided to send in the battleship Warspite and a powerful escort force, to be commanded by Whitworth.
On the morning of 13 April, Whitworth's force entered the Vestfjord using the Warspite's scouting aircraft to guide the way. Events 1111 - Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. 1204 - The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople Aside from locating two of the German destroyers, the scouting aircraft also sunk an enemy submarine, the first such occurrence. Warspite's destroyers travelled three miles (5 km) in advance of the battleship and were the first to engage their German counterparts which had come to meet them, thus starting the Second Battle of Narvik. The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April until 8 June 1940 as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding Though neither side inflicted notable damage, the German ships were running low on ammunition and were gradually pushed back to the harbour. By that afternoon, most attempted to flee up the Rombaksfjord, the only exception being the Künne which beached itself as it made for the Herjangsfjord and was destroyed by HMS Eskimo. HMS Eskimo (L-75/F-75/G-75 was a Tribal-class Destroyer, laid down by the High Walker Yard of Vickers Armstrong at Newcastle -on-Tyne on Four British destroyers continued to chase the German ships up through the Rombaksfjord, the Eskimo soon damaged by the waiting opposition. However, the German situation was hopeless, having run out of fuel and ammunition, and by the time the remaining British ships arrived their crews had abandoned and scuttled their ships. By 18:30 the British ships were making their way out of the now cleared fjord.
Norwegian situation
The German invasions for the most part achieved their goal of simultaneous assault and caught the Norwegian forces off guard, a situation not aided by the Norwegian Governments' order for only a partial mobilization. Not all was lost for the Allies though, as the repulsion of German Gruppe 5 in the Oslofjord gave a few additional hours of time which the Norwegians used to evacuate the Royal family and the Norwegian Government to Hamar. is a town and municipality in the county of Hedmark, Norway. Hamar was separated from Vang as a city and municipality of its own in With the government now fugitive, Vidkun Quisling used the opportunity to take control of a radio broadcasting station and announce a coup, with himself as the new Prime Minister of Norway. Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945 was a Norwegian army Officer and politician This is a list of viceroys ( visekonge) governors ( rigsstatholder) first ministers ( førstestatsråd) and Prime ministers ( statsminister) of His first official act, at 19:30 that day, was to cancel the mobilization order.
That evening, the Norwegian Government settled at Elverum, believing Hamar to be insecure. Elverum is a municipality in the county of Hedmark, Norway Elverum was established as a municipality January 1 1838 (see Formannskapsdistrikt) All German demands were rejected and the Elverum Authorization was passed should the need for a government-in-exile arise. The Elverum Authorization ("Elverumsfullmakten" was approved unanimously by the Norwegian Parliament on April 9, 1940 in the town of Elverum A government in exile is a political group that claims to be a country's legitimate government but for various reasons is unable to exercise its legal power and instead resides in a foreign However, the bleakness of the situation prompted them to agree to continued negotiations with the Germans, set for the following day. As a precaution Colonel Otto Ruge, Inspector General of the Norwegian Infantry, set up a roadblock about 110 kilometres (70 mi) north of Oslo, at Midtskogen, and soon encountered a small detachment of troops, led by the Air Attaché for the German Embassy, who were racing north in an attempt to settle the matter instantly by capturing King Haakon VII. Colonel ( RP ˈkɜnəl GA ˈkɜrnəl is a Military rank of a Commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every country Otto Ruge ( January 9, 1882 - 1961 was a Norwegian General. He was Commander-in-chief of the Royal Norwegian Armed Forces Midtskogen farm is situated approximately five kilometers west of the town Elverum at the mouth of the Østerdalen valley in southern Norway. An air attaché is an Air force officer who is part of a Diplomatic mission; this post is normally filled by a high-ranking officer Haakon VII (Prince Carl of Denmark born Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel) (3 August 1872 in Charlottenlund 21 September 1957 in Oslo) A skirmish broke out and the Germans turned back after their air attaché was killed by Norwegian Royal Guards. On 10 April, the final negotiations between the Norwegians and Germans failed after the Norwegian delegates, led by Haakon VII, refused to accept the German demand for recognition of Quisling's new government. Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama
One of the final acts of the Norwegian authorities before dispersement was the promotion of Otto Ruge to the rank of Major General and appointment to Commander-in-Chief of the Norwegian Army, responsible for overseeing the resistance to the German invasion. Major General or Major-General is a Military rank used in many countries A commander-in-chief is the Commander of a nation's Military forces or significant element of those forces The Norwegian Army (Hæren is Norway 's military land force It is part of the Norwegian Defence Force along with the Royal Norwegian Navy, the With the Germans in control of the largest cities, ports and airfields, as well as most of the arms depots and communication networks, repulsing them outright would be impossible. Ruge instead decided that his only chance lay in playing for time, stalling the Germans until reinforcements from the United Kingdom and France could arrive.
On 11 April, after receiving reinforcements in Oslo, General Falkenhorst's offensive began; its goal was to link up Germany's scattered forces before the Norwegian's could effectively mobilize or any major Allied intervention could take place. Events 491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. His first task was to secure the general Oslofjord area, then to use the 196th and 163rd Infantry Divisions to establish contact with the forces at Trondheim.
By 14 April, the Norwegian 1st Division, located east of the Oslofjord in the Østfold, had evacuated into Sweden and the Norwegian 3rd Division, based at Kristiansand, had surrendered. Events 43 BC - Battle of Forum Gallorum: Mark Antony, besieging Julius Caesar 's assassin Decimus Junius Brutus in is a county in southeastern Norway, bordering Akershus and southwestern Sweden ( Västra Götaland County and Värmland) while The Norwegian 4th Division, stationed around Bergen, evaded the initial German landings and were soon engaged in slowing the German troops moving eastward from the city; their effort was soon hampered by the fact that the main force of the division had to be transferred to Valdres to shore up for the critical situation on Østlandet. The Norwegian 5th Division at Trondheim had lost almost all of its stores when the invasion began and its commander had decided to remain at Steinkjer instead of attacking the Germans. Steinkjer is a town and a municipality in the county of Nord-Trøndelag, Norway. The Norwegian 6th Division was located far to the north, close to the Finnish border and for the most part not in contact with any of the German occupied areas. History The pinnacle of this division's service was during World War II, during the German invasion of Norway.
For General Ruge, only the Norwegian 2nd Division was available and he thus built his army around the unit. During the early part of the Second World War, the Norwegian 2nd Division, commanded by General Hvinden-Haug was responsible for the central parts of Southern Norway ( Østlandet While a surge of volunteers grew the division from 3,000 to roughly 12,000 troops, and Ruge was further aided with 11. 1 million kroner (4. The krone ( sign: kr; code: NOK) is the Currency of Norway. The plural form is kroner. 5 million USD) smuggled to him, it would never be a force capable of direct offensive action against the Germans. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Instead, he chose to focus the division at the head of the Gudbrandsdal and Østerdalen valleys which led from Oslo to Trondheim. Gudbrandsdalen is a Valley and traditional district in the Norwegian Fylke (county of Oppland. Østerdalen or Østerdal is a valley and traditional district in the eastern part of Norway, consisting of the municipalities Rendalen, From here he engaged the Germans where the terrain was favourable and used hit-and-run tactics, along with ambushes and selective demolitions to hinder the two German divisions northward movement. These could never hope to completely halt the Germans, who were soon using air support and small tank units to break Norwegian positions. By 20 April, the German forces had managed to advance to Elverum, 305 kilometres (190 mi) south of Trondheim. Events 1303 - The University of Rome La Sapienza is instituted by Pope Boniface VIII. The constant combat had rendered the Norwegian forces exhausted and critically low on supplies.
Ground campaign
When the nature of the German invasion became apparent to the British military, it began to make preparations for a counterattack. This article describes Allied operations in Norway during World War II Dissension amongst the various branches was strong though, as the British Army, after conferring with Otto Ruge, wanted to assault Trondheim in Central Norway while Churchill insisted on reclaiming Narvik. The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It was decided to send troops to both locations as a compromise.
Campaign in Central Norway
The original plans for the campaign in Central Norway called for a three pronged attack against Trondheim by Allied forces while the Norwegians contained the German forces to the south. It was called Operation Hammer, and would land Allied troops at Namsos to the north (Mauriceforce), Åndalsnes to the south (Sickleforce), and around Trondheim itself (Hammerforce). In April and early May 1940 Namsos and its surrounding area were the scene of heavy fighting between Anglo-French, Polish and Norwegian naval and military is a Norwegian town in the municipality of Rauma, of which it is also the administrative center This plan was quickly changed though, as it was felt that a direct assault on Trondheim would be far too risky and therefore only the northern and southern forces would be used.
To block the expected allied landings the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ordered a company of Fallschirmjägers to make a combat drop on the railway junction of Dombås in the upper part of the Gudbrandsdal valley. For other uses of OKW see OKW (disambiguation. The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ( OKW) ( English: "High Command (often rendered Fallschirmjager in English; from the German Fallschirm "parachute" and Jäger, "hunter The village of lies in the Dovre municipality and serves as an administrative center in the upper Gudbrandsdal, Norway. Gudbrandsdalen is a Valley and traditional district in the Norwegian Fylke (county of Oppland. The force landed on 14 April and managed to block the rail and road network in Central Norway for five days before being forced to surrender to the Norwegian Army on 19 April. The Battle of Dombås was fought between Norwegian Army infantry forces and German Fallschirmjäger paratroops in mid-April 1940 [2]
On 17 April, Mauriceforce, comprised primarily of the British 146th Infantry Brigade and commanded by Major General Adrian Carton de Wiart made their initial landings at Namsos. Events 69 - After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius becomes Roman Emperor. Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO (5 May 1880 - 5 June 1963 was a British During the trip the force had been transferred to destroyers instead of bulky transport ships due to the narrow waters of the fjord leading to Namsos; in the confusion of the transfer a great deal of their supplies and even the brigade commander were misplaced. Another great problem for Mauriceforce was the lack of air support, something the Luftwaffe took full advantage off. In Military tactics, close air support ( CAS) is defined as air action by fixed or rotary winged aircraft against hostile targets that are in close proximity to Shortly after General de Wiart moved his forces out of Namsos, German bombers arrived and destroyed it, leaving the Norwegian without a base. Regardless, de Wiart moved 80 miles (130 km) inland to Steinkjer where he was able to link up with the Norwegian 5th Division. Constant aerial harassment prevented any kind of offensive from taking place though, and on 21 April Mauriceforce was attacked by the German 181st Division from Trondheim. Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date) The Norwegian was forced to fall back from these assaults, leaving Steinkjer for the Germans.
Sickleforce, consisting primarily of the British 148th Infantry Brigade and commanded by Major General Bernard Paget, landed at Åndalsnes on 18 April. General Sir Bernard Charles Tolver Paget GCB, DSO, MC (15 September 1887 &ndash 16 February 1961 was a British officer who served Events 1025 - Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland. From Åndalsnes, the British force traveled via train to the village of Dombås with the intention of then traveling north to Trondheim; they were instead met there by General Ruge who informed them that the Norwegian forces could not contain the Germans travelling up the valleys for much longer. Knowing that a German breakthrough would both cut off supplies and leave Sickleforce surrounded, Paget diverted his force south to Lillehammer. Lillehammer is a town and municipality in the county of Oppland, Norway, globally known for hosting the 1994 Winter Olympics. They did not stay long though, as the 148th Brigade was soon attacked by Pellengahr's forces and forced to withdraw. As they retreated through the Tretten Valley, the 148th again came under attack and were effectively eliminated as a fighting unit. Tretten is the administrative centre of Øyer municipality Norway. By this time, the British 15th Infantry Brigade had landed in Åndalsnes and had started to move south to relieve the 148th. The British encountered the pursuing German forces at Kvam, a village between Tretten and Dombås, and were pushed back to Kjorem, where they weathered further heavy assault. Kvam is a village in Gudbrandsdalen. The place lies in Nord-Fron municipality in Oppland County Norway.
By 28 April, with both groups checked by the Germans, it was decided to withdraw all Allied forces from Central Norway. Events 1192 - Assassination of Conrad of Montferrat (Conrad I King of Jerusalem, in Tyre, two days after his title Sickleforce, with the help of General Ruge, managed to return to Åndalsnes and escape by 2 May at 02:00, only a few hours before the German 196th Division captured the port. Events 1194 - King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter. Mauriceforce, their convoys delayed by thick fog, were evacuated on 3 May, though two of their rescue ships, the French destroyer Bison and the British destroyer Afridi were sunk by Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers. Events 1491 - Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptised by Portuguese missionaries adopting the baptismal name of João Construction She was ordered from the Newcastle-upon-Tyne yards of Vickers-Armstrong on 10 March 1936 under the 1935 Build Programme The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from Stu rz' ka' mpfflugzeug, " Dive bomber " was a two-seat (pilot and rear gunner A dive bomber is a Bomber aircraft that Dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy and limit the exposure to and effectiveness of
The failure of the central campaign is considered one of the direct causes of the Norway Debate, which resulted in the resignation of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and the appointment of Winston Churchill to the office. The Norway Debate, sometimes called the Narvik Debate, was a famous debate in the British House of Commons that took place on May 7 and May 8 Arthur Neville Chamberlain (18 March 1869 &ndash 9 November 1940 was a British Conservative Politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Campaign in northern Norway
Along with the action against Trondheim, a second campaign was launched in the north with the objective of recapturing Narvik. Like the Central campaign, the Narvik expedition also faced numerous obstacles.
One of the first problems faced by the Allies was the fact that the command was not unified, or even truly organized. Naval forces in the area were led by Admiral of the Fleet William Boyle, 12th Earl of Cork who had been ordered to rid the area of the Germans as soon as possible. Admiral of the Fleet is a rank of the British Royal Navy and other navies equating to the NATO rank code OF-10 Admiral of the Fleet William Henry Dudley Boyle 12th Earl of Cork and 12th Earl of Orrery GCB, GCVO, RN ( November 30, 1873 In contrast, the commander of the ground forces, Major General Pierse Mackesy, was ordered not to land his forces in any area strongly held by the Germans and to avoid damaging populated areas. The two met on 15 April to determine the best course of action. Events 1450 - Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English Boyle argued for an immediate assault on Narvik and Mackesy countered that such a move would lead to the decimation of his attacking troops. Boyle eventually conceded to Mackesy's viewpoint.
Mackesy's force, codenamed Rupertforce, consisted of the 24th Guards Brigade as well as French and Polish units. The 24th Infantry Brigade was a British Army formation from the First World War to the late 1990s The main force began landing at Harstad, a small town on the island of Hinnøya, on 15 April, but because of confusion, bad weather, inadequate facilities, untactically packed transports and constant attacks by German bombers, unloading took well over a week to complete. is a city and municipality in Norway, and it is located approximately 250 km (150 mi north of the Arctic Circle. Hinnøya is an island in North Norway. It is largest island in Norway (except for Svalbard) with an area of. Events 1450 - Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English In the meantime, the Royal Navy had started off on a considerably better note. On 15 April, it captured a German U-boat (U-49) which contained documents detailing the dispositions of all U-boats in the Norwegian Sea, effectively removing them as a threat. Events 1450 - Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English Currents In the Norwegian Sea and Greenland Sea surface water descends two to three kilometres down to the bottom of the ocean forming cold oxygen-rich groundwater
After the Allied failure in Central Norway, more preparation was given to the northern forces, including two squadrons of carrier-transported fighters operating from Bardufoss Air Station, one of them consisting of Hurricanes, the other of Gloster Gladiators. Bardufoss Air Station (Norwegian Bardufoss flystasjon) is located in the municipality of Målselv in Troms county in Northern Norway. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout
By 28 May, the Allies had succeeded in recapturing Narvik from German forces, but the German invasion of France and the Low Countries had immensely altered the overall situation of the war and the importance of Norway was considerably lessened. Events 585 BC - A Solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Operation Alphabet, the general Allied retreat from Norway, had been approved on 24 May and by 8 June, after destroying rail lines and port facilities, all Allied troops had been evacuated. Operation Alphabet was a evacuation authorized on May 24, 1940, of Allied (British French and Polish troops from the harbour of Narvik in northernmost Events 1218 - The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt. 1276 - Magnus Ladulås is crowned Events 68 - The Roman Senate accepts emperor Galba. 536 - St Silverius becomes Pope (probable The Germans had launched Operation Juno to relieve pressure on the Narvik garrison and, after discovering the evacuation, shifted the mission to a hunt and sunk two British destroyers and the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious. Operation Juno was a German naval offensive late in the Norwegian campaign. Genesis Glorious was built by Harland and Wolff, Belfast. The design was for a light Battlecruiser; while having guns she was actually
Occupation
With the Allies having left the country, Norway's mainland army soon capitulated to the German forces and an occupation began. Starting with the invasion of April 9, 1940, Norway was under Military occupation of German forces and civil rule of a German There was a fairly prominent resistance movement though, in the actions of the Norwegian merchant fleet, civil disobedience, and Norwegian volunteers in British forces, such as the Royal Air Force and British Commandos. The Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission (Nortraship was established in London in April 1940 to administer the Norwegian merchant fleet outside German controlled areas The British Commandos were first formed by the British Army in June 1940 during World War II as a well-armed but non-regimental raider force employing unconventional The Norwegian king and cabinet established themselves in exile in London and directed a Norwegian resistance movement which proved increasingly efficient during the later years of occupation.
The Royal Norwegian Navy and Royal Norwegian Air Force were reestablished in England - based on the remnants of forces saved from the Norwegian Campaign - and soon saw extensive combat in the convoy-battles of the North Atlantic and in the air-war over Europe. The ranks of the Navy and Air Force was swollen by a steady trickle of refugees making their way out of occupied Norway, and their equipment brought up to standard by British and American planes and ships. Norwegian squadrons flew with the RAF Fighter and Coastal Commands operating Spitfire and Mosquito fighter planes and Sunderland and Catalina flying boats. Individual Norwegians flew with RAF Bomber Command. RAF Bomber Command was the organisation that controlled the RAF 's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968
A Norwegian Army was also reestablished in Scotland. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. However, with the exception of a small number of special forces, it saw little action for the rest of the war. Parts of the Scotland-based Norwegian Army participated in the liberation of Finnmark (the northernmost province of Norway) during the winter of 1944-45 after the area had been evacuated by the Germans in a scorched earth operation before the anticipated onslaught of the Red Army. or Finnmárku ( Sami language) is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. In the course of this operation, there were some minor skirmishes with German rear guards and patrols.
In neutral Sweden there was also a Norwegian buildup of forces in the last two years of the war through the so called "police troops" established with the support of Swedish authorities. The term "police" served as a cover up for what in reality was pure military training of a force mustering around 10,000 well trained and equipped troops by VE-day. Victory in Europe Day ( V-E Day or VE Day) was May 7 and May 8, 1945, the dates when the World War II Allies
Analysis
The operation as planned was a decisive success for Germany. Both Denmark and Norway were occupied with relatively light casualties: 3,800 Germans killed and 1,600 wounded. Surprise was almost complete, particularly in Denmark, and only in the Narvik area did the invasion prove problematic. The Luftwaffe lost about 100 aircraft, or roughly 10% of the force committed.
At sea, however, the invasion proved a significant setback. For the Kriegsmarine the campaign led to crippling losses, with the sinking of one of its two heavy cruisers, two of its six light cruisers, 10 of its 20 destroyers and six u-boats. The Kriegsmarine (English "War navy" was the name of the German Navy between 1935 and 1945 during the Nazi regime superseding the With additional ships damaged during the campaign the Kriegsmarine was left with a a surface force of a single heavy cruiser, two light cruisers and four destroyers operational. This left the navy weakened during the summer months when Hitler was pursuing plans for an invasion of the UK. Operation Sealion (Unternehmen Seelöwe was Germany's plan to invade the United Kingdom during World War II, beginning in 1940 [3]
On land, the cost of the campaign came mostly in the need to keep most of the invasion troops in Norway for occupation duties away from the fronts. Starting with the invasion of April 9, 1940, Norway was under Military occupation of German forces and civil rule of a German On the whole the campaign was a costly enterprise that benefited the victor little. [4]
The British also took some damage to their fleet, losing one aircraft carrier, two cruisers, seven destroyers, and a submarine, but with their much larger fleet, they could absorb the naval losses to a much greater degree than Germany. Britain also gained use of the Norwegian merchant navy, one of the largest in the world. The Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission (Nortraship was established in London in April 1940 to administer the Norwegian merchant fleet outside German controlled areas
The French navy lost one large destroyer during the campaign,[5] and the Royal Norwegian Navy lost 1 destroyer , 2 coastal defense ships and 3 submarines were scuttled. [6]
The British did achieve a partial success at Narvik. Shipping from the port was stopped for a period of six months, although the Allies had believed it would be out of operation for a year.
The German occupation of Norway was to prove a thorn in the side of the Allies during the next few years. Long-range aircraft based there meant that several squadrons of British fighters had to be kept in the north during the Battle of Britain, and German commerce raiders used Norway as a staging base to reach the North Atlantic with impunity. The Battle of Britain (German ''Luftschlacht um England'' is the name given to the sustained strategic effort by the German Luftwaffe during the summer and After Germany invaded Russia in 1941, air bases in Norway were also used to interdict the Allied arctic convoys there, inflicting painful losses to shipping. The Arctic Convoys of World War II travelled from the United Kingdom and the United States to the northern ports of the Soviet
The occupation of Norway would also come to be a burden for Germany, since the long, exposed coastline provided opportunities for commando raids later in the year. In addition, the country required a sizeable occupation force. This troop commitment peaked with 400,000 men by 1944, troops that could not be put to use during the Allied landings in France that year or on the Russian Front.
In fiction
- The 1942 film The Day Will Dawn is largely set in Norway just before and just after the invasion. The Day Will Dawn is a 1942 film set in during World War II in Norway starring Hugh Williams as Colin Metcalfe and directed by
- Paul Milner, a major character in the wartime crime drama Foyle's War, served in the Norwegian Campaign and lost a leg there. Foyle's War is a British detective Television programme created by screen-writer and author Anthony Horowitz, and commissioned Foyle's War is a British detective Television programme created by screen-writer and author Anthony Horowitz, and commissioned
See also
References
- ^ Operation Weserübung, as part of common military disinformation procedure, was codenamed after the German river Weser, while Übung means "exercise" in German. The Norwegian Campaign, lasting from 9 April to 10 June 1940, led to the first direct land confrontation between the military forces of the The German operation for the invasion of Denmark and Norway in April 1940 was code-named ''Weserübung'', or "Weser Exercise Disinformation is the deliberate dissemination of false Information. The Weser (ˈveːzɐ is a River in north-western Germany. Formed at Hann The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages.
- ^ Bjørn Jervaas: The Fallschirmjäger Battle at Dombaas
- ^ Dildy 2007:90
- ^ Dildy 2007:91
- ^ uboat.net Allied warships - Bison
- ^ uboat.net Norwegian Fleet Losses
- Derry, T. K. (1952) The campaign in Norway, History of the Second World War: Campaigns Series, London : H. M. S. O. , reprinted by Battery Press, ISBN 0-898392-20-9
- Dickens, P. (Capt. ) (1974) Narvik : battles in the fjords, Sea battles in close-up, 9, London : Ian Allan, ISBN 0-7110-0484-6
- Dildy, Douglas C. Denmark and Norway, 1940: Hitler's Boldest Operation; Osprey Campaign Series #183; ISBN 9781846031175. Osprey Publishing, 2007
- Elting, J. R. (1981) Battles for Scandinavia, World War II Series, Alexandria, VA : Time-Life Books, ISBN 0-80943-395-8
Further reading
- Hubatsch, W. (1960) Weserübung: die deutsche Besetzung von Dänemark und Norwegen 1940, Studien und Dokumente zur Geschichte des Zweiten Weltkrieges, 7, 2nd Ed. , Göttingen : Musterschmidt-Verlag, 586 p.
- Moulton, J. L. (Maj. Gen. ) (1966) The Norwegian campaign of 1940 : a study of warfare in three dimensions, London : Eyre & Spottiswoode, 328 p.
- Ottmer, H. -M. (1994) Weserübung: der deutsche Angriff auf Dänemark und Norwegen im April 1940, Operationen des Zweiten Weltkrieges, 1, München : Oldenbourg, ISBN 3-486-56092-1
- Ziemke, E. F. (1960) The German northern theater of operations 1940-1945, Department of the Army pamphlet, 20-271, Washington, D. C. : U. S. Govt Printing Office, 342 p. , LCCN 60-060912
External links
- BBC - History - The Norway Campaign in World War Two
- HyperWar: The Campaign in Norway (UK Military Series)
- Robert Mårtensson - Norway 1940
- Poles in the Norwegian Campaign of 1940
- Feldgrau.com - Units and events of the Norwegian Campaign
- U.S. Army - Decision to Invade Norway and Denmark
- Nuav.net - Norway during WW2
- NAVAL-HISTORY.NET - NORWEGIAN CAMPAIGN 1940
- MagWeb.com - The German Invasion of Norway, 1940
- Achtung Panzer! - German Panzer Unit in Norway April - June of 1940
- Defense Technical Information Center - OPERATION WESERÜBUNG and the Origins of Joint Warfare
- THE DAWN OF DECISIVE AIRPOWER DURING JOINT MILITARY OPERATIONS
- Halford Mackinder's Necessary War An essay describing the political manoeuvers behind the Norwegian Campaign
- Nice overall view (Norwegian)
- United States Department of State Foreign relations of the United States diplomatic papers, 1940. General Volume I Pg. 136 onwards provides original documents which show how the conflict began.
- Norwegian Campaign (Serbian)
- Norwegian Navy Losses
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