The Norwegian Campaign occurred on 9 April-10 June 1940 during World War II. Nazi Germany invaded Norway to prevent Britain and France from occupying the country's ports (thereby preventing trade with Germany), and the French and British sent an expeditionary force to assist the Norwegians. Despite moderate successes in northern Norway, the Allied Powers were ultimately compelled to withdraw; Norway's 62 days of resistance was the second-longest period of time in which a country resisted a German invasion, after the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1945.
History[]
Norway was a strategically important country for both the Axis Powers and the Allied Powers at the start of World War II. Its port of Narvik exported large quantities of Swedish iron ore to Nazi Germany, and its ports at Bergen, Narvik, and Trondheim were vital to control of the North Sea and, through extension, the Baltics. The Allies were allowed to send supplies through Norway to assist Finland during the "Winter War" with the Soviet Union, causing fears in Germany that the Allies might also be allowed to send troops. However, the Finnish-Soviet peace agreement of 12 March 1940 scotched the Allies' plans, and the Allies were forced to abandon their plans to land troops in Norway. On 8 April 1940, following French pressure, the British government decided to start laying mines off the Norwegian coast. The Allied designs on Norway led to German admiral Eric Raeder supporting a German invasion of Norway to secure its vital ports for the war with Britain. The pro-Nazi Norwegian politician Vidkun Quisling supported a pan-German cooperation between Germany and Norway, and German leader Adolf Hitler decided to invade Norway and install Quisling as the head of a puppet government.
On 16 February 1940, the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Cossack intercepted and boarded the German auxiliary ship Altmark in the Jossingfjord off Norway, seeking to free 299 Allied prisoners of war from the ship. The Norwegian escort of the Altmark did not resist the Allies when they boarded the ship and killed seven Germans, violating Norwegian neutrality. The Germans decided to speed up their invasion plans, and General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst was placed in charge of invading Norway on 21 February.
The bulk of the German invasion force was to be drawn from the 69th, 163rd, 181st, 196th, and 214th infantry divisions, with the 163rd, 181st, and 196th being formed in January 1940, and the other two being formed in the summer of 1939. These formations were composed largely of reservists, but specialist troops such as fallschirmjaeger troops and the famous 2nd (Innsbruck-based, composed of Tyroleans) and 3rd Mountain Divisions (former Austrian division, commanded by Eduard Dietl) would take part in the invasion. The Mountain Divisions were composed of Austrians and some Bavarians, and they were used to even colder temperatures than those in Norway.
The Norwegians knew that their forces could only make a show of resistance along their coast, as their military was weak. Only battalions in Lillehammer, Kristiansand, Stavanger, and Bergen and a brigade in Narvik had been called up for active service. The main firepower of their forces consisted of coastal batteries at Oslofjord, Kristiansand, Bergen, and Trondheimfjord, and many of the guns were old, yet gunned by well-trained crews. 280 miles to the west lay Scapa Flow, the main base of the British fleet, which boasted 14 battleships and battlecruisers, 24 cruisers, 60 destroyers, 50 submarines, 4 aircraft carriers (Eagle, Hermes, Furious, and Ark Royal). The British infantry brigades lacked armor and artillery, making them weak. Elements of the French Chasseurs Alpins and the French Foreign Legion were sent to assist in the operation in Norway, but the Chasseur Alpins quartermaster forgot to pack ski straps, rendering their ski abilities useless.
Invasion[]
Initial contact[]
The Glowworm sinking
On the morning of 8 April 1940, the British destroyer HMS Glowworm encountered German destroyers Bernd von Arnim and Hans Ludemann as they transported troops to invade Norway. The German destroyers attempted to disengage while calling for help from heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper. Glowworm was heavily damaged by Admiral Hipper, but the ship attempted to torpedo the Hipper before ramming her. Hipper was not seriously damaged by the ramming, but Glowworm lost her bow. At 10:24 AM, her boiler exploded, taking 109 of her crew with her. The Royal Navy raced ships to the location, but found nothing there, and it assumed that the Germans had turned west.
Norwegian resistance[]
Map of the invasion
On 9 April, HMS Renown stumbled upon the German ships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, who had delivered German troops to five points upon the Norwegian coast; the British had not realized that the German invasion had already occurred. As people in Denmark to the south woke up to German occupation, German paratroops landed at the Norwegian airbase at Sola near Stavanger, where Norwegian troops opened fire on the landing paratroopers. Me109 escort fighters strafed the airfield, allowing the paratroopers to complete their drops, collect their weapons, and form assault units. The paratroops took over the airbase, but casualties were heavy. All along the coast, German amphibious forces disembarked, but the German ship Roda, carrying Luftwaffe personnel and anti-aircraft guns, was sunk by the Norwegian ship Sleipner. At Trondheim, the Admiral Hipper surprised the Norwegian batteries, while, at Bergen, the cruisers Koln and Konigsberg, heading a transport fleet, signalled to the guns that they were British ships, deceiving the Norwegians. At Narvik, Commodore Friedrich Bonte, leading the Wilhelm Heidkamp destroyer flotilla, sank the Norwegian guard ship Eidsvold, while the German destroyer Arnim destroyed the ship Norge, which exploded into flame, rolled over, and sank. The Norwegian garrison slipped away, gripped by panic.
To the south, the German ships Emden, Lutzow, and Blucher, accompanied by 13 smaller ships, entered the Oslofjord and reached Drobak an hour later. It was at this point that the Norwegian batteries opened fire, and Blucher exploded after a Norwegian shell hit its magazine; over 1,000 of her crew died. German planes assaulted the Norwegian batteries, and many Norwegian interceptors were shot down. German planes used their machine guns to cover a drop by German paratroopers at the Oslo Airport, and German troops entered Oslo not long after. King Haakon VII of Norway was forced to flee to Hamar, and paratroopers set off in commandeered buses. Halfway between Elverum and Hamar, at Midtskogen, the Germans were ambushed by sharpshooters from a local rifle club, and the paratroopers suffered heavy losses and were forced to retreat. That evening, Quisling announced on radio that he was heading a new government, and ordered the Norwegian army to surrender. The King's court was split, with General Kristian Laake suggesting capitulation. However, the King had Laake replaced by Otto Ruge, and he insisted on continuing the fight.
On 11 April, Ruge ordered for Norwegians to assemble at mobilization points and assemble roadblocks to isolate German beachheads. The Norwegian government relocated to Lillehammer, and Norwegian battlegroups formed in rural areas across the country. The Germans pumped in reinforcements, despite the Allies torpedoing several German ships in the Scagerrak. 30,000 German troops and supplies were dropped over Norway by German ships, and German divisions fanned out of Oslo and pushed some Norwegian pockets over the Swedish border. By 20 April, the Germans were in contact with the Norwegians holding Lillehammer.
British intervention[]
Meanwhile, the British had begun their intervention. The original British plan was contingent upon the condition that their landings were unopposed, but the Germans had already occupied much of the Norwegian coast. Off the coasts of Norway, the British asserted their naval superiority, with their submarines torpedoing Karlsruhe and Lutzow; on the the morning of 10 April, 15 Skua dive-bombers from 800 Squadron and 308 Squadron (based in the Orkney Islands) sunk Konigsberg in Bergen, the first time that dive-bombers had sunk a warship. Further north, Bernard Warburton-Lee took his 2nd Destroyer Flotilla (Hardy, Hunter, Hotspur, Havoc, and Hostile) into Narvik Fjord as snow fell, surprising the German flotilla (Heidkamp, Anton Schmitt, Hans Ludemann, and Deiter von Roeder). The First Battle of Narvik saw both the British captain Warburton-Lee and the German captain Friedrich Bonte die in battle; both sides lost a considerable number of ships. However, in the Second Battle of Narvik on 13 April, the 8 remaining German destroyers, by now starved of both oil and ammunition, were reduced to scrap by the British ships and aircraft.
A day later, the British expeditionary force commander Pierse Joseph Mackesy landed at Harstad, and the British naval commander Lord Cork also came ashore. The general and the admiral had different sets of orders; Mackesy was ordered to besiege Narvik, while Cork was ordered to assault Narvik. The British were unequipped for winter warfare, while German aircraft landed reinforcements and supplies for Eduard Dietl's forces. Seven German naval infantry battalions were formed from Kriegsmarine survivors equipped with captured Norwegian weapons, and Sweden bowed to German pressure and allowed supply trains to cross the border.
Land campaign[]
The positions of Mauriceforce and the Germans near Beistadtfjord
On 13 April, the British, emboldened by their success at Narvik, approved a direct assault on Trondheim. Four days later, the Stukas severely damaged a British cruiser off the Norwegian coast, cancelling the British assault. Despite this, the British decided to continue with their plans to take Trondheim. On 16 April, the British 146th Infantry Brigade and the French 13th Chasseurs Alpins began landing at Namsos 140 miles to the northeast of Trondheim, forming "Mauriceforce". "Sickleforce", formed from the 148th Infantry Brigade (two British battalions), landed at the fishing villages of Andalsnes and Molde to the south of Trondheim. On 20 April, over 60 German bombers flattened Namsos, blowing up an ammunition dump. The advance force of Mauriceforce reached Verdal to the north of Trondheim, while other elements were spread all the way back to Namsos. On 22 April, German destroyers that had been trapped at Trondheim plowed through the ice at Beistadtfjord and landed troops on the flank and rear of the 146th Brigade. Simultaneously, the Germans sortied out of Trondheim, and the whole of Mauriceforce was in retreat by 23 April.
A German tank at Vardekampen Ridge
Meanwhile, the 148th Brigade moved south of Lillehammer to dig in with the Norwegians on either side of Lake Mjosa, ignoring its orders to cooperate with Mauriceforce. On 21 April, German artillery fire forced the British and Norwegians back to Faaberg, 5 miles north of Lillehammer at the head of Lake Mjosa, and German ski troops outflanked the Allies again. The British withdrew to Vardekampen Ridge, but the British and Norwegians did not expect the German tanks to roll up the valley floor and continue up the valley, ignoring the Allied forces. The Germans controlled the road to the north, and the Allies were forced to retreat up the woodside. Some were captured, some found shelter with local farmers, some fled to Sweden, and some made it back, bringing the 148th Brigade's strength up to 300, about one quarter of its strength three days earlier. The 15th Brigade (composed of the 1st Koyli, 1st York, 1st Lancaster, and 1st Green Howards), having been withdrawn from France, landed at Andalsnes the same day. The British force was well-equipped, and 1st Koyli reached Kvam on 25 April. The force positioned its mortars and anti-tank guns with professional skills, and they ambushed the leading column of the German 196th Infantry Division. They sent the Germans reeling down the valley, and the Koyli still held the following morning. However, Major-General Bernard Paget ordered them to withdraw, and the Green Howards were sent in to replace them. They held back the Germans at Kjorn on 27 April, at Otta on 28 April, and at Dombass on 30 April. By now, Paget had received orders to withdraw Sickleforce. The Norwegian general Ruge saw this as betrayal, and he was even unable to evacuate the Norwegian forces, as there was neither enough time or space in the transports. Instead, Ruge and his HQ sailed to Harstadt, where he took command of the Norwegians fighting around Narvik.
Allied evacuation[]
The ruins of Namsos
On 26 April, German bombers reduced Andalsnes to matchwood during their attacks on the evacuation. Anti-aircraft cruisers and sloops put up a stream of fire, and Gladiator fighters operating from the frozen surface of Lake Lesjaskog and Skuas flying from carriers battled the Luftwaffe until overwhelmed. From 30 April to 2 May, the navy lifted 5,084 personnel without the loss of a single man. In the teeth of German air attack, the British evacuated Namsos, and the Luftwaffe concentrated its attacks on Namsos. Shortly after dawn, German dive bombers attacked the French rescue ship Bison, whose forward magazine spectacularly blew up. The British destroyer Afridi was then attacked, being sunk in 20 minutes, and survivors of the Bison aboard the Afridi again found themselves swimming for their lives. That evening, Norwegian forces which had been left behind surrendered to the Germans.
Fall of Narvik[]
The German landings south of Narvik
By 30 April, the general impression was that the British would lose the war. In both London and Paris, the Allied governments came under increasing pressure from their parliaments, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain lost a 7 May debate on Norway, leading to his resignation and replacement by Winston Churchill on 10 May. At dawn that day, the Wehrmacht launched its main offensive against the Low Countries and France. At the same time, Churchill ordered an assault on Narvik in Norway to recapture the city. Against Dietl's 4,000 German troops, the Allies had 30,000 troops, 48 anti-aircraft guns, and several fighter aircraft squadrons. Among the Allied forces were well-trained Polish mountain troops. Spearheaded by the 2nd Mountain Division, German forces in central Norway began to move north to attack the Allies. Five specially-recruited independent companies landed on the coasts south of Narvik to delay the German advance, but the Germans bypassed the Germans. On 10 May, two companies of German infantry landed at Hamnesberget aboard a commandeered Norwegian steamer, Nord Norge, landing north of the British positions. The Nord Norge was located and sunk not long after, but the ship's job was done. Battalions of the Irish and Scots guards succeeded in slowing the 2nd Mountain Division's advance, and the Norwegian, French, and Polish troops assaulted Narvik on 12 May. They eliminated German forces on the Skaanland Peninsula, and, on 13 May, the new British Minister of War, Anthony Eden, assured the Norwegian ambassador that Allied action in Norway would be pursued with the utmost energy. Eden ensured that Mackesy was replaced with Claude Auchinleck, an expert on mountain warfare.
On 15 May, the German offensive in France broke through the French front at Sedan, heralding the collapse of the French Army and the Fall of France; Norway had become an embarrassing distraction. On 23 May, the War Cabinet decided to evacuate northern Norway, but they ultimately decided to take Narvik before the evacuation. On 27 May, supported by a massive bombardment, the 1st Battalion of the Foreign Legion and a Norwegian battalion crossed the Rombaksfjord to land east of Narvik at Orneset Beach, coming under heavy fire from Hill 457. Calling in heavy naval gunfire, the Allies advanced slowly against German positions. At the same time, a Polish battalion attacked the town of Ankers to the south of Narvik. At 4:00 AM, the Luftwaffe severely damaged the cruiser HMS Cairo and forced the rest of the task force to withdraw down the fjord. With the sudden disappearance of Allied naval gunfire, the Germans counterattacked against both Allied landings. Shortly after 6:00 AM, RAF Hurricanes drove off the Luftwaffe, and additional French, Polish, and Norwegian units were fed into battle. Reduced to about 400 mountain soldiers and sailors, the Germans retreated along the eastward road along the Beisfjord.
On 28 May, Narvik was captured by the Allies. However, that same day, Belgium fell to the Germans, and the British began the Dunkirk evacuation. On 1 June, the British and French ended their plan to drive Dietl's forces across the Swedish frontier, and King Haakon was informed that the British and French were leaving. The King and his government fled into exile in London, and, by 7 June, the bulk of the Anglo-French forces were on six large liners. Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Admiral Hipper were sent to search for the Allied ships, but the Allies were lucky enough to escape, with the Germans instead sinking the cruiser HMS Glorious and leaving only 35 of its 1,600 crew alive. The accompanying destroyers HMS Ardent and HMS Acasta put down a smokescreen, but both ships were sunk. Scharnhorst was damaged and forced to retreat to Trondheim. The campaign ended just as it had begun, with a chance encounter between German and British warships.