Countryside of Norway

The countryside of Norway , which lasted from April 9th, 1940 to June 10th, 1940, was the theater of the first direct terrestrial confrontation between the allied forces — the United Kingdom and France — and troops of the Nazi Germany at the time of the Second world war.

The main reason having justified Germany to occupy the Norway was the dependence of its industry with respect to the Iron ore Swedish, that it received by cargoes coming from the Norwegian ports of which Narvik. By making safe their access to these ports, Germany would be able to receive its supply ore and this in spite of the maritime Blocus imposed by the Royal Navy. Moreover, that allowed as well the Allies than in Germany to be opposed without risking for as much a trench warfare with large scales as the two sides feared. Whereas the Bataille of the Atlantic became extensive, the control of the Norwegian aerodromes, like that of Stavanger, became of an importance of first order, because they allowed the German reconnaissance aircraft to operate in the North Atlantic, without having to fly over or to skirt of too close the British coasts.

Although this countryside gave a broad victory to the Germans, it immobilized to them the majority of the Kriegsmarine and several division of the Heer.

Background

Values of Norway in the conflict

France and the United Kingdom had in the past both signed treaties of military aid with the Poland and so two days after the invasion of Poland by Germany on September 1st, 1939, the two countries declared the war in Germany. However, none of them undertook to open a face in the West, and no confrontation of scale took place between the two parts during several months during what one called war the Drôle.

For this period, the two camps sought the decision through secondary faces. For the Allies, in particular for the French, that resided mainly on fear that the trench warfare as during the First World War repeats, along the Franco-German border. For the Germans, the majority of the members of the military high-command was of opinion that they did not have yet at disposal the sufficient forces to launch an attack on France. Norway constituted as for it for the two camps a place where to strike the other.

Norway, in spite of its Neutrality, had a great strategic importance for the two camps, and this for two primary reasons. Firstly, the port of Narvik, great quantities of Swedish iron ore were dispatched, on which the industry of German war was dependant; this route was particularly important during the winter months, when the the Baltic was blocked by the ices. Narvik still took importance when the British realized that the Projet Catherine, plan intended to take the control of the Baltic, could not be put at execution. Secondly, the wearing of Norway were likely to constitute holes in the device of blockade of Germany, giving him access to the Atlantique.

Another outstanding point, Norway was also important from a symbolic system point of view from the inspirations völkisch of the Nazi party of Adolf Hitler. Many its members indeed saw the country like the cradle of alleged the Aryan Race.

The war of Winter

See also: War of Winter

When the Soviet Union invades the Finland on November 30th, 1939, the Allies are then at the sides of Norway and the Sweden, giving their support for Finland vis-a-vis an attacker inordinately larger.

This situation represented an opportunity for the Allies which could thus hope, although sincerely rejoined with the Finnish cause, to use this pretext to send troops of support, and to benefit the passage from it to occupy the Swedish mining zones and the Norwegian ports. The plan initially worked out by the Allies thus envisaged the sending of two divisions, strong of: 150000 men, ready with in découdre during a possible confrontation of great scale with the center of Sweden.

This initiative worried Germany. The Pacte Molotov-Ribbentrop had indeed placed Finland in the Soviet zone of influence, and of this fact the Germans declare themselves neutral in this conflict. This policy causes then a dash of feeling anti-German in all Scandinavia, Germany being held for allied Soviets. Haut-commadnament German then feared seriously that Norway and Sweden authorized the parking of troops allied on their territories, in order to intervene in favor of Finland.

However, such deployments never arrived, because Norway and Sweden, with the barks since they had been the privileged witnesses of the " treachery occidentale" against Poland during its invasion in September, did not wish to bring into play their neutrality and to be trained in the war by leaving a right-of-way on their territory to foreign troops. After the signature of the peace treaty of Moscow on March 12th, 1940, all the plans erected scaffolding by the Allies were abandoned.

German Vidkun Quisling and first approaches

At the origins of the conflict, the German high-command was of opinion that neutral Norway was what could arrive to them of better. As long as the Allies could not penetrate the Norwegian Territorial water, there would exist passages made safe for the trading vessels sailing along the Scandinavian coasts, transporting the imported Swedish ore.

The Lord High Admiral Erich Raeder was however of opinion that an invasion was preferable. He thought indeed that the Norwegian ports would offer better bases of operations for the U-boot S used within the framework of a seat of the British Isles, and that it was also possible that the Allies plan to unload there.

December 11th, 1939, Hitler and Raeder met Vidkun Quisling, former minister Norwegian for defense pro-Nazi. The remarks that one allots to Quisling at the time of this meeting related to the important threat of an invasion of Norway with the British, and which the Norwegian government would be rather inclined, in the secrecy, to collaborate in the case of a German occupation (what appeared false). He also informed his interlocutors that he was able to ensure to them a maximum co-operation with the German forces, including the benevolence of the coastguards and the accessibility of military bases. Three days later, Hitler ordered with OKW to launch out on the settling of a plan of invasion of Norway.

At a second meeting with Quisling the December 18th, Hitler renewed its wish to maintain the neutrality of Norway but that if the Allies carried the war to Scandinavia, it would react consequently. Indeed, it had appeared suspicions as for the possible surevalutation which Quisling of its force at personal ends could have made, and the plans of collaboration with him were abandoned.

The incident of Altmark

February 14th, 1940, the Oil - supply German Altmark, with on his board 303 prisoner of war British, accepted the authorization allowing him to sail in Norwegian water. In accordance with the international payments, any vessel not combatant of a nation in war can shelter for some neutral water time if it received the permission as a preliminary from it. When a group of British destroyers appeared at the horizon the February 16th, the Altmark went to seek refuge in a Norwegian Fjord. Being unaware of the international payments and Norwegian neutrality, the HMS Cossack penetrated the fjord, attacked Altmark, approached it, killing seven German soldiers and releasing the prisoners. While causing the anger of the Norwegians, this violation of his neutrality made run much ink on the two sides of the North Sea.

The Allies considered this incident as the proof that it was impossible in Norway to be guarded against the mésusage which could be made of its territory, and prepared to implement a plan, suggested little time after the fall of Poland by the first Lord of the British Admiralty Winston Churchill, which consisted with to undermine the zone. This plan was only given to later in the hope which Norway would like of its own boss to leave well passerr the troops allied on its territory in order to go to help Finland.

For the Germans, the incident of Altmark showed the incapacity to maintain its neutrality of Norway, and that the English had only to make Norwegian neutrality. Hitler ordered that the development of the plans of invasion is accelerated. It took this route in order to counter the already existing plans of Churchill with an aim of involving the Norwegians in the war and of taking the control of the port of Narvik. The February 21st, the Général Nikolaus von Falkenhorst was charged to plan the invasion and of the command of the terrestrial troops there being intended.

Initial plans

Plans of the Allies

With the end of the war of Winter, the Allies came to the conclusion that an occupation of Norway and Sweden would make more evil than of good, pushing the neutral countries to be combined in Germany. However, new the French Prime Minister, Paul Reynaud, took a position more aggressive than its predecessor vis-a-vis the question and wanted that an action resolution a little more vigorous is taken vis-a-vis in Germany. Churchill was a fervent supporter of the attack and occupation of Norway because it wished to see the engagements moving away from France and Great Britain in order to avoid the destruction there on their territories, as at the time of the preceding war. It also saw a means there of invading Germany by North.

It was concluded that one would use the nautical offensive of mining planned by Churchill, the Opération Wilfred, intended to block the use of the fjords as shelters and to force the boats of transport to borrow international water, making it possible the Royal Navy there to start the combat and to destroy them. In accompaniment, the R4 plan, operation of response vis-a-vis the quasi unquestionable against-initiative of Germany in reaction to the Wilfred operation, impliquerat occupation of Trondheim and Bergen by the Allies, as well as the destruction of the Aerodrome of Sola.

The Allies did not manage in addition to agree about the additional operation Royal Marine, during which the the Rhine was to be mined. If the British were favorable to this operation, the French were opposed there, since approvisionnempent to them also depended him on the river and that they feared German reprisals on the French soil. Because of these delays in the agreements, the operation Wilfred, initially planned for the April 5th, was pushed back with the April 8th when the British finally agreed to distinguish the operations carried out in Norway from those carried out on the continent.

Plans of the Germans

See also: Operation Weserübung

Already in preparation for a considerable time (though nonpriority), the Weserübung operation appeared of first need after the incident of Altmark. The main objectives of the invasion consisted of the capture of the ports and the security of the extract ranges of the iron ore, Narvik being the key objective. It was also a question of ensuring a total control of the country in order to avoid any inclination of collaboration with the Allies. The operation was rpésentée like a military protection of Norwegian neutrality.

Among the questions which worried in-house the German high-command was the need for occupying or not the Denmark during this operation. Denmark was regarded as vital since considering its geographical location, its occupation was going to largely facilitate the air and naval control of the zone. So some of the consulted generals were to simply make pressure on Denmark so that it accepts this irrefutable fact, it was concluded that it would be healthier for the continuation of the operations than Denmark is taken of force.

Another point of argument which brought modifications to the initial plan, the Plan Yellow, i.e. the invasion envisaged of the north of France and Netherlands, was to occupy large German troops soon. As certain units were used in the realization of the two invasions, Weserübung could not take place at the same time as the Fall Gelb , and as the nights were shortened with the approach of spring, whereas the darkness was of vital importance to hide the progression of the marine forces, it was thus decided that Weserübung was to be started as soon as possible. In fact, the day of the invasion ( Wesertag ) was fixed at April 9th, 1940, 04:15 Norwegian hour ( Weserzeit ) corresponding to the Débarquement S.

In Norway, the purpose of the plan was to capture six primary education objectives at the time of operations of unloading amphibians: Oslo, Kristiansand, Egersund, Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik. In complement, troops parachutists of support (of the Fallschirmjäger) were to take possession of other key positions like the aerodromes of Fornebu close to Oslo and Sola close to Stavanger. The plan was to make it possible to submerge the Norwegian forces quickly and to occupy these vital surfaces before even as any form of resistance could be setting-up. The forces of attacks were organized in six groups ( Gruppen ):

  • Gruppe 1 : ten Destroyer S for Narvik;

  • Gruppe 2 : the heavy Cruiser Admiral Hipper and four destroyers for Trondheim;
  • Gruppe 3 : the light cruisers Köln and Königsberg as well as ships of support for Bergen;
  • Gruppe 4 : the light cruiser Karlsruhe and other smaller vessels for Kristiansand;
  • Gruppe 5 : heavy cruisers Blücher and Lützow , the light cruiser Emden and of the lighter ships for Oslo;
  • Gruppe 6 : four drageurs of mines for Egersund.

Moreover, the cruisers of battle Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were to escort groups 1 and 2 during their navigation in convoy, and of the additional flotillas of tankers and cargo liners would transport additional troops, fuel and ammunition.

Against Denmark, two motorized brigades would have the role of capturing the bridges and the Danish troops, the Luftwaffe was with it to only capture Copenhagen, and the parachutists would have the role of seizing the airfields in the north of the country. Side of the Kriegsmarine , although several groups of combat dussent being made up, none was to include/understand important ship.

The Germans discounted well not to have to assume confrontation armed with the military forces with the two invaded countries. Also the German troops accepted the order to draw only if they were made draw above.

The German invasion

Movements of the fleets

The whole beginning of the German invasion dated April 3rd, 1940, when supply ships started to take the broad one in order to precede large fleet. The next day, the Allies set in motion their own plans by sending sixteen submarines bound for the Skagerrak and of the Kattegat, intended to be used as protection against a possible German reaction for the Wilfred operation, itself initiated the next day when the Admiral William Whitworth installed Scapa Flow on board HMS '' Renown '' bound for the Vestfjord in company of twelve destroyers.

The April 7th, the area was the target of the bad weather, covering it with a thick fog and making the sea large, which inconvenienced the various convoys. The Renown and its fleet of accompaniment were taken soon in a strong snowstorm, and HMS '' Glowworm '', one of the destroyers of escort, had to disjoin squadron, in the search of a man swept over edge. However, time came to assistance of the Germans, providing them a curtain of protection for their forces, and early the morning they could make install Gruppen 1 and 2, those which had the most way to make.

Although the bad weather made the operations of recognition difficult, the two German groups were discovered with 170 kilometers in the south of the course Lindeness or Naze (the zone more in the south of Norway) shortly after 08:00 by patrols of the RAF, which identified them as being composed of a cruiser and six destroyers. A squadron of bombers was sent to their continuation and found them 125 kilometers more in north that at the time of the preceding contact. No damage was inflicted at the time of the attack, but the German forces were revalued with a cruiser of battle, two cruisers and ten destroyers. In fact of the strict rules then in application concerning radio silence, the bombers could not give an account of it before 17:30.

Learning these German movements, the British Admiralty came to the conclusion which the Germans tried to force the Blocus that the Allies imposed on Germany, and intended to use their fleets to cut the shopping streets of the Atlantic. The admiral Sir Charles Forbes, Commander-in-chief Home Fleet, was informed by it and installed with 20:15 in order to intercept them.

The two camps not being really conscious of the importance of the intrigues of the other, both continued the walk of their respective plans. The Renown arrived at Vestfjord late in the night and gave an opinion close to the entry of the fjord while the destroyers proceeded to the operations of damping of the mines. During this time, the Germans made install the remainder of their forces of invasion. The first direct contact between the two adversaries took place the next morning without it not being spring of the will of whoever.

The Glowworm , to join the Renown on the way, left the thick fog to the poop of the German destroyer Z 11 Bernd von Arnim then Z 18 Hans Lüdemann , towards 8:00 of the morning of the April 8th. It followed immediately a skirmish and the two destroyers escaped, calling with the rescue. The Admiral Hipper answered quickly this call to the assistance, which damaged the Glowworm quickly. Too much idle to be able to outdistance the powerful German vessel, the Glowworm tried éperonner then. The Glowworm caused significant damage with the Hipper on its starboard, and the Glowworm was as for him destroys by a salvo with end carrying drawn just afterwards. During its combat, the Glowworm broke radio silence and informed Admiralty of its situation. Although the vessel did not have time to complete its transmission, that was sufficient so that Admiralty knows that the Glowworm had been with the catches with a large German ship, that blows had been drawn, and that the contact could not be restored any more with the destroyer. In answer, Admiralty ordered with the Renown and its single of escort (two others having been to supply itself with friendly port) to give up their position in Vestfjord and to move towards the last known position of the Glowworm . With 10:45, the eight other destroyers in charge of the damping of the mines accepted in their turn the order to go there.

At midday, the submarine Polish Orzeł met and ran the German transport of troops Rio de Janeiro in Skagerrak. Among the remains the body of German soldiers in uniform as well as multiple military supplies was discovered. Although the Orzeł brought back this incident to Admiralty, this one was too much worried by the situation of the Glowworm and its supposed German attacker to attach to it more importance in the flood of information which reached him. The majority of the German soldiers shipwrecked men were collected on board Norwegian fishing vessels, and it came out from their interrogation that they were intended to protect Bergen from the Allies. This information was transmitted to Oslo where the Norwegian Parliament, the Storting, did not lend great interest to it, judging that concerned the ignorance of the soldiers, and took of another measurement only to alert the coastguards.

With 14:00, Admiralty received the information according to which the air recognition had located a group of German ships at a long distance from Trondheim, north-western western direction, course in the West. That reinforced the thesis supported by the Admiralty of an attempt at rupture of the blockade by the Germans, and the Fleet Home changed course, passing from the North-East in the North-West with again the hope to intercept them. In addition, Churchill cancelled the R4 plan and ordered with the four conveying cruisers of troop to unship their loading and going to join the Fleet Home. Actually, the German vessels, i.e. Gruppe 2, were only to make circles in order to not reach their target, Trondheim, that at the hour known as.

This night, after having taken knowledge of the great number of reports/ratios mentioning the presence of German vessels in the south of Norway, Charles Forbes started to doubt the validity of the assumption of an attempt at rupture of the blockade, and gave the order to the Fleet Home to put course at the South in direction of Skagerrak. It also ordered with HMS '' Repulse '', like with another cruiser and several destroyers, to travel as for them towards North in order to join the Renown .

With 23:00, at the time when Forbes had just been informed incident of Orzeł, Gruppe 5 was approached by the Norwegian patrol craft pol. III at the entry of the Fjord of Oslo. The pol. III quickly sent a message of alarm to the coastal batteries of Rauøy (on the island of Rauøy) and opened fire on the Torpilleur Albatros by means of its single gun, little before entering in collision with this last. The Albatross and two of his/her companions answered blows of anti-aircraft guns, killing the captain and putting the boat on fire. Gruppe 5 carried on its way in the fjord and passed the advanced coastal batteries without incident. Several small German vessels then separated from the group in order to capture the fortifications thus turned, like Horten. This activity did not pass unperceived, and soon the reports/ratios reached Oslo, calling a night meeting in Storting about midnight. During this one, the assembly decided to carry out a partial mobilization (with orders delivered by the post office) and an instruction according to which the British and French vessels were not to be attacked.

About at this time, more in North, the Renown was folded up on Vestfjord after having reached the last known position of the Glowworm , without there to have found anything. The large sea had obliged Whitworth to sail more in north that from necessary and had isolated it from its destroyers when it made the meeting of the Scharnhorst and from the Gneisenau . The Renown started the combat with the two cruisers of battle and during the court fights, the Gneisenau had its systems of adjustment of shooting damaged, obliging it him and the Scharnhorst to be fled more in North. The Renown tried the continuation, but with 04:00 it lost them the visual contact because of the bad weather.

Weserzeit

In the driving Ofotfjord in Narvik, the ten German destroyers of Gruppe 1 are in approach. With the Renown and its escort earlier diverted in order to return incident of the Glowworm overcomes, no British vessel bars the way to them, and the Germans can penetrate in the zone without meeting resistance. At the time when they reached the bottom of the fjord close to Narvik, the majority of the destroyers had already left the principal regrouping in order to capture the advanced batteries of Ofotfjord, by leaving only three with for mission of reducing to silence the two old Norwegian ships of defense coastal which assembled the guard, namely the Eidsvold and the Norge . Although antédiluviens, the two vessels were able to take the top on these destroyers much lighter and with the less thick shielding. After a short discussion with the captain of the Eidsvold , the German boats opened fire by precaution on the ship of coastal defense, the sliding ring after having reached it of three torpedes. The Norge entered the battle shortly after and drew on the destroyers, but its rulers of shooting missed experiment and did not send any blow to the goal before being cast by a broadside of torpedes of the German destroyers.

In Trondheim, Gruppe 2 met also only one light resistance during the unloading. In the Trondheimsfjord, the Admiral Hipper attacked the coastal batteries while its destroyers of escort, ahead all, exceeded them with a pace of 25 nodes. A blow placed particularly well Hipper cut the electric cables of the projectors and made the guns of the battery ineffective. Only a destroyer accepted a blow during the operations of unloading.

To Bergen, the coastal fortifications offered a more severe resistance at the time of the approach of Gruppe 3, and the light cruiser Königsberg as well as the vessel of artillery drive Bremse were damaged, this last being it even in a serious way. The lack of projectors of continuation reduces however the effectiveness of the guns, and the landing ships could operate without much opposition once to quay. The fortifications went a little later as of the arrival of units of Luftwaffe.

In Kristiansand, the resistance of the coastal fortifications was even harder, deferring by twice the unloading and damaging the Karlsruhe seriously, almost pushing it with the stranding. Confusion répendit however when the Norwegians accepted the order not to draw on the British or French vessels, and that the Germans started to use captured Norwegian codes with Horten. The Germans benefitted from it then to gain the port quickly and to unload their troops there, capturing the city with 11:00.

Gruppe 5 met the most serious resistance in front of the interior defense system of Oslofjord, near Drøbak. The Blücher , opening the passage, approached the forts by thinking that they would be taken by surprised and that they could not react in time like many others with the mouth of the fjord. The cruiser had hardly arrived at range of the battery that the fortress of Oscarsborg opened fire, putting each blow at the goal. In a few minutes, the Blücher was disabled and devastated by a terrible fire. The damaged cruiser was finally completed by a salvo of torpedes launched since a terrestrial base torpedo tubes, it ran with on its board most of the administrative staff intended at the same time for the supervision of the occupation of Norway and to occupy the general headquarter of division having to take possession of Oslo. The cruiser Lützow , also damaged at the time of the attack, had to beat a retreat, company of the totality of Gruppe 5, twelve miles in the south towards Sonsbukten where it made unload its troops. This distance delayed of more than 24 hours the arrival of the principal German troops of invasion in Oslo, although the city fell only twelve hours later, at the time of the arrival of troops having landed at the aerodrome of Fornebu.

However, this delay caused by the Norwegian forces made possible the escape more to north of the King Haakon VII of Norway, of the Parliament and the national treasure. That enabled them also thereafter to gain the United Kingdom. In fact, Norway thus never capitulated, the government of Vidkun Quisling was declared illicit, and Norway, like its important merchant fleet, remained throughout the war an ally and not a conquered territory.

Fornebu was supposed being made safe by the troops parachutists one hour only before the arrival of the first troops of occupation, but these first planes were lost in the fog and did not arrive. For as much the aerodrome was not strongly defended and the German soldiers promptly captured it with leaving their apparatuses. The flotilla of hunters of Norwegian aviation based with Fornebu resisted on board their biplanes Gloster Gladiator until being with court of ammunition and folded up itself on still free secondary aerodromes. The ground personnel of the flotilla was also quickly with court of ammunition for their anti-aircraft machine-guns, and in general confusion and the stress of the preparation of the hunters nobody had the presence of mind nor time to make the distribution of the personal weapons and the ammunition for crawling. The Norwegian attempts to launch a counter-attack turned short and did not lead to nothing of convainquant. Learning this, Oslo declared open Ville and went soon entirely.

As for Gruppe 6 in Egersund and the parachutists of Stavanger, they knew little resistance and captured their objectives quickly.

Capture of Denmark

The Wehrmacht crosses the Danish border around 04:15 on April 9th, 1940. At the time of a combined operation, German troops unloaded on the docks of Langelinie in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, and started to occupy the city. The German parachutists also captured the airport of Aalborg. At the same time, an ultimatum was submitted by the German ambassador to the king Christian X. Advertisements making state of the German plans had been submitted a few days before to the Parliament, but those had remained unanswered. The Danish army reduced, badly was prepared and equipped with obsolete equipment, but it resisted in various places in the country; the most serious fixings even took place in contact with the Royal Guard, located at the palate of Amalienborg to Copenhagen, and with the forces massed with the accesses of Haderslev in Jutland of the South. Towards 06:30, the King Christian X, after being itself maintained with the Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning, decided to capitulate, convinced that any prolonged resistance would result only in the useless loss from new Danish lives. The Danish people were completely taken with deprived by this occupation, and received the instruction to cooperate with the German authorities. The Occupation of Denmark by Germany was effective the April 10th and lasted until May 5th, 1945.

A big part of the Danish merchant navy escaped the occupation, because Arnold Peter Møller, president of the transport company Mærsk, gave the April 8th the order to its 36 ocean liners to rejoin allied or neutral ports as much as possible.

Thus preventing a German invasion, on April 12th, 1940 the British forces occupied by measure of precaution the Faroe Islands, then amt (county) Danish.

The Franco-British troops, which had taken Narvik and the center of Norway, could not hold their position.

Hitler lost approximately 5.300 German soldiers. 1.900 British soldiers, 1.300 Norwegian soldiers and 500 French soldiers were killed during the countryside (Encyclopedia of the XXe century 1939-1945 John Campbell).

See too

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