The Blücher was hit by artillery from the fortress’s cannon, nicknamed “Moses” and “Aron”, and then by torpedoes fired from the adjacent island of Northern Kaholmen. The remaining Norwegian naval vessels were sunk in action, scuttled by their own crews, or captured by the Germans. In this respect, the occupation of Denmark was considered to be vital. The fortifications at Kristiansand put up an even more resolute fight, twice repulsing the landing and damaging Karlsruhe, nearly causing her to run aground. [17], The Altmark incident led to the Germans speeding up their planning for an invasion of Norway. The Blücher sank at 06.22 hours, and much of its crew of over 1,300 men was killed. "Drifting Towards War: The British Chiefs of Staff, the USSR and the Winter War, November 1939–March 1940,", This page was last edited on 28 January 2021, at 18:13. [11] Churchill was a strong agitator for action in Scandinavia, because he wanted to cut Germany off from Sweden and push the Scandinavian countries to side with the United Kingdom. Among the warships sunk in action during the campaign were two coastal defence ships and two destroyers. [83], Sickleforce 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. She 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. However, the bleakness of the situation prompted them to agree to continued negotiations with the Germans, set for the following day. [34][44][45][46], One of the final acts of the Norwegian authorities before dispersement was the promotion on 10 April of Otto Ruge to the rank of major general and appointment to Commanding General of the Norwegian Army, responsible for overseeing the resistance to the German invasion. The wide-sweeping Nazification of Norway began in earnest. [16][40][41][42] The same day, panic broke out in German-occupied Oslo, following rumours of incoming British bombers. On 7 April, bad weather began to develop in the region, blanketing the area with thick fog and causing rough seas, making travel difficult. The German forces responded by repeatedly bombing Nybergsund. [58][59], After their capture of Kristiansand on 9 April the battalion-strong German invasion force in southern Norway permitted the evacuation of the civilian population from the city. The Germans had launched Operation Juno to relieve pressure on the Narvik garrison and, after discovering the evacuation, shifted the mission to hunt and subsequently sunk two British destroyers and the aircraft carrier Glorious. Mackesy's force was originally codenamed Avonforce, later Rupertforce. [1], Second World War campaign fought in Norway, Vidkun Quisling and initial German investigation, End of the campaign in Central and South Norway, Allied withdrawal and Norwegian capitulation, Operation Weserübung, as part of common military, At the time, the Royal Navy classified the, Franco-British plans for intervention in the Winter War, Learn how and when to remove this template message, block the rail and road network in Central Norway for five days, "Norge i krigen 1939–45. The domination of this strait would prevent the Royal Navy from interfering with the main supply lines of the invasion forces. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, however, was by that time convinced that some aggressive action ought to be taken; and Paul Reynaud, who succeeded Édouard Daladier as France’s premier on March 21, was of the same opinion. General Volume I, Torpedo Crisis of the U-Boats During Norwegian Campaign, Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, Rape during the Soviet occupation of Poland, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norwegian_campaign&oldid=1003377467, Articles needing additional references from April 2013, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, The invasion and the following occupation are depicted in the, Kelly, Bernard. 3 at Heistadmoen Army Camp in Kongsberg capitulated. The resistance to the German occupation began in the autumn of 1940, steadily gaining strength and becoming better organized. [89], As part of the Allied counter-offensive in northern Norway, French forces made an amphibious landing at Bjerkvik on 13 May. The 1,028-ship strong Nortraship was established on 22 April at a government meeting at Stuguflåten in Romsdal. Seven torpedo boats were also sunk or scuttled, while the remaining ten were captured by the Germans. [24][25], The Norwegian Armed Forces fielded around 55,000 combatants involved in the fighting, mainly in six infantry divisions. The strange thing about this clock was it went tick-tick-tick-tick, instead of tick-tock-tick-tock. When Laake's call for mobilization was finally accepted at some time between 03:30 to 04:00 on 9 April, the Commanding General assumed, like defence minister Ljungberg, that the cabinet knew that they were issuing a partial and silent mobilization. Unescorted troopships would transport in soldiers to capture the Danish High Command in Copenhagen. In a speech on 8 July 1940 King Haakon made clear that he would continue to fulfil his duties as King of Norway, once again refusing to comply with German demands. 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. The two met on 15 April to determine the best course of action. Around 40,000 Norwegians were imprisoned during the interim, and over 10,000 lost their lives. A British, French and Polish expeditionary force of some 38,000 soldiers continued to land in northern Norway. When the Soviet Union started its attack against Finland on 30 November 1939, the Allies found themselves aligned with Norway and Sweden in support of Finland against the much larger aggressor. In 1942, the first of over 1.5 million American servicemen arrived on British shores in preparation for the Allied offensives against Germany during the Second World War. When Altmark began the return journey to Germany she carried 299 prisoners taken from the Allied ships sunk by Admiral Graf Spee. The main aim of the Norwegian effort in eastern Norway was to give the Allies enough time to recapture Trondheim, and start a counter-offensive against the German main force in the Oslo area. [91], In late April, ten Independent Companies had been formed in Britain, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Colin Gubbins. * Germany invades Norway & Denmark * Operation Weserübung - World War II The front page has a nice banner headline: "AIR BATTLE ON OVER OSLO; Capital Surrendered Without a Fight; FLEETS CLASH OFF NORWEGIAN COAST" with subhead and related photo. He believed that the Norwegian ports would be of crucial importance for Germany in a war with the United Kingdom. The number of civilian deaths in China alone might well be more than 50,000,000. The Baker’s Secret takes place in Le Verger, a French town on the Normandy coast, on the eve of D-Day. Blücher, leading the group, approached the forts assuming that they would be taken by surprise and not respond in time, as had been the case with those in the outer fjord. This activity did not go unnoticed, and soon reports had reached Oslo, leading to a midnight session of the Norwegian cabinet. [26][51][54], With the calling off of the Allied plans for recapturing Trondheim, British forces which had been landed at Åndalsnes moved into eastern Norway. The poor communication between the Norwegian armed forces and the civilian authorities caused much confusion in the early days of the German invasion. Norway was one of several western European nations occupied by Nazi Germany during the conflict between 1939 through 1945. The Norwegian-manned 331 Squadron and 332 Squadron operated Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft. At 14:00, the Admiralty received word that aerial reconnaissance had located a group of German ships a considerable distance west-northwest of Trondheim, bearing west. He would later be heavily criticized for this oversight, which led to unnecessary delays in the Norwegian mobilization. Though ten German destroyers had originally taken Narvik, only five remained in the harbor, with three others moving North and the remaining two going west. A base for naval units 2. [97] The improvised air strip which had been hit during the 27 May air raid fell into German hands, providing the Germans with an air base much closer to the Narvik fighting, and was of great significance for their continued advance northwards. Tank-Nielsen was however overruled by his superior, Commanding Admiral Henry Diesen, and Altmark was escorted through the harbour. 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 Norwegians could effectively mobilize or any major Allied intervention could take place. [75] The main force began landing at Harstad, a port town on the island of Hinnøya, on 14 April. The capture of ports would also provide holes in the blockade of Germany, allowing the latter access to the Atlantic Ocean. At 04:30, he arrived at Narvik harbor and entered along with HMS Hunter and HMS Havock, leaving HMS Hotspur and HMS Hostile to guard the entrance and watch the shore batteries. Surprise was almost complete, particularly in Denmark. The boarding party killed seven Germans in the process. The Norwegian campaign was an attempted Allied occupation of northern Norway, during the early stages of World War II. The 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. [85][86] The force consisted of the 24th Guards Brigade, led by Brigadier William Fraser, and French and Polish units led by Brigadier Antoine Béthouart. The exiled Polish Navy lost the destroyer Grom and the submarine Orzeł. [33] Norwegian attempts to mount a counter-attack were half-hearted and effectively came to nothing. On 10 April, the Fleet Air Arm made a long-range attack from their base at RNAS Hatston (also called HMS Sparrowhawk) in the Orkney Islands against German warships in Bergen harbour. [114] Two German battleships and two cruisers were damaged during the campaign. Großadmiral Erich Raeder, however, argued for an invasion. Motorcade led by the Royal Family’s 1939 Buick Roadmaster on Torggata in Oslo en route to the Royal Palace. With the Moscow Peace Treaty on 12 March 1940, the Finland-related Allied plans were dropped. 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 that they had captured at Horten. [43], On 11 April, the day after the German-Norwegian negotiations had broken down, 19 German bombers attacked Elverum. Pol III quickly sent an alarm to the coastal batteries on Rauøy (Rauøy island) and opened fire on the torpedo boat Albatros with her single gun shortly before colliding with it. Resistance at Fornebu Airport came to an end, with the Germans' only loss being a single Ju 52. [116], The combined total loss of merchants ships and transports for the Allies and Norwegians was around 70 ships. After a quick parley with the captain of Eidsvold, Odd Isaachsen Willoch, the German ships opened fire pre-emptively on the coastal defence ship, sinking her after hitting her with three torpedoes. “During Germany’s occupation of Norway in World War II, the Lincoln bust, (in Oslo’s Frogner Park), became the site of silent anti-Nazi protests. Only one of the nine Norwegian submarines managed to escape to the United Kingdom, the other eight being scuttled or captured. Notification of approaching foreign battleships was sent to Oscarsborg Fortress, strategically located at the narrowest point of the Oslofjord. Resistance movements during World War II took place in Norway through a variety of actions, military organization, disinformation and propaganda, guerilla attacks and outright warfare. They stayed with her Swedish family until 12 August, when they travelled to the USA at the invitation of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. [1], In order to block the expected allied landings the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ordered a Fallschirmjäger company to make a combat drop on the railway junction of Dombås in the north of the Gudbrandsdal valley. The sinking of the Blücher delayed the German troops’ advance on Oslo, giving the Royal Family, the Government and the Storting representatives the time needed to escape to safety. World War II - World War II - The invasion of Norway: British plans for landings on the Norwegian coast in the third week of March 1940 were temporarily postponed. The last year of the war saw an increase in sabotage actions by the exile government-aligned Norwegian resistance organization Milorg, although the organization's main goal was to retain intact guerilla forces to aid an Allied invasion of Norway. Norway - Norway - World War II: With the outbreak of hostilities in 1939, Norway again declared itself neutral. 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. 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. [18], It was agreed to utilize Churchill's naval mining plan, 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. Kong Haakon går om bord på den britiske krysseren "Devonshire", etter beslutningen om å forlate Norge. [111][112], The German losses at sea were heavy, with the sinking of one of the Kriegsmarine's two heavy cruisers, two of its six light cruisers, 10 of its 20 destroyers and six U-boats. The Blücher was hit b… Fighting ceased at 24:00 on 9 June. Troops would be issued their mobilization orders by post. [114], The British lost one aircraft carrier, two cruisers, seven destroyers and a submarine but with their much larger fleet could absorb the losses to a much greater degree than Germany. It was decided to send troops to both locations as a compromise. The Norwegian resistance movement played an important part in World War Two. [65] After the Luftwaffe bombed and severely damaged Voss and the surrounding countryside on 23–25 April, inflicting civilian casualties, the Germans captured the town on 26 April. [20] 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.[11]. [1][113], The greatest cost of the campaign on land came in the need to keep most of the invasion troops in Norway for occupation duties away from the fronts. Norway, although neutral, was considered strategically important for both sides of the war for several reasons. The members of the Royal Family, the Government and the Storting boarded a special train at the Oslo Eastern Railway Station and headed northwards. In Norway the German occupation authority, led by Reich commissioner Josef Terboven, attempted to establish a legal occupation government, elected by the Storting, to collaborate with the Nazis. First was the importance of the iron ore that came through the port of Narvik, from which large quantities of iron ore from Sweden (on which Germany depended), were exported; this route was especially important during the winter months when much of the Baltic Sea was frozen over. Shortly after the First Battle of Narvik, two more German ships were sunk by British forces. The brigade withdrew under heavy pressure across Skjerstad Fjord on 25 May, covered by a rearguard from the 1st Irish Guards and several of the Independent Companies under Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Stockwell. RAF reconnaissance soon reported stronger opposition than anticipated, and this, along with the possibility that the Germans might be controlling the shore defences, caused them to recall the force and instead use the aircraft carrier HMS Furious to launch torpedo bombers at the enemy ships. Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers proved particularly effective in demoralizing Norwegian troops opposing the advance. At this meeting, the cabinet issued orders for the mobilization of four of the six field brigades of the Norwegian Army. [123], The German occupation of Norway was to prove a thorn in the side of the Allies during the next few years. Lachsfang (1942) — Proposed combined German and Finnish attack against Kandalaksha and Belomorsk Additionally, supporting Fallschirmjäger (paratroops) were to capture other key locations such as airfields at Fornebu outside of Oslo and Sola outside of Stavanger. 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. This flotilla, under the command of Captain Bernard Warburton-Lee, had already detached from Renown during her pursuit of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, being ordered to guard the entrance to the Vestfjord. On 20 April German aircraft bombed Namsos, destroying most of the houses in the town centre, and large portions of the supply storage for allied troops, leaving de Wiart without a base. The Nortraship vessels were crewed by 27,000 sailors. 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 focus on readying the fighters 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. Glowworm, on her way to rejoin Renown, happened to come up behind Z11 Bernd von Arnim and then Z18 Hans Lüdemann in the heavy fog around 08:00 on 8 April. … Hønefoss was the first town to fall to the advancing German forces. After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, air bases in Norway were also used to interdict the Allied Arctic convoys there, inflicting painful losses to shipping. Photo: Per Bratland, Nina Bratlands arkiv, King Haakon and Crown Prince Olav with General Otto Ruge, commander-in-chief of the Norwegian Army (Photo: Scanpix). [100] By 8 June, after destroying rail lines and port facilities, all Allied troops had been evacuated. [16][101] A capitulation agreement for the Norwegian forces fighting at Narvik was also signed the same day, at Bjørnfjell. During World War II, in 1943 Jan Baalsrud along with 11 other Norwegian men sailed from the U.K. where they had trained and headed to Nazi-occupied Norway to destroy a German air control tower and support the Norwegian resistance. Warspite's destroyers travelled 5 km (3.1 mi) 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 heavy cruiser Blücher sailed into the Oslofjord in the early morning hours of 9 April. The Germans … The Norwegian counter-offensive against the Germans at Narvik was hampered by Fleischer's decision to retain significant forces in Eastern Finnmark to guard against a possible Soviet attack in the far north.[9]. The battle for Norway cost Germany and Britain dearly. Following the sinking of Eidsvold and Norge, the commander of Narvik, Konrad Sundlo, surrendered the land forces in the town without a fight.[21]. Some 2,000 German soldiers occupied Bergen and captured the Norwegian arms depots there. [26][109], In neutral Sweden there was also a Norwegian build-up of forces in the last two years of the war through the so-called "police troops" established with the support of Swedish authorities.