DK - World War II Map by Map

THE BATTLE FOR NORWAY 47

LakeVä

ner

Örnsköldsvik

Norrköping

Vossevangen

Copenhagen

Lillehammer

Kristiansand

Flekkefjord

Egersund

Jøssingfjord

Magdeburg

Haugesund

Östersund

Trondheim

Støren

Linköping

Dortmund

Karlskrona

Stockholm

Stavanger

Sola

Leikanger

Flensburg

Halmstadt

Hamburg

Sundsvall

Tromsø

Ålesund

Ventspils

Svolvær

Potsdam

Bollnäs

Finnsnes

Namsos

Rostock

Örebro

Malmö

Uppsala

Harstad

Aalborg Odense

Bremen

Rørvik

Esbjerg

Lübeck

Gävle

Bergen

Kalmar

Emden

Hamar Group 5

Group 3

Group 6

Group 2

Group 4

Århus

Narvik

Ofotfjord

Leipzig

Šiauliai

BodŒ

Kiruna

Molde

Åndalsnes

Assen

Berlin

Larvik

Oslo

Rjukan

Riga

Kiel

Group 1

Steinkjer

Bornholm

North

Sea

Norwegian

Sea

B (^) fo fl uG
to
nh
ai
Baltic Sea
DENMARK
ESTONIA
LATVIA
LITHUANIA
S
W
E
D
E
N
G
R
E
A
T
E
R
G
E
R
M
A
N
Y
N
O
R
W
A
Y
In July 1938, Norway and eight other countries declared their neutrality in any possible European conflict. Germany, in turn,
agreed to respect Norway’s integrity so long as its neutrality was
not infringed by any other power. The peace was not to last.
Norway was of significant importance to Germany, not least
because large quantities of iron ore from Sweden were shipped annually to Germany via the ice-free Norwegian port of Narvik. In addition, the German navy saw strategic advantages in establishing bases in Norway, because it would be far more difficult for an enemy to deny access to its long coastline than to blockade German ports.
The
Altmark
incident of February 1940 (see box, right) convinced
Hitler that the British would not respect Norwegian neutrality. Fearing that the British would soon move to disrupt the vital trade
in iron ore, the German high command planned an invasion of Norway, which began on April 9, 1940.
The focal point of the naval and land battles in Norway was the town of Narvik, which the Allies needed to occupy in order to retain a strategic foothold in Norway. The Allies decisively won the sea battles, with the German navy sustaining heavy losses. On land, however, the poorly equipped Allied troops were outnumbered and outgunned, and many were evacuated by the beginning of May. The Germans dominated the air through the Luftwaffe’s 10th Air Corps (Fliegerkorps X), demonstrating the tactical importance of air superiority to achieving military aims on the modern battlefield.
The Allies abandoned their action in southern Norway after
just three weeks, but fighting continued in the north, where the Norwegian and Allied forces eventually retook Narvik. However, German invasions in France and the Low Countries in May 1940 (see pp.48–49) dictated a withdrawal and evacuation because the remaining Allied soldiers were urgently needed elsewhere.
THE BATTLE FOR NORWAYOn March 1, 1940, Adolf Hitler signed the order for Operation Weserübung. The principal aim of
this daring operation was to take control of Norway—a goal that also necessitated the occupation
of Denmark. The invasion advanced Germany’s aim of gaining greater access to the North Sea and provided a gateway to the Atlantic for its warships and submarines.
From August to December 1939, the German supply ship
Altmark
(pictured below) refueled
the warship
Admiral Graf Spee
during her
raiding mission against Allied shipping in the South Atlantic (see pp.42–43). In January
1940,
Altmark
headed home, carrying
prisoners from merchant ships sunk by
Admiral
Graf Spee

. After neutral Norwegian destroyers

prevented a Royal Navy interception, the British instructed the destroyer HMS

Cossack

to pursue

Altmark

into Jøssingfjord. On

February 16, a boarding party armed with bayonets leaped onto

Altmark

, killing several

guards but rescuing around 300 Allied POWs.

British troop landingGerman retreat

NARVIK ENCIRCLED

APRIL 9–JUNE 9, 1940

In the north, the area around Narvik was the scene

of fierce fighting between the Allies (including British troops landed at Harstad, and Norwegian, French, and Polish units) and the outnumbered Germans.

The Allies finally retook Narvik on May 28 and the Germans staged a fighting retreat toward the border with Sweden. However, just 10 days later, Allied troops were evacuated because they were needed elsewhere.

5

GERMAN SUCCESS IN NORWAYThe rapid capture of Denmark and Norway was

a triumph of German combined arms. However, although the Allied land retreat meant Germany secured air and sea access to northern waters,

the Allied resistance at sea crippled the German Navy’s surface forces.KEY

Allied attacksAllied retreatsAllied ships sunk

APR 1940

MAY

JUN

JUL

TIMELINE^123456

German ships sunkGermany’s campaigns

THE ALTMARK INCIDENT

Apr 11

British submarine

HMS

Spearfish

torpedoes

and disables the German heavy cruiser

Lützow

on

her way to Kiel.

THE FATE OF NORWAY

JUNE 10, 1940–ONWARDStripped of Allied support, Norway capitulated on June 10 and remained under German occupation until May 1945. The king and government escaped to London, and the country was ruled by a puppet government under Vidkun Quisling, which was opposed by an effective resistance movement. More than 300,000 German troops were stationed in the country, and its occupation had taken a high toll on the German navy.

6

German attack

groups 1–6German attack

groups 7–11

British positions

US_046-047_The_Battle_for_Norway.indd 47 20/03/19 12:45 PM