The German Invasion of Norway. Geirr H. Haarr
To my father
‘In Norwegen kreuzen sich drei große Kraftlinien: Die deutsche, die russische und die englische.’
In Norway, three great power lines cross: the German, the Russian and the British.
Dr Heinrich Sahm,
German minister to Norway, 1938
Copyright © Geirr H. Haarr 2009
First published in Great Britain in 2009 by
Seaforth Publishing
An imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street, Barnsley
S. Yorkshire S70 2AS
The right of Geirr H. Haarr to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Published and distributed in the United States of America and Canada by
Naval Institute Press
291 Wood Road
Annapolis, Maryland 21402-5034
This edition is authorized for sale only in the United States of America, its territories and possessions and Canada.
First Naval Institute Press eBook edition published in 2015.
ISBN 978-1-61251-940-1 (eBook)
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP data record for this book is available from the British Library
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing of both the copyright owner and the above publisher.
Typeset and designed by JCS Publishing Services Ltd, www.jcs-publishing.co.uk
Print edition by MPG Books Group (Great Britain)
Contents
1 Introduction
2 Wheels Within Wheels
3 Storm Warning
4 The Dogs of War
5 The Oslofjord
6 Ultimatum
7 Kristiansand–Arendal
8 Stavanger–Egersund
9 Bergen
10 In Harm’s Way
11 Trondheim
12 Encounter in the Storm
13 Narvik
14 No Room for Mistakes
15 A Tide in the Affairs of Men
Appendices
A The European Iron Ore Trade
B The Royal Norwegian Navy, April 1940
C British Ships Involved in Norway, April 1940
D Ships in Narvik Harbour, 8 April 1940
E The German Naval Invasion Forces
F Losses
Abbreviations and Glossaries
Notes
References
Index
Acknowledgements
MANY PEOPLE HAVE CONTRIBUTED to this book, some from a lifetime of their own research, others with a small but important detail. Their contributions are highly appreciated.
Above all, the altruistic help and support from Robert Pearson of Ipswich, England, is gratefully acknowledged. Were it not for him, this project would have been shelved a long time ago. David Goodey, Reinhard Hoheisel-Huxmann, Erling Skjold and Andrew Smith are also thanked sincerely. Without their help and support nothing would have been achieved.
John Ballam, Ronald Crocker, Albert Goodey, Bernhard Hallis, Vic Hiscock, Dagfinn Kjeholt, Derek Morris, Jan Reimers and Wilfred ‘Robbie’ Robinson were all there in 1940 and some sixty years later gave me the privilege of taking part in their thoughts and memories. Often sad, sometimes troubled, but inevitably low-key and with an understatement I could not fully fathom, they spoke of the little things that are not in the reports. Many have crossed the bar since and precious few are left. Let us never forget them or their mates.
The efficient staff at Sola Folkebibliotek, my local library, deserve great thanks. There is not a single book or document I have asked for they have not been able to find. Also the nameless staffs of the National Archives at Kew, Bundesarchiv in Koblenz and Freiburg, and Riksarkivet in Oslo deserve thanks for patience and professional dedication. The Naval Museum in Horten and Nordland Røde Kors Krigsminnemuseum (War Museum) in Narvik are thanked for enthusiastic support.
Julian Mannering at Seaforth Publishing deserves great thanks for believing in me and giving me the deadlines I needed. Without his support the project might never have seen completion.
Frank Abelsen, Dag-Jostein Andressen, John Asmussen, Bill Bartholomew, Keith Batchelor, Øystein Berge, Jostein Berglyd, Alexander Dietzsch, Tore Eggan, Ivar Enoksen, Nicole Granholt, Peter Harrison, Pamela Jacobsen, Tor Jevanord, Svein Aage Knudsen, Ernst Knutson, Sonia Law, George Malcomson, Oddvar Naas, Finn Nesvold, Tor Ødemotland, Simon Partridge, Paul Sedal, Halvor Sperbund, Ian Thomas, Ulf Eirik Torgersen, Trond Erik Tveit, John Warburton-Lee, Alister Williams, Ingrid Willoch, Ellen Margrete Willoch, Kåre Willoch and Atle Wilmar all deserve acknowledgement.
Last, but not least, thanks to my beloved wife Gro, for allowing me to share my passion for her with that for history; listening patiently when I needed to discuss some detail and skilfully distracting me when I needed to relax.
Geirr H Haarr
Sola, Stavanger, May 2009
THIS BOOK DOCUMENTS THE German invasion of Norway in April 1940 (Operation Weserübung), focusing on the events at sea.1 The objective is to give a balanced and factual account; readable but without compromising the demand for research and accurate detail.
As far as possible, the narrative has been based on primary sources. There is still an overwhelming amount of detail and anybody having information that would lead to modifications or improvements are more than welcome to contact me. The research material has come in many languages: Norwegian, German, English, Swedish, Danish and French. All translations into English are my own responsibility and where necessary I have striven to maintain the significance of what was said or written rather than create a word-by-word translation.
The military impact of Operation Weserübung has largely been overshadowed by the events on the Western Front and the fall of France, but there is no doubt that the invasion of Norway and the subsequent campaign had a significant influence on WWII in Europe. On paper, Germany had made a move of great strategic significance, breaking the British blockade of the North Sea and opening a potential to strike out towards the Atlantic. Lacking the resources to capitalise