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Hitler Turns North By Joseph Miranda

Background

dolph Hitler viewed Norway as critical to the Reich’s war effort for two World War II, had two plans in mind. reasons. First, deliveries to Germany of Swedish iron ore went through One, Operation Catherine, called for A the Norwegian port of Narvik. The high-grade ore was then transshipped a naval push into the Baltic Sea to via Norwegian coastal waters to Germany, where it was used in the steel industry. cut German lines of communication Second, Norway formed the geostrategic northern fl ank of the Reich. From with Scandinavia. While that plan was Norwegian bases the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) and Air Force (Luftwaffe) scotched owing to the inherent risks could dispatch planes, surface raiders and U-boats to interdict Britain’s naval of operating within reach of Luftwaffe lines of communication. That would overcome the restriction under which air attack, it showed the lengths to the German Navy had operated during World War I, when its High Seas Fleet which the British were considering could only approach the British isles from bases at Kiel and in the Baltic. pushing their naval strategy. As 1939 ended, the Germans had good reason to be concerned about Norway. At the same time, the British One was the British were clearly taking an increased interest in Scandinavia understood the importance of and the Baltic. , First Lord of the Admiralty at the start of Germany’s iron supplies. Narvik was critical because the direct sea route from Sweden via the Baltic to Germany froze during the winter, while Narvik operated year round. Consequently the Allies developed a contingency plan for seizing that port, and events elsewhere in Europe gave them their opportunity. In November 1939 the Soviet Union, then still allied with Germany under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Non- Aggression Pact, invaded Finland. The ensuing saw the Finns making a determined defense against the Red Army, cutting up several waves of invaders. While the Soviets managed to bludgeon through to victory in the end, the Finns’ resistance gave the British and French time and reason to consider sending an expeditionary force to the far north. The ostensible intent was to aid Finland, but part of the operation called for seizing Narvik as a forward base, thereby conve- niently cutting it off from German use. The nascent Allied plan fell through when the Winter War ended in March 1940. There were also diplomatic issues involved with what would’ve clearly been a violation of neutral Norway. Nonetheless, it showed the potential of what could be done. (Also see the fi rst sidebar.) With everyone expecting major German offensives across the west in the spring, the Allies again moved forward with a plan to land

This photo, of German infantry advancing along an Oslo street, was continued on page 9 » widely circulated throughout the Reich at the time.

6 WORLD at WAR 29 | APR–MAY 2013 WORLD at WAR 29 | APR–MAY 2013 7 The Altmark provided fuel and resupply to search the hold in which the prisoners were at arranging a joint search of the German the warship, and in return the Graf Spee being held and, when those men attempted ship. The Norwegians refused, stating repeat- transferred the prisoners to Altmark. to signal the searchers by making noise, the edly that, as far as they were concerned, the Concerned at the damage being done Germans ran some winches to cover the sound. Altmark had already been thoroughly searched. to vital merchant shipping, the British The Altmark was escorted by the When Vian relayed the outcome of the Admiralty sent out eight “hunting groups” Norwegian patrol boats Kjell, Skarv and Firern. talks to the Admiralty, he was instructed to into the Atlantic and one into the Indian The British requested the Norwegians stop the make one fi nal offer: the Altmark was to be Ocean to fi nd the German ships. Altmark until RN destroyers could arrive and a jointly escorted to Bergen for a new search When Hunting Group G, consisting of the joint search undertaken, but the Norwegians there. If that was rejected, he was immediately heavy cruiser Exeter and the light cruisers refused. Not wanting to anger the Germans, the to board the German ship and free the prison- Ajax and Achilles, located the German vessels, Norwegians did no more than shadow Altmark. ers. The offer was declined by the Norwegians. the resulting engagement, fought close by The Admiralty meanwhile dispatched At 11:23 p.m. the Cossack closed on the northern Argentine coast, became known Fourth Destroyer Flotilla to intercept. Altmark with a boarding party standing by. as the Battle of the River Plate. After putting Flotilla commander Capt. Phillip Vian, on The Altmark shone bright searchlights at into Montevideo for repairs, Langsdorff was the destroyer Cossack, was ordered to fi nd the bridge, hoping to blind the English crew. convinced by a British hoax that superior forces Altmark, force her into international waters, As the lights came on, Dau also tried to were awaiting his departure. He choose to and then board her to free the prisoners. ram the Cossack using the Altmark’s stern, scuttle his ship and commit suicide rather than As they were unsure as to the but deft handling allowed the British ship risk it or his person falling into British hands. Altmark’s exact appearance, the destroyers to escape almost undamaged. As the two This is the cover of a German propaganda After the destruction of the Graf Spee stopped and searched several merchant ships brushed sides, some members of the pamphlet published soon after the Altmark The German dead being solemnly carried ashore. incident concluded. You don’t really need the began the search for Altmark, ships before their true target was fi nally boarding party jumped onto the Altmark. the words to get the idea; however, the which they knew to still be in the area. They discovered by a Coastal Command aircraft Vian quickly turned around the Cossack and, title translates as: “[The] Altmark Case – assumed, with the sinking of the Graf Spee, the on 16 February. Vian immediately ordered on the next pass, the rest of the boarding German sailors. With that quickly completed, action brought accolades to those involved Documents [on] British War Management.” Altmark would run for Germany. Anticipating destroyers Ivanhoe and Intrepid, along with party made the jump onto the freighter. Vian departed Jossing Fjord at 11:55 p.m., within the UK, but the Germans accused that, the captain of the Altmark, Heinrich Dau, the light cruiser Arethusa, to the area. In a brief but violent struggle, six Germans barely 30 minutes after the action the Royal Navy of “piracy” and of having The Altmark Incident: The remained in the South Atlantic for several When the British caught up to Altmark, were killed and eight wounded. The Germans started. The Altmark was set free and no respect for the laws of neutrality. Royal Navy as Pirates weeks before turning north. With luck, and by Intrepid signaled the German ship to heave later alleged that several sailors trying to fl ee allowed to continue on her way More importantly, for both the Norwegians avoiding shipping lanes, the Altmark passed to but was ignored. Two warning shots then along the ice were shot in the back, a claim It’s still open to debate whether the and the Allies, the incident focused Hitler’s “The navy’s here!” With those words between Iceland and the Faeroe Islands, fi nally also had no effect. The Germans gambled, denied by the Royal Navy. In fact, at one point Altmark was breaking international law by mind on contemplating military action in the ordeal of 299 Allied prisoners-of-war entering Norwegian waters off Trondheim on 14 correctly, the British wouldn’t fi re accurately two British sailors dived into the freezing steaming through Norwegian waters. According Scandinavia. Since Swedish iron ore was ended. Those sailors had come from nine February 1940. Dau hoped Norwegian neutrality for fear of hitting their own prisoners. water in an attempt to rescue a wounded to the Hague Convention of 1907, she was vital for Germany’s war industries, and that merchant ships sunk by the German pocket would protect him from attack by British ships. The British maneuvered so as to try to force German sailor who’d fallen in, but he was entitled to go through neutral waters with ore was transported through Norwegian battleship Admiral Graf Spee. Prior to their As the Altmark steamed south along the the Altmark out to sea, but they were hampered then found to be already dead. The British prisoners on board as long as it didn’t involve waters, to the dictator it suddenly seemed ships being sunk, their crews were given the Norwegian coast toward Germany, the ship in that effort by the presence of the Norwegian quickly took control of the ship but not before a stop of more than 24 hours. It was open proven that England would unhesitatingly opportunity to surrender by the commander was stopped and searched three times by the patrol boats. That interference allowed Altmark she ran aground, causing minor damage. to interpretation whether the Convention soon move to cut that supply line. of the Graf Spee, Capt. Hans Langsdorff. Norwegian Navy. Each inspection was merely to slip into the ice-fi lled Jossing Fjord. A search was undertaken, and one of allowed a warship to legally seek protection The episode is also signifi cant in Royal The Graf Spee was accompanied for cursory, and the Norwegians took the Germans’ At dusk Capt. Vian arrived on HMS Cossack the British sailors opened a hatch and called from attack by plotting a course into neutral Navy history in that it to this day remains the much of its trip by the supply ship Altmark. word they held no prisoners. They didn’t and began talks with the Norwegians aimed out: “Are there any Englishmen here?” waters. Naturally, both Germany and Great last combat-boarding operation carried out On receiving a positive reply, he Britain were soon presenting opposing by that service. The boarding action was also yelled the immortal words: “Then arguments in the world news media. the last RN engagement in which a cutlass come up! The navy’s here!” In the wake of the incident, the Norwegian was wielded in combat by one of its offi cers. Vian transferred the freed prisoners government expressed outrage its neutrality to Cossack, leaving behind the surviving had been violated by both sides. The decisive — Colin Rice ★

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in Norway, giving it the codename “R4.” It called for a British brigade to land at Narvik, with separate battalions at Trondheim, Stavanger and Bergen, once the Germans had begun moving (and thereby ending Norway’s neutrality). The assumption was the Allies would get to those ports before the Germans, and then aid the Norwegians as they mobilized their nation’s armed forces. It all relied on the Royal Navy maintaining control of the North Sea. As will be seen, that was the fatal fl aw in the plan.

The offi cers of the French ground force headquarters staff shortly after arriving at Narvik.

8 WORLD at WAR 29 | APR–MAY 2013 WORLD at WAR 29 | APR–MAY 2013 9 Buy Now! skill in developing Weserubung. It was to be under the direct control of OKW Home (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht), the overall and supreme Armed Forces High Command. That would give Group 21 the authority to control formations from all three services. Given the plan’s operational require- ment to coordinate ground, air and naval forces, that organizational schema was a necessity. With Group 21 directly under OKW, there was a more effi cient pathway for command-control, since orders wouldn’t have to be fi ltered through several echelons of command or the various services’ own headquarters. Group 21 was placed under Gen. Nikolaus von Falkenhorst, who was also commander of XXI Army Corps. He hadn’t been picked randomly for the job; rather, it was because he had German Paratroopers (at right) photographed shortly after seizing an experience in Scandinavia. During airfi eld in Norway & (above) Brandenburgers in Norway. World War I he’d served as a staff offi cer for Germany’s expeditionary German Special Operations force to the Baltic that had supported Finnish nationalists fi ghting against The Germans fi elded one airborne division in 1940, 7th Flieger. It was set up as a Luftwaffe Brandenburgers were trained to operate the Bolsheviks. He also had experience unit, the idea being that would make for better coordination during air transport operations. initially under cover, but then go over to open operating with the navy. What that The 7th consisted of fi ve infantry battalions organized in two regiments, with little in the combat when needed. They were supposed meant was the man in charge was way of heavy fi repower; however, it wasn’t intended for use as a full-fl edged assault unit. to be able to speak the language of the familiar both with the region and Rather, the German airborne had two primary missions. The fi rst was to seize countries in which they were operating, with what would today be called objectives behind enemy lines, such as bridges and airfi elds. They would then hold those as well as being trained in sabotage and the concept of “joint operations.” locales until reinforced by columns moving on the ground or by air-landed troops. long-range reconnaissance. One tactic was The formation of Group 21 The second mission was special operations, knocking out targets that to wear enemy uniforms when infi ltrating, didn’t take place without resistance. couldn’t otherwise be dealt with from the air. One of the more famous airborne then switch to German ones when engaging Hermann Goering, the Luftwaffe com- operations would occur at the opening of the campaign against the Low Countries, in combat in order to avoid technical violation mander-in-chief, at fi rst didn’t want to when a glider-borne unit assaulted and seized the Belgian fortress of Eben Emael. of the Geneva Convention. For Norway the surrender operational control of the air The Germans had another outfi t for special operations, the Brandenburgers. It was a Germans had the “North Platoon” of the force. It therefore took some politicking commando organization run by the Abwehr, their military intelligence department. The unit Brandenburgers available and in the fi eld. Its to hammer out the fi nal arrangements. was known by a variety of cover names, such as the 800th Special Construction Training men seized bridges and critical crossroads The invasion of Denmark was to Battalion, but since they trained near the city of Brandenburg that was the one that stuck. ahead of advancing ground units, and held take place under the aegis of XXXI them until those spearheads showed up. ★ Army Corps. Once occupied, that coun- try would provide the Luftwaffe with airbases from which the Norwegian operation could be more effi ciently didn’t amount to much more than ports along the North Sea would thus line running direct from it to southern supported. Danish resistance wasn’t activating some battalions in the far be left open to the Allies, who were Norway; its only rail connection ran expected to amount to much. The north in proximity to the USSR. expected to quickly seize them. In directly east to neutral Sweden. country was wide open to German The initial German obstacle in turn, that would mean the Germans Taking all that into account, Group invasion, and the Danes were holding the campaign was transportation. would face a campaign fi ghting 21 came up with a daring solution: back on mobilizing, fearing it would Group 21 called for a ground force their way up the rugged mountains seize all the critical ports along provoke Germany into attacking. of six divisions, later reinforced by and thick forests of the country. the Norwegian coast from Oslo to German Plans Norway. The codename for the plan Norway would be the tougher a seventh along with miscellaneous Added to the transportation Narvik in simultaneous amphibious was Weserubung. (In English: Weser nut to crack for the Germans. That smaller units. Those units would issue was the matter of supply. While and airborne attacks. Once those In Berlin, Hitler anticipated a [River] Exercise, deceptively titled as wasn’t because of the strength of the have to be moved from the continent Norway had a rail system, much of places were secured, coastal shipping preemptive Allied move into Norway if it were a training maneuver to take its armed forces, which were small. to Norway. The shortest route was the interior remained diffi cult to could provide logistical support to and plotted accordingly to preempt place inside Germany.) The Danish There was also considerable anti-war across the Skagerrak, the channel traverse. Pushing supplies up the the forces on the ground. In taking them. He set up a special planning part of the operation was Weserubung sentiment in Norway, as well as an connecting the North and Baltic Seas. length of the country would mean those ports, the Germans would organization within XXI Army Corps, Sud (South) while the Norwegian indifference to military preparations. While the route could be easily covered overextended lines of communica- thereby also preempt enemy use codenamed Gruppe XXI (Group 21). portion was Weserubung Nord (North). When the Winter War had broken by the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine, tion, vulnerable to Allied sea-based of them, in that way aborting the It would coordinate German Army While it’s common to criticize Hitler out, the Norwegians had begun to it would mean limiting the initial interdiction. Narvik, one of the primary expected Allied counteroffensive. (Heer), Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine for his meddling in German armed make some hurried moves to improve invasion to southern Norway. The objectives of Weserubung, had no rail forces in a joint operation to seize forces planning, in this case he showed their position, but they ultimately continued on page 13 »

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