TIMELINE

There are varying opinions as to when the came to an end. Some say it was in April 1940 with the invasion of and the first really significant and direct engagement on land between Ger- man and British forces. Others say that it was in May with the invasion of the low countries and France, and, of course, Dunkirk.

Wherever you stand on this point there can be no doubt that the battle for Norway marked the point of no return – any slim hopes of securing a peace settlement were effectively blown sky high.

April 1940 is ALL about the battle for Norway, and I make no apologies for the fact that I am going to talk mostly about that as we work through our timeline for the month.

I’m going to start by clarifying the status of the Scandinavian countries in the run-up to the battle – and by that I mean , Norway and , leaving to one side for the moment - and by briefly taking you back to events that we have already covered as they set the scene, or perhaps lit the fuse, for what was to come. SCANDINAVIA 1939

At the outbreak of war all three of these Scandinavian countries were neutral, and it would have served German strategic interests for all of them to have remained neutral throughout the war. But this attitude changed in the Spring of 1940 largely as a result of actual or feared allied actions to either draw the Scandinavian countries into the war, or to gain control of Scandinavian territory.

It was not in ’s interest to invade and occupy Sweden. Sweden’s value to Germany was her resources, not her geography. Norway and Denmark, on the other hand, and especially Norway, had a strategic military value which Sweden did not. Norway’s long coastline would be vital in the battle for control of the and easing the passage of German warships and submarines into the Atlantic.

But most significantly, at the start of the war Germany imported millions of tons of iron ore from Sweden which was crucial to the German war effort. And most of this ore came from north Sweden via the port of Lulea. But this port was frozen over for the winter months whereas the Norwegian port of was not. So, control of Narvik was vital to the Germans.

The Germans initially wanted to rely on Norway remaining neutral, and the Allies respecting this neutrality. But as we have already learned in previous months, Churchill in particular was not averse to riding somewhat roughshod over Norwegian sensibilities, and there had already been British incursions into Norwegian territorial waters. The Altmark incident in , authorised by Churchill - in which forces of the seized the German steamer, Altmark, in a Norwegian fjord and freed 299 prisoners of war – upset the Norwegians and infuriated Hitler, and a few days later he authorised Operation Weserubung, the invasion of Norway.

Churchill had wanted a more resolute policy towards Norway since the early days of the war. He recognised the importance of Narvik to the Germans, and told the Cabinet led by Chamberlain that the transportation of iron ore had to be stopped. He proposed the mining of waters around Narvik but the Cabinet did not agree. Churchill persisted, and as we heard in March he eventually secured agreement to Operation Wilfred, the mining of the channel between Norway and her offshore islands. On the 2nd of April Hitler signed the order for Operation Weserubung – the invasion of Denmark and Norway. A day later the British Cabinet somewhat reluctantly approved Operation Wilfred, which included plans for Anglo-French landings in Norway to forestall a German invasion there which British intelligence believed was imminent. They advised of a German military build-up in northern German ports, suggesting that an invasion somewhere in Scandinavia was going to happen in the near future.

Also on 2nd April the troops of the were put on full alert along the German border. So everyone it seems was getting a bit twitchy.

So, where was Sweden in all of this?

Within the scheme of things there was no clear need for Germany to invade or occupy Sweden. There was no possible Allied access to Sweden as long as the Germans controlled Norway and Denmark. And if the Germans had invaded Sweden this would have attracted Allied bombing raids on mining sites, and naval action against Swedish ports – all too risky from a German perspective. Also, the Swedish armed forces were strong enough to mount a powerful defence, and this would have overstretched the Germans, especially the navy. So long as Sweden was willing to provide Germany with all the iron ore she required she would be left in peace. So, Sweden was able to maintain her stance of neutrality, Germany got the iron ore she needed and permission to transport troops through Sweden, and Sweden made some money. Not a bad deal.

In fairness though, Sweden ultimately traded and gave benefits to both sides during the war. For example, she helped the Allies with information, took in Jews from occupied countries, as well as Norwegian resistance fighters and other escapees such as PoW’s.

On 5th April the British began to implement Operation Wilfred by mining Norwegian waters. That same day the Norwegian Ambassador in warned both and of a possible German invasion, as did the British.

Elsewhere, on or around the 5th of April the Katyn Massacre began. Over a period of about a month Sovi- et forces conducted a mass execution of Polish prisoners in various locations, but in particular the Katyn Forest near Smolensk in Russia. Estimates of the number of Polish citizens executed range from some 14,540 through 21,857 to 28,000.

Most of those killed were Polish reserve officers taken prisoner during , but the dead also included many civilians who had been arrested for being "intelligence agents and gendarmes, spies and saboteurs, former landowners, factory owners, and officials”. Since Poland's conscription system required every un-exempted university graduate to become a reserve officer, the Soviets were thus able to round up much of the Polish, Jewish, Ukrainian, Georgian, and Belarusian intelligentsias of Polish citizenship. Following the invasion of Soviet territory by the Germans in 1941 questions were raised about the disappearance of the Polish prisoners, but it was before the mass graves were discovered. Then the Soviets sought to blame the Germans for the deaths, suggesting they had killed the prisoners during their invasion. The Soviets continued to deny responsibility until 1990.

On 7th April British reconnaissance aircraft spotted a large German naval force heading northwards. RAF bombers were despatched to attack the group but this attack was not successful. Sea conditions were stormy at the time, making it difficult for the British to track them.

The following day Norway protested the British naval mining of its territorial waters.

That same day the British , Glowworm, was sunk by the German cruiser, Admiral Hipper, in the Norwegian Sea. Despite being hopelessly outgunned, the Glowworm managed to ram the Admiral Hipper causing considerable damage. The Captain of the Glowworm, Gerard Broadmead Roope, earned the first Victoria Cross of the war for his conduct. The VC was awarded posthumously – Captain Roope, who was just 35 years old, died with the majority of his crew although the Captain of the Hipper went to considerable lengths to try and save as many as possible. And the VC was not bestowed until after the war when the Admiral Hippers’ log describing the battle was read by the Royal Navy.

On 9th April the battle for Norway began. As dawn was breaking the German envoys in Oslo and Copenhagen presented the Norwegian and Danish governments with an ultimatum demanding that they immediately accept the protection of the Reich. Denmark capitulated to avoid mass bloodshed at the hands of the Germans and the country was invaded within six hours. The Norwegians were defiant, and both the King and the Norwegian government fled the capital that morning for the mountains in the north.

The Norwegian navy and coastal defences also put up a fight, and had some success, but the losses on the Norwegian side were considerable.

In the early morning nine Royal Navy ships and two Germany , the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, engaged in what became known as the . Although they exchanged fire, more damage was done to ships on both sides by the stormy sea conditions. It was a slight tactical victory for the British but it failed to delay the invasion at Narvik. Elsewhere along the coast there were other engagements between British and Germany vessels resulting in losses on both sides.

Scharnhorst Gneisenau

The German forces quickly took control of the ports of Narvik, , , Stavenger and Oslo. They were able to slip through the few mines the British had laid around the ports, and local garrisons were ordered by a Norwegian commander loyal to Norway’s pro-fascist former foreign minister, Vidkun , to allow the Germans to land troops unopposed – we’ll come back to Quisling in a minute.

Plan R 4 was put into action. This had been developed by the British and French as a contingency plan alongside Operation Wilfred in the event of Germany violating the territorial integrity of Norway, but ultimately it was not carried out as designed.

Now Vikund Quisling, was as I mentioned, the former foreign minister of Norway.

In 1933 he had founded a fascist party in Norway, but it had made little political progress by the outbreak of war. Nevertheless he had collaborated with the Germans, and actually met with Hitler, and believed they would look to him to govern Norway in the future.

On 9th April, as the German invasion was underway, Quisling attempted to seize power in the world’s first radio broadcast coup d’etat, but actually failed after the Germans refused to back his government – something of a slap in the face for him. He did nominally serve as Prime Minister of a puppet government between 1942 – 1945, and his government did collaborate with the Nazi’s on the final solution – the mass genocide of the Jews.

At the end of the war Quisling was put on trial and executed by firing squad. The word "quisling" became a byword for "collaborator" or "traitor" in several languages, reflecting the contempt with which Quisling's conduct has been regarded, both at the time and since his death.

Over the ensuing days there were a number of sea battles fought with losses on both sides. A notable British success on 10th April was the sinking of the German cruiser, Konigsberg, by dive bombers of the Fleet Air Arm – the first sinking in history of a large ship by air attack.

On 11th April announced that the strategically important – belonging to Denmark – were now occupied by Britain.

And , having declined the offer of ‘preventative aid’ from the allies for fear of abandoning its neutrality, cancelled all army leave.

On 14th April the first British troops were landed in Norway, in Namsos, and over the next couple days they were joined by French troops, and to the north, in , by both French and Polish troops.

The purpose of the Namsos landing was to prepare for an attack to the south towards Trondheim. Heavy fighting between the allies and the Germans followed, the first significant land engagement of the war, but the campaign was unsuccessful, and later in the month the troops were pulled out.

On 17th April the RMS Queen Mary arrived in to be refitted as a troop ship.

Allied troop landings continue in Norway – notably at Andalsnes, south of Trondheim to try and hold central Norway with the Norwegian army - and they began moving south. But on 20th April the British supply base at Namsos came under fire and there was little the British could do to fight back. The two infantry Brigades to the north and south of Trondheim were undermanned, underequipped, and the British commanders were hopelessly confused as to who they were subordinate to.

20th April was also Hitler’s 51st birthday, and he celebrated by creating the first Scandinavian SS unit.

The war on land and at sea around Norway was rapidly proving a challenge too far for the allied forces. By 23rd April British forces were in retreat, unable to hold back the German onslaught.

23rd April was Budget Day in Britain, and the Chancellor, Sir John Simon, announced that the government was seeking a massive increase in revenue to meet the cost of the war over the next year. Taxes and duties on income (already much higher than income tax levels today), alcohol and tobacco were increased, as were charges for telephone calls, telegrams and postage.

By 26th April, with ground forces falling back and the Germans achieving complete air superiority, the British government began to consider a complete withdrawal from Norway.

But for all the fighting it wasn’t until 27th April that Germany finally and formally declared war on Norway, and did so on the basis that they had apparently found evidence of Norwegian complicity in a British and French plan to occupy Norway.

That same day the Luftwaffe bombed Namsos, and the order was given to evacuate the port.

Back in Germany ordered the creation of a new concentration camp in Poland at a place in German called Auschwitz.

Between the 28th and 30th of April British troops withdraw from Trondheim and retreat to Andalsnes. On 29th allied were despatched from to evacuate the British troops from Namsos.

Also on 29th April, President Roosevelt sent Mussolini a telegram that said: “I earnestly hope that the powerful influence of and of the – an influence which is very strong so long as they remain at peace – may yet be exercised, when the appropriate opportunity is presented in behalf of the negotiation of a just and stable peace which will permit of the reconstruction of a gravely stricken world”.