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Timeline - May 1940

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Timeline - May 1940 TIMELINE - MAY 1940 As the month begins the battle for Norway continues. Just to recap, German naval and ground forces had begun invading both Norway and Denmark on 9th April. Denmark had quickly capitulated but Norway had resisted. British forces were sent to Andalsnes on 18th April to 1st May, Namsos on 16th April to 3rd May, and Narvik from 15th April to 8th June. They were joined by Norwegian, French and Polish forces. But as May begins the evacuation of Allied troops from some of these areas is already underway and nearing completion. With the failure of the campaign for central Norway attention shifts to Narvik in the far north, strategically vital to the Germans for the shipping of iron ore from Sweden. 1 On 2nd May German troops reached Andalsnes, and on the following day Norwegian troops south of Trondheim surrendered to the Germans. The allied evacuation at Namsos was completed, but German aircraft located part of the evacuation fleet and sank the destroyers Afridi and Bison. The Bison was a French destroyer and she was the first to be sunk with the loss of 136 of her crew. The surviving crew were then picked up by the Afridi. But when that ship came under attack a further 35 of her crew were lost, along with 53 of the Afridi’s crew and 13 soldiers - the only casualties among the whole force of 12,000 troops evacuated from Åndalsnes and Namsos On 5th May the Battle of Hegra Fortress ended when the fortress capitulated. The Germans had now achieved complete victory on Norway’s southern front. The following day a massive German armoured motorized column was spotted driving west through the Ardennes, but the Belgian Army did not respond. The most important casualty of the Norwegian campaign was the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain. The failure of the Trondheim campaign triggered a two-day Parliamentary debate on 7-8 May. Known as the Norway or Narvik Debate, it was probably one of, if not THE, most momentous debates of the UK parliament in the 20th century. It is depicted in the film ‘Darkest Hour’ which you may or may not have seen. At the end of the debate there was a vote of no confidence in the Conservative Government. Chamberlain’s majority was reduced from 213 to 81. Attempts to form a coalition government under his leadership failed. On 10th May he resigned and Winston Churchill was asked to become the leader and Prime Minister of a coalition government. This government would serve until July 1945. Many Members of Parliament spoke in the debate, some household names, others not. But the nominees for most notable contributors include Conservative MP, Leo Amery (top first right of Chamberlain) who memorably quoted what Cromwell said to the Long Parliament when he thought it was no longer fit to conduct the affairs of the nation: “You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!” 2 The MP in the middle of the top row was Admiral of the Fleet, Sir Roger Keyes, who caused a stir as he arrived in the chamber resplendent in his uniform with gold braid and six rows of medals. Also a Conservative, he described in detail the government’s mishandling of the Norwegian campaign – at that point a campaign that was not yet over. The man to the right at the top was Sir Archibald Sinclair, the leader of the Liberals. He drew from Chamberlain the admission that whilst troops had been held in readiness to be sent to Norway, no troopships had been retained to send them in. Sinclair gave instances of inadequate and defective equipment and of disorganisation reported to him by servicemen returning from Norway. Chamberlain had suggested that Allied plans had failed because the Norwegians had not put up the expected resistance to the Germans. Sinclair reported that the servicemen "paid a high tribute to the courage and determination with which the Norwegians fought alongside them”. In the bottom row are some of the other key players – notably, Attlee, Lloyd George and Churchill. What I find particularly striking is the parallels between what was happening 80 years ago – the debate around whether the government had adequately prepared for the battles to come – and the debate (in the broadest sense) that is currently being held around the level of preparedness of our current UK and devolved governments for the spread of a potentially lethal virus. What is also striking is that at the outset the Conservative government of the day had quite a healthy majority. The same is true today but will that remain the case? The 10th of May was, of course, a momentous day for the countries of western Europe. At dawn Germany invaded France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Luxembourg was defeated within the day. The attack began with German air raids on Belgium and the Netherlands, followed by parachute drops and attacks by ground forces. Having seized the initiative, the Germans captured the key Belgian fort of Eban Emael with a daring airborne operation. The speed of the German advance and the brutality of the air raids gave them a huge psychological advantage, and by 14th May the Dutch had surrendered. The Battle of Sedan in the French Ardennes began on 12th May. Sedan was a strategically important point for the Germans. Capture would enable them to cross the Meuse river and advance into the undefended French countryside. In response to the attacks the Allies pushed their best forces into Belgium but this played into the hands of the Germans. On 13th May the massed German forces emerged from the Ardennes – to the rear of the Allies - and began their race towards the Channel coast, slicing through Allied supply lines on the way. The first German troops arrived at the coast on 20th May. Also on 13th May Winston Churchill made his first speech to the House of Commons as Prime Minister, memorably saying “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat”. That same day Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands arrived in London in exile. You may recall that King Leopold of Belgium opted not to follow the same route and was subsequently held by the Germans. 3 In relative terms the Battle of Rotterdam was a small but significant engagement. It began on 10th May and ended on the 14th following the Rotterdam Blitz. Although the Netherlands had a system of defences along the Hollandic Water Line, Rotterdam was not included and, in fact, had almost no defences whatsoever. On the morning of 10th May German ground forces began arriving by seaplane and seized undefended bridges on the river that runs through the city. Throughout the day, soldiers on both sides were killed as they exchanged fire. Urban street fighting continued for five days, with neither side able to gain an advantage. The Germans issued an ultimatum – surrender or Rotterdam would be destroyed. Hermann Göring had pushed for an aerial bombardment, but the German Commander, Rudolf Schmidt, had opposed that. As Schmidt prepared to deliver a signed ultimatum to the Dutch military leader, German bombers arrived. The Rotterdam Blitz, as it came to be known, killed almost 900 people, most of whom were civilians. The medieval city centre was almost completely destroyed, and 85,000 more civilians were made homeless. The Dutch troops were largely unharmed by the bombing, but their communication lines were cut, forcing the Dutch Colonel to decide the fate of the city himself. He surrendered later the same day. He met General Schmidt on the bridge and was understandably furious that the German forces had broken their word. Schmidt, who had not ordered the bombing, responded; “Colonel, I fully understand your bitterness.” 4 Following the capture of Sedan the French urged the bombing of bridges across the river Meuse to try and halt the advance of the German Panzer Divisions. RAF Squadrons of light bombers and escort fighters were sent into the attack on 14th May. 21 Squadron, based in Watton in Norfolk, was one of several light bomber groups involved. It was equipped with newly acquired Blenheim IV’s, and one of the gunners was 1st Class Aircraftman Alfred George Wilson. He was 21 years old. There is nothing remarkable about Alfred – he was one member of a large family, a cousin of mine, and doing his bit for his country. His Squadron was briefed to attack enemy troops in the woods north of Sedan. They came under heavy attack from German fighters and ground defences, and two of the Blenheim’s, including Alfred’s, were shot down. The RAF losses overall that day were considerable. Out of 71 aircraft despatched, 39 were shot down and others damaged. And the bombing results were poor, with three bridges damaged and one possibly destroyed. There is a postscript to the loss of Alfred’s aircraft which has enabled his family to better understand what happened to him and his fellow crew members. Initially, of course, they were reported missing with the precise location of the crash site unknown. But following the war there were MOD/RAF investigations and some items were found though no human remains. The real detective work has been undertaken by local men, Alain and Roger Nicholas, and they were able to inform the family that the plane crashed in the woods near Sugny. Having identified the exact site there were plans to erect a memorial to the lost crew this Spring, 80 years after they died, but unfortunately that event is now on hold.
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