Hitler’s Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940 by Henrik Lunde (the reader ebook .TXT) 📕

the order to evacuate had been issued two hours after the Supreme War Council meeting that led them to believe that the British had agreed to General Gamelin’s proposal. The French made every effort to reverse the evacuation order. Reynaud wrote a letter to Chamberlain asking that it be cancelled “in the name of friendship between our two peoples.”18

There were also pressures within Great Britain to make a more aggressive effort in Norway. Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes, the hero of Zeebrugge, even addressed the House of Commons on the matter, after repeated letters to Churchill evoked neither action nor response.

The Norwegians were even less well informed than the French. They still believed that the Allies would launch their long promised attack on Trondheim. General Ruge was regrouping and reorganizing his forces, about 4,000 men, near Dombås for the anticipated attack against Trondheim.

The British Evacuation

General Paget received orders to evacuate in the early morning hours of April 28. The order stated that he should not inform the Norwegians. Paget found this part of the order completely impractical since he had to rely on Norwegians for road and rail transport as well as flank protection as he withdrew his forces 180 kilometers through Romsdal to Åndalsnes. He decided to ignore that part of the order and proceeded to General Ruge’s headquarters at about 0500 hours.

It was a painful meeting. The news was devastating to General Ruge who remarked, “So Norway is to share the fate of Czechoslovakia and Poland.”19 As his anger grew, he left the room. A few minutes later, he returned and stated that these things were not for soldiers to debate. He asked how he could help the British in their task. An agreement was reached whereby a British battalion would stay in positions at Dombås to cover the withdrawal of the Norwegians. The Norwegians, for their part, would provide transport for the withdrawing British, means to evacuate the wounded, and ski detachments for security. Ruge hoped that his troops would be evacuated and brought to North Norway, but this was not to be.

The Norwegian King and his government were in Molde. The British sent the cruiser Glasgow and destroyer escorts to bring them to safety. They were concerned that the Norwegians might throw in the towel and the captain of the Glasgow had orders to bring them along by force, if needed. This proved unnecessary as the Norwegians decided on Tromsø as their destination. Ruge followed on May 1 after first refusing to board British ships bound for Scapa Flow before proceeding to North Norway. As the Norwegian Army commander, he refused to go to Great Britain, even temporarily, since it would appear he was fleeing the country. In the end, Ruge and his staff were transported to Tromsø in a British destroyer.

Since the British did not attempt to evacuate the Norwegian troops, reportedly because they lacked adequate shipping, Ruge ordered the 11th Infantry Regiment demobilized and turned over the command of all forces in the Åndalsnes area to General Hvinden-Haug, along with an authorization to surrender. The surrender took place on May 3. Conditions were lenient. The troops were allowed to proceed to their homes if they gave assurance that they would not participate in any further hostilities against the Germans.

The Operations in Trøndelag and the Evacuation of Namsos

The 2/13th Inf battalion was in Nord-Trøndelag on April 9. The 1/13th Inf was in Narvik. An improvised third battalion was mobilized and organized within a couple of days after the attack, while the reserve battalion was organized into a territorial command. The 3rd Cavalry Regiment was in the process of mobilizing on April 9. Three squadrons were ready on April 11 and the remaining four a few days later. The 12th Infantry Regiment in Sør-Trøndelag also had a battalion on duty in North Norway, which later took heavy casualties at Gratangen. The mobilization depots for the 12th Regiment and the 3rd Artillery Regiment were located in Trondheim and captured by the Germans on April 9. It was therefore only possible to raise improvised units of a small battalion and one independent company.

There were about 180 Norwegians, mostly 5th Division’s school personnel, at Værnes Airfield on April 9. They prepared to defend the airfield and prevented German attempts to land on April 9. The executive officer of the 3rd Artillery Regiment, Major R. Holtermann, was at Værnes to receive troops reporting for duty with the regiment on April 9. He moved about 250 of these troops to the old fortress at Hegra. The 2/13th Inf moved south towards Trondheim after the German attack and was located at Åsen, only about 20 kilometers from Værnes. Instead of moving forward to the airfield, the unit was ordered back to Verdal in the evening of April 9 because German warships were reported in the fjord. The 5th Division school personnel were also ordered to Verdal. The front line was established north of Steinkjer with one motorized machinegun company at Verdalsøra to secure the bridge.

The Germans sent about 500 troops towards the airfield on April 10. Before their arrival, a German officer showed up in a taxi and demanded surrender. The Norwegian officer in charge contacted General Laurantzon who ordered him to comply with the German demand. Failure to defend Værnes was a major blunder that made Norwegian and Allied operations extremely difficult. The capture of the airfield ended the isolation of Colonel Weiss’ forces in the Trondheim area. Værnes was also the only airfield in relative proximity to Narvik and played a decisive role in the transport of supplies and reinforcements in May and June. Aircraft from Værnes provided essential close ground support and resupply during the 2nd Mountain Division’s drive through Nordland Province to relieve Dietl’s forces. Finally, German aircraft based at Værnes influenced the British decision to abandon Operation Hammer. The airfield had a limited capacity but was quickly expanded using Norwegian labor.

Operation Maurice, the northern pincer against Trondheim, involved both British and French forces.