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

command of French forces in North Norway. He arrived there on the destroyer Acasta at about the same time the 27th Half-Brigade under Lieutenant Colonel Valentini was disembarking. British authorities ordered the 6th and 14th Battalions to land behind the Norwegian front at Sjøvegan and Salangen, respectively. The 12th Battalion landed at Bogen, on the north side of Ofotfjord, and came under the operational control of Brig. General Fraser, the commander of the 24th Brigade. The first shots fired by Allied ground forces at Germans took place in the morning of April 29, when a German ski patrol approached Bogen from the east.

The disposition of the three battalions of the 24th Guards Brigade at this time was as follows: The two companies of 1st Scots Guards were moved from the Fossbakken area to Harstad. The 1st Irish Guards along with headquarter elements of the 24th Brigade were moved to Bogen on April 19. General Fraser later moved his forward headquarters to Ballangen, on the south side of Ofotfjord. The 2nd South Wales Borderers were moved to Skånland initially and to Ballangen between 26 and 28 April.

The 203rd British Field Artillery Regiment finally received its guns on April 29. The French also brought 12 75mm guns. Some amphibious assault craft from the limited British resources were made available to support the planned operations. These consisted of four Assault Landing Craft (ALC) able to carry 40 infantry troops each and four 20-ton Mechanized Landing Craft (MLC) capable of carrying vehicles, equipment, and supplies.

A convoy carrying the 13th Half-Brigade, consisting of two battalions of the Foreign Legion, and support elements of the 1st Light Division arrived in Harstad on May 6. Two companies were kept near Harstad to protect that town against threats from the west. The rest of the 13th Half-Brigade landed at Kjeldebotn, on the south side of Ofotfjord, across from Ramnes. The divisional support and supply organizations were moved to Ballangen.

A convoy carrying 4,778 troops of the Polish brigade, organized into two half-brigades of two battalions each, arrived off Tromsø on May 5.1 The Allies planned to land the brigade in Tromsø and move it to East Finnmark. Norwegian authorities opposed its planned use in East Finnmark because the deployment of Polish troops on the border could be viewed as a provocative move by the Soviets. The convoy remained at sea for two days pending the selection of a new landing site. In the end, the Polish troops were landed in Harstad in the evening of May 7.

The facilities in Harstad were limited and the buildup had reached a saturation point. The lack of an effective liaison with Norwegian authorities and a very rudimentary civil affairs program led to friction between the civilian population and the Allied troops. The brigade staff, the 1st Half-Brigade, and support troops were camped outside Harstad. The staff and 4th Battalion of the 2nd Half-Brigade were moved to Salangen as reinforcement for the 27th Half-Brigade. The 3rd Battalion was moved to Ballangen where it was to be used as a security force towards the south and southeast.

With the landing of the two Polish half-brigades on May 7, the Allies had achieved a decisive superiority in combat troops in the Narvik area. There were three battalions of British regulars, three battalions of French Chasseurs Alpins, two battalions of the French Foreign Legion, and four Polish battalions. In addition, there were six Norwegian battalions. The German forces consisted of three battalions of mountain troops and the destroyer crews organized into seven small battalions.

The Allied naval presence continued to be impressive. The battleship Resolution replaced Warspite and aircraft from the carrier Furious provided air support throughout the second half of April and early May. The aircraft carrier Ark Royal replaced her in early May after her engines were damaged from a near miss by a German bomb. Requirements for the evacuations in central Norway reduced the number of cruisers but, on average, 15 destroyers were available to Admiral Cork. While German air attacks caused damage to Allied ships, only the Polish destroyer Grom was sunk during this period.

Continued Allied Caution

General Mackesy still viewed a direct landing in Narvik as too risky. He planned to begin an advance on Narvik on both sides of Ofotfjord with French and British troops. The southern advance would start from Ballangen towards Ankenes and the northern advance from Bogen towards Bjerkvik. The problem with this scenario was that half the Allied ground forces, four battalions, were located over 50 kilometers to the north, behind the Norwegian front with roads that were almost impassable. This was pointed out to Cork and Mackesy when General Béthouart had his first meeting with them a few hours after arriving in Harstad on April 28.2

Admiral Cork recommended that Béthouart make a reconnaissance in the fjord aboard a destroyer. Béthouart concluded that the Germans occupied only part of the coastline near Narvik in force and he felt it was possible to land both at Øyjord and to the east of Narvik. Capturing Øyjord would threaten the rear of the Germans in the Bjerkvik area and provide a starting point for an amphibious operation against Narvik.

Admiral Cork appeared to agree with the recommendation but General Mackesy did not approve when General Béthouart briefed him after returning to Harstad. Instead, he ordered General Béthouart to take command of the two French battalions in the Salangen area and advance on Bjerkvik in coordination with the Norwegians.

Béthouart proceeded to Salangen on April 29 and made contact with Lieutenant Colonel Valentini and with General Fleischer. This was the first meeting between the two generals. They established a good working relationship. From Fleischer, Béthouart learned that the Norwegians had recaptured the Gratangen area and that it was possible to move his battalions from Sjøvegan to Gratangen by sea. The 6th Battalion CA and the brigade CP were moved to Gratangen on April 30 in Norwegian fishing vessels. Valentini co-located his headquarters with that of the 7th Brigade. Béthouart established his headquarters at Straumsnes, on