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

try to stop the German advance through Nordland Province. Derry explains the logic behind this decision:

The Germans were to be stopped by demolitions along the road, by guerrilla activities on their flanks, by raising the countryside against them, and by preparing to deal firmly with whatever small parties they might land from the sea or the air. This was to be the work of the Independent Companies, which were so organized as to need air defence neither for themselves nor for their base.22

The decision to use five Independent Cos, who collectively became known as Scissorforce, in Norway was made on April 18 but they were not ready until the end of the month. Before they were deployed, the command relationships were further muddled on April 27. Admiral Cork was given command of all forces from Bodø north while General Massy, still operating from London, commanded all forces south of Bodø. It was bad enough to have these forces commanded from far-away London, but the decision failed to recognize that the operation in Nordland was very much a part of the Narvik Campaign and, as such, should have fallen within the same command structure. Cork’s concerns and confusion are made clear in a message he sent to the Admiralty on May 4.

Request I may be informed of the general policy regarding Bodø, Mo and Mosjöen. It seems most important to hold in force the Mo road leading north. From Admiralty messages it appears the forces being sent are hardly adequate for this purpose and with such weak detachments in the air another naval commitment comes into being. These areas do not, I presume, come under Narvik. Are there any Allied forces to the south of me?23

This shortcoming in the command structure was rectified on May 7 when the Independent Cos were placed under Admiral Cork.

The Independent Cos were the forerunners of the famous Commandos of later years. However, in April 1940, they fell far short in quality and training of those highly professional and well-trained units. These companies were large, numbering 20 officers and 270 enlisted. The officers came for the most part from the territorial forces, but included a sprinkling of regulars and members of the Indian Army. The enlisted were all volunteers from the territorial forces. The units, which included some engineers, communicators, and medical personnel, had not worked and trained together for any length of time, even less than the normal territorial forces. Furthermore, while they had some winter gear, such as snowshoes, winter boots, and sheepskin coats, they had no transport to carry provisions and ammunition and no training in winter and arctic warfare.

The British decision to revert to small-scale units rested on conclusions that proved erroneous. The units were organized and equipped to operate with and in support of an organized local guerrilla resistance movement. The sparsely populated Nordland Province could not support a large and effective guerrilla movement and the Norwegians were unprepared for this type of warfare in 1940. If the British were not aware of these facts, they would have learned them if they had consulted Norwegian authorities. Secondly, these companies were actually light infantry units and it should have been rather obvious that they could not succeed against well-trained and battle-hardened German troops with artillery and air support. Finally, these units were designed to work against the enemy’s flanks with hit-and-run type operations. However, they lacked the mobility for such operations in the snow-covered terrain of Nordland Province.

The Independent Cos (named Scissorforce) were commanded by Lieutenant Colonel (brevet Colonel) Colin McVean Gubbins with a brigade-size staff. An entry in Ironside’s diaries on May 9 shows that he had a high opinion of Gubbins: “Gubbins has arrived at Mosjoën, thank goodness. Only just in time perhaps. Always confusion and delay in these improvised operations. Unavoidable, I suppose. It now depends upon the guts that Gubbins has. He ought to be good.”24

The Scissorforce headquarters was established at Hopen, about 18 kilometers east of Bodø and some 330 kilometers by road from Mosjøen. The 1st Independent Co landed at Mo, about 90 kilometers north of Mosjøen, on May 4. Independent Co 2, landed at Bodø on May 9, some 240 kilometers by road north of Mo. Independent Co 3 joined this unit on May 13. Independent Cos 4 and 5 landed at Mosjøen on May 8 and the Chasseurs Alpins located there since April 30 were withdrawn to Scotland.

The piecemeal deployment of Scissorforce along a 300-kilometer stretch of coastline in Nordland Province revealed their strategy not only to the Germans but also to the Norwegians. It was obvious that the British intended only to slow the German advance, not to halt it. This realization dismayed not only General Mackesy and the Norwegian High Command but was obvious to the troops in the 14th Inf, fighting and withdrawing through their home areas. The realization that the Allies did not intend to stop the Germans and eventually go on the offensive did much to weaken the already shaken morale of these troops.

Loss of Mosjøen

The British expected the nearest Germans to be at least 160 kilometers from Mosjøen when they landed. One can imagine Colonel Gubbins’ surprise and dismay when he learned that the Norwegians had been fighting the Germans since May 7 only 40 kilometers from Mosjøen. Lieutenant Colonel Sorko and his men had lived up to von Falkenhorst’s demands and covered 160 kilometers in two days, through terrain that Generals Carton de Wiart and Audet had declared impassable for their own mountain troops.

Nummedal planned to establish a delaying position with the retreating 1/14th Inf and the reserve battalion of the same regiment in the Vefsa area near Fjellingfors. After a conference with Major Sundlo and his company commanders in the evening of May 4, it was realized that the 1/14th was demoralized and needed rest and reorganization. The battalion was moved to a reserve position near Mosjøen. It appears from Nummedal’s reports that the demoralized condition of the 1/14th had also infected the