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

However, it seems unlikely that Sundlo failed to give a reason for the move or that Spjeldnæs failed to ask why the colonel deployed his battalion with live ammunition and a battle train, on short notice, at night, and in a snowstorm. Spjeldnæs’ own testimony fails to support the claim. Sundlo talked to Spjeldnæs at 2000 hours when he ordered the machinegun company and mortar platoon into Narvik and again around 2100 hours when he ordered the major to bring the rest of the battalion. While Spjeldnæs could not recall the details of the conversations, he was sure that the colonel gave the reason for the move during the second call.14 Thus, he had no reasons to view the deployment as an administrative move.

The Norwegians at Elvegårdsmoen were warned about the approaching Germans 15 minutes before they arrived. The officers left behind at the depot spent those 15 minutes discussing whether they should issue live ammunition to the 17 troops. They could not reach a decision and the arrival of the German troops interrupted their discussion. Elvegårdsmoen was captured without a shot being fired. General Hovland writes that the depot commander surrendered the place after a telephone conference with Colonel Sundlo. This telephone call, which must have been made in the 15 minutes between the time Elvegårdsmoen learned about the approach of German troops and their arrival, a period when Sundlo was apparently away from his headquarters, is not mentioned in the official histories. In the end, it does not matter since there was little 17 soldiers could do against two battalions of elite troops.

Hurriedly moving the entire 1/13th Inf into Narvik only exacerbated the defense problems in the Narvik area. All the disadvantages of mounting a defense on the Narvik Peninsula were still valid and in the process, the depot was lost intact. Military planners must have realized that the seizure of military depots was an important supporting objective in securing Narvik and the railroad to Sweden. Their capture would prevent or disrupt any mobilization that might threaten the attackers hold on Narvik.

If it were General Fleischer’s plan all along to bring the entire 1/13th Inf into Narvik in a crisis, it would have been prudent to plan for the defense or destruction of the depot at Elvegårdsmoen. To rely on the 2/15th Inf unit, which had to travel more than 40 miles over bad roads in wintertime was not a good solution. This is undoubtedly the reason the defense plan called for no less than one third of the battalion, at least a reinforced infantry company, to remain on the north side of Ofotfjord.

A reinforced infantry company could not hold Elvegårdsmoen, but it might have delayed the Germans long enough to permit the destruction of some of the valuable stores that fell into their hands. The captured food stores alone were sufficient to feed the German forces in the Narvik area for two to three weeks.15

It is questionable whether they could have survived without them. There should have been standing operating procedures for moving or destroying the stores in the event of an emergency and the authority to execute these procedures should have been specified.

The Germans were surprised by the lack of resistance. Group Elvegårdsmoen consisted of almost two thirds of the German forces in the Narvik area. This attests to the fact that its capture was high on the list of German priorities and that they expected more resistance at Elvegårdsmoen than they did at Narvik.

The Sinking of the Eidsvold

Captain Bonte continued towards Narvik with the 1st Destroyer Flotilla, Wilhelm Heidkamp, Bernd von Arnim, and Georg Thiele, after detaching the 4th Destroyer Flotilla at 0410 hours. When they neared the harbor entrance at 0415 hours, the Norwegian coastal defense ship Eidsvold suddenly appeared through a snow squall. Eidsvold challenged the lead German destroyer, Wilhelm Heidkamp, with a signal light. A warning shot was fired when the German destroyer failed to respond and simultaneously the flags for the international signal, “Bring your ship to a stop” were hoisted. Wilhelm Heidkamp stopped about 200 meters off Eidsvold’s port side and Captain Bonte signaled, “Sending boat with an officer.” The other two destroyers continued towards Narvik.

Captain Willoch was perfectly within his right not to go through the formalities required by the neutrality regulations. The instructions from Admiral Diesen at 2345 hours stated that force be used against any attacker. The foreign warships that appeared at the harbor entrance were German and the ships attacking Bergen had been identified as German. These were more than sufficient reasons for Willoch to conclude that neutrality procedures no longer applied with respect to German ships. Instead of opening fire immediately, Willoch allowed a German destroyer to take up a position very close to his own ship, permitted Lieutenant Commander Gerlach to board Eidsvold and come to the quarterdeck, and allowed two German warships to proceed to Narvik.

It was well within Eidsvold’s capability to destroy or severely damage the German destroyer. The destruction of Wilhelm Heidkamp might not have altered the eventual result in Narvik, but the possible elimination of General Dietl, Captain Bonte, 200 troops and over 300 naval personnel would most certainly have affected subsequent operations. Colonel Windisch would have succeeded to command of the German forces. He was a very capable officer but he did not enjoy Hitler’s confidence in the same way as Dietl.

Commander Gerlach saluted the Norwegian captain when he stepped onto the bridge. With the military courtesies out of the way, Gerlach told Captain Willoch that the Germans had come as friends to defend Norwegian neutrality against the British. While appealing for cooperation, he demanded that Willoch surrender his ship. He stated that resistance was useless and that several Norwegian cities were already in German hands. Willoch asked for ten minutes in which to contact his superior for instructions. Askim’s short answer was, “Open fire.”

Captain Willoch’s next action is even more difficult to understand. Gerlach had left the Norwegian warship