Hitler’s Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940 (100 page)

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Authors: Henrik O. Lunde

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BOOK: Hitler’s Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940
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Norwegian forces persisted in attacking after the Allied evacuation had begun, but finally capitulated to the Germans on June 10, 1940.

The British evacuation that culiminated in the loss of the Glorious.

C
OMMAND
S
TRUCTURES
Allied Command Structure in Norway

1 General Massy never left London but operated from the War Office. British commanders in Central Norway did not command naval or air forces associated with their operations. Those forces took their orders from their respective service.

2
Scissorforce
and Colonel Gubbins remained under General Massy’s command until May 7 when the command was transferred to General Auchinleck.

3 Initially, Admiral Cork commanded only the naval forces and reported to the Admiralty. Major General Mackesy, replaced by Lieutenant General Auchinleck on May 16, reported to General Ironside. Admiral Cork assumed command of both sea and land forces on April 20.

4 All naval forces operating within 100 nautical miles of Harstad.

5 Lieutenant General Auchinleck assumed command from Major General Mackesy on May 16.

6 Brigadier Fraser commanded the 24th Guards until he was evacuated to England at which time Gubbins, promoted to brevet Brigadier General, assumed command of that unit as well as the Independent Companies.

German Command Structure for Operations in Norway

1
Weserübung Süd
, under General Kaupisch, was subordinate to von Falkenhorst until April 12 when it was placed under OKH.

2 The Battle Fleet operated under the orders of Group West in the North Sea but directly under OKM for operations in the Atlantic.

3 The submarine command was subordinate to OKM but parts were under the operational control of the Fleet Commander during fleet operations.

4 Boehm was subordinate to von Falkenhorst within Norway but he was subordinate to OKM for naval operations.

5 General Dietl (3rd Mountain Division) operated directly under OKW in the period April 18 to May 5.

6 General von Falkenhorst did not command the air forces in Norway. General Milch’s 5th Air Fleet absorbed Air Corps X as well as the territorial air commands within Norway. Geissler was not subordinate to Falkenhorst. Theoretically, all requests had to go through the chain of command but after the establishment of regional air commands, many requests were handled laterally between army and air force commands.

Norwegian Command Structure
1

1 This is the command structure in North Norway that became effective after the reorganization in late May. Before hostilities, the army and navy commanders (General Laake and Admiral Diesen) reported directly to the Ministry of Defense and General Fleischer, like the other division commanders, reported to the army commander. After hostilities commenced, Fleischer became commander-in-chief in North Norway and reported directly to the Ministry of Defense.

2 While commander-in-chief of the armed forces, General Ruge continued to also occupy the position as commander of the army. The two headquarters operated as one.

3 Admiral Diesen had placed himself and his forces under General Ruge’s command during the campaign in Central Norway. The May reorganization made this arrangement official.

4 As a result of the reorganization, 6th District Command became the army’s support organization, responsible for supporting all army organizations. It was directed to separate out a staff, which would concentrate its efforts on supporting General Fleischer’s forces.

O
PERATIONAL
C
ODE NAMES
Alphabet
Allied evacuation of Narvik in May/June 1940.
 
Avonmouth
Planned Allied expedition to Narvik and the Swedish iron ore districts.
 
Biene
German operation to clear out Norwegian naval units along the Nordland coast and open a coastal supply route for General Feurstein’s forces..
 
Büffel
German relief operation through the mountains between Bodø and Narvik.
 
Catherine
Plan for British fleet in the Baltic to sever German’s supply of Swedish iron ore.
 
Juno
German naval operation against shipping off North Norway.
 
Hammer
Planned Allied attack on Trondheim.
 
Maurice
Allied operation against Trondheim from Namsos. Force involved was called
Mauriceforce
.
 
Naumburg
German plan to land forces in West Finnmark and Bardufoss for relief to Narvik.
 
Plymouth
Allied plan for operations against the Germans in southern Sweden.
 
R4
Allied plan to occupy Narvik, Trondheim, Bergen, and Stavanger in conjunction with Operation
Wilfred
when German intention to land in Norway was evident.
 
Royal Marine
Allied plan to drop mines in the Rhine River and its channels simultaneous with Operation
Wilfred
.
 
Rupert
Allied operations to recapture Narvik. Units involved were labeled Rupertforce.
 
Scissorforce
British Independent Companies operating in Nordland Province.
 
Sickle
Operation against Trondheim from Åndalsnes. Force was labeled
Sickleforce
.
 
Stratford
Allied plan in February 1940 to occupy Trondheim, Bergen, and Stavanger
 
Weserübung
German operations against Denmark and Norway.
Weserübung Sud
= Denmark and
Weserübung Nord
= Norway.
 
Wildente
German amphibious and air assault operation against Hemnesberget.
 
Wilfred
Allied mining operations in Norwegian territorial waters.
B
IBLIOGRAPHY

The Norwegian language contains three letters–æ, ø, and å–that appear at the end of its alphabet. To avoid confusion, they are given here in the English language alphabetical order.

*Adams, Jack.
The Doomed Expedition. The Norwegian Campaign of 1940
. London: Leo Cooper, 1989.

Aftenposten
. June 6, 1945 and June 14, 2005.

*Ash, Bernard.
Norway 1940
. London: Cassell, 1964.

Askim, Per.
Rapport fra sjefen for Norge og Ofotavdelingen til Kommanderende Admiral av 20 april 1940
. Six page typed manuscript.

*Assmann, Kurt.
The German Campaign in Norway
. Admiralty: Naval Staff, 1948.

Baudouin, Paul.
Neuf mois au gouvernement
. Paris: Table Ronde, 1948.

Berg, Johan Helge and Olav Vollan.
Fjellkrigen 1940. Lapphaugen–Bjørnefjell.
Trondheim: Wennbergs Trykkeri A.S., 1999.

Berg, Johan Helge and Olav Vollan.
I Trønderbataljonens fotspor–50 år etter
. Trondheim: Wennbergs trykkeri, 1990.

*Béthouart, Marie Émile.
Rapport
. Eleven page typed manuscript in Norwegian with a penned date of August 8, 1944.

*Béthouart, Marie Émile.
Cinq années d’espérance. Mémoires de guerre, 1939-1945
. Paris: Plon, 1968.

*Biegański, Witold.
Poles in the Battle of Narvik
. Warsaw: Interpress Publishers, 1969.

Bjørnsen, Bjørn.
Det utrolige døgnet
. Oslo: Gyldendal, 1978.

*Bjørnsen, Bjørn.
Narvik 1940
. Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1980. Böttger, Gerd.
Narvik im Bild
. Oldenburg: Gerhard Stalling Verlag, 1941.

*Breckan, Hans.
Tapte skanser. IR 14 i april, mai, juni 1940.
Brønnøysund: Eget forlag, 1986.

*Büchner, Alex.
Kampf im Gebirge
. München-Lochhausen: Schild-Verlag, 1957.

*Büchner, Alex.
Narvik. Kämpfe der Gruppe Dietl im Frühjahr 1940.
NechargemündHeidelberg: Scharnhorst Buchkameradschaft GmbH, 1958.

Buckley, Christopher.
Norway. The Commandos. Dieppe
. London: HMSO, 1951.

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