January | |
February | 16.February "Altmark" was boarded by English commando's. |
March | |
April | 8.
April
*The British destroyer ”Glowworm” encounters the German invasion fleet bound for Trondheim. *The Polish submarine ”Orzel” sinks the German transport ship ”Rio de Janeiro”, time: 1150. The Norwegians save several German soldiers who claim they are on their way to help the Norwegians against the British. Still the Norwegian government does not order full mobilisation. 9. April *The Germans invade Denmark and Norway. (Operation Weserubung.) *German aircraft attacks a British battlegroup. The destroyer ”Gurkha” sinks, and the battleship “Rodney” receives damage. *Another battlegroup, led by battle cruiser ”Reknown” engages the German battlecruisers ”Scharnhorst” and ”Gneisenau”. All ships get damaged, but the Germans manage to escape. *The British U-boat ”Truant” sinks the German cruiser ”Karlsruhe”, which is on its return to Germany. *At 0420 Norwegian Coastal Guard vessel Pol III is engaged, and sunk by the Germans. *Col. Birger Eriksen and his crack formation sinks the battleship «Blücher» at Oskarsborg Fortress, near Drøbak. More than 1000 Germans are killed. *About 900 Germans land at Fornebu after a short fight with Norwegian forces. *King Haakon 7 escapes from Oslo, together with the government. *Kristiansand, Egersund, Arendal, Stavanger, Sola, Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik are surprisingly attacked and occupied, mostly after only weak resistance. All major cities in Norway are in German hands now, but the government decide to fight as long as possible, *Quisling declares his ad hoc government, which is left alive for five days 10. April *The ”First Battle of Narvik”. 5 British destroyers commanded by Captain Warburton-Lee enter the harbour of Narvik, and sink two German destroyers in addition to seriously damaging three more. Six other German ships area also sunk. The German Commander, Commodore Bonte is killed in this attack. However, two British destroyers are sent to the bottom, and Warburton-Lee is also killed. He receives the Victoria Cross posthumously. *British dive-bombers sink the German cruiser “Königsberg”, which was badly damaged by Norwegian guns on The 9th April. *British submarines attack German ships which are homeward bound, and damage the ”Lützow” seriously. 13. April The ”Second Battle of Narvik” takes place when 9 British destroyers wipe out eight German destroyers. A Fairey Swordfish launched from the carrier ”Furious” sinks the German submarine U-64. This is the first U-boat to get sunk by an aeroplane during WW2. Survivors of these ships, about 2600, join the land forces as ”Marinebattallion Erdmenger”, and fight in Norwegian uniforms equipped with Norwegian weapons. Several Germans are executed when captured in these uniforms. *The German 163rd Infantry Division move from Oslo to Eidsvold and Kongsberg. 14. April *British destroyers sink the German submarine U-49 close to Harstad. *The first British attachments from 24th Guard’s Brigade land at Namsos north of Trondheim, and Harstad. *Battle at Dobaas between Norwegian forces and German fallschirmjaegers from the 1.fallsch.regiment 15. April *Most of the British 24th Guard’s Brigade under Gen. Mackesy arrives at Harstad. *The German 196th Infantry Division lands at Oslo, and prepare to move north. The 181st Infantry Division arrive in Trondheim. 16. April *The British 146th Brigade commanded by General de Wiart lands at Namsos. They immediately move to Steinkjer. *With Oslo as a base, the German forces attack in three directions northward: through Østerdalen, both sides of Lake Mjøsa, and towards Hønefoss. The Norwegians fight as determined as the situation allows, but are not able to stop the Germans who are supported by tanks, heavy artillery and aircraft. *Gen. Dietls forces in Narvik reaches close to the Swedish border, and now controls the whole Narvik area. 18. April *The British 148th Brigade led by Gen. Morgan lands at Åndalsnes, south of Trondheim. They engage the Germans on the 23rd April north of Lillehammer. Two Battalions of the French “1st Chasseurs Alpins” Division arrive at Namsos. 19. April *The French heavy cruiser ”Emile Bertin” is badly damaged by German bombs at Namsos. It is withdrawn, and replaced by Montcalm. 23. April *The British 15th Brigade, led by Gen. Paget land at Åndalsnes close to Molde. 28. April *Three Battalions of the French “Chasseurs Alpins” land at Harstad. 30. April *The French and British force start evacuating from Åndalsnes, and a few days later from Namsos. About 10 000 soldiers are moved. |
May | 3.
May
*The French destroyer ”Bison” and the British destroyer ”Afridi” are sunk by German air attacks while evacuating the Allied forces from Namsos. From now on, the war in South Norway is at it´s end, and the scenario is moved to North Norway where the Norwegian forces have had time to get prepared. 5. May *The French “13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade” and the Polish “Carphatian Mountain Brigade” are landed at Harstad. 10. May *The 24th Guards Brigade starts to move from Harstad to Bodø. 13. May *The “2-Gebirgsjäger-Division” (Austrian) start to move northwards from Trondheim, with the aim of reinforcing Dietls forces in Narvik. They are met with resistance from allied and Norwegian forces. Norwegian forces, aided by the French, Polish, and British are closing in on the Germans in the Narvik area, and the Germans fear a disaster. The battles in the high mountain areas of Narvik are very hard, and the Germans get pushed back. 14. May *A He 111 in the Vestfjord sinks the Polish ship «Chobry». Most of the 24th Brigade’s heavy equipment is lost, and the Brigade returns to Harstad. 15. May *A Luftwaffe parachute battalion from ”Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1” drops in to reinforce Narvik. Some days later two companies from the 137th Regiment / Gebirgsjäger-Division 3 are also dropped in, after a crash course at the parachute school, Stendal. *Norwegian He 115´s from the Royal Norwegian Navy destroys several Ju 52´s parked on the frozen lake at Hartvikvann. 20. May *The allied high command decides that Narvik is to be captured from the Germans. 27. may *British ships start shelling German positions at Narvik at 2340. This continues during the night. 28. May *Allied Forces perform an amphibious attack northeast of Narvik. At 0700 the Germans retreat from the area, and move eastwards. Allied forces are following them. Now Dietls force numbers only 1500 men. |
June | 7.
June
*The King, government and allied forces leaves Norway. 8. June *Despite the success, the British, French and Polish forces prepare to leave Norway. The Norwegian Commander, Gen. Ruge is not informed about this. 9. June *Norwegian delegations negotiate with the Germans for a peace treaty. 10. June *The war in Norway is ended. The last fighting force, 6th Division, surrenders. Officially, the Norwegians have surrendered without conditions. However, the King and Government decide to continue the fight from England. |
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