Dulce et decorum est
65 years ago today, April 9, 1940, German high command launched a simultaneous surprise attack on Norway and Denmark. The operation, led by General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst and codenamed Unternehmen Weserübung (exercise on the Weser) was a joint land, air and naval operation. Five divisions of the Wehrmacht, transported in part by the Kriegsmarine and supported by the Luftwaffe, crossed the Danish border and made landings along the Norwegian coast.
In Norway the cities of Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger and Narvik fell without serious fighting. However, the sinking of German battleship Blücher by a Norwegian coastal battery outside Oslo delayed the invasion long enough to secure the escape of the royal family. Also worth mentioning is the sinking of Karlsruhe by the small Norwegian destroyer Olav Trygveson.
Despite a British counter invasion, all of Norway was occupied after six weeks of fighting.
Norway was invaded for several reasons: First, Germany would control the Baltic Sea. Secondly, bases along the Norwegian coastline would expand the reach of German air and naval power, most notably the submarine arm, into the North Atlantic. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the control of Narvik would ensure the deliveries of iron ore from neutral Sweden on which Germany so heavily relied. In 1940, these deliveries would make up 11½ of the 15 million tonnes needed by German industry.
Denmark was invaded mostly to ensure airfields for the supply of German forces in Norway.
The Danish army was completely unprepared for war, and the government quickly capitulated. But before that happened, in the early morning hours before the capitulation, there were brief skirmishes in Copenhagen and at the southern border.
For example, a Danish infantry gun crew of three was ordered to hold the road into Haderslev, a small town close to the German border. The soldiers of the gun crew were conscripts, and they were unsupported.
A large column of German tanks and motorized infantry approached the town from the south. Having crossed the border unchallenged they were now moving at a steady pace. As soon as the forward elements were within reach, the Danish gun opened fire on the front of the column, destroying a tank. The Germans, off course, returned fire.
The crew leader was killed instantly, but the gunner, although wounded, kept firing. When he too was killed, the loader took his place, loading and firing the gun on his own until the gun was destroyed and he was thrown from the weapon, badly wounded.
In light of many things that happened in that war, this small and ridiculous sacrifice is not much to be proud of, but it’s enough for me.
In Norway the cities of Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger and Narvik fell without serious fighting. However, the sinking of German battleship Blücher by a Norwegian coastal battery outside Oslo delayed the invasion long enough to secure the escape of the royal family. Also worth mentioning is the sinking of Karlsruhe by the small Norwegian destroyer Olav Trygveson.
Despite a British counter invasion, all of Norway was occupied after six weeks of fighting.
Norway was invaded for several reasons: First, Germany would control the Baltic Sea. Secondly, bases along the Norwegian coastline would expand the reach of German air and naval power, most notably the submarine arm, into the North Atlantic. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the control of Narvik would ensure the deliveries of iron ore from neutral Sweden on which Germany so heavily relied. In 1940, these deliveries would make up 11½ of the 15 million tonnes needed by German industry.
Denmark was invaded mostly to ensure airfields for the supply of German forces in Norway.
The Danish army was completely unprepared for war, and the government quickly capitulated. But before that happened, in the early morning hours before the capitulation, there were brief skirmishes in Copenhagen and at the southern border.
For example, a Danish infantry gun crew of three was ordered to hold the road into Haderslev, a small town close to the German border. The soldiers of the gun crew were conscripts, and they were unsupported.
A large column of German tanks and motorized infantry approached the town from the south. Having crossed the border unchallenged they were now moving at a steady pace. As soon as the forward elements were within reach, the Danish gun opened fire on the front of the column, destroying a tank. The Germans, off course, returned fire.
The crew leader was killed instantly, but the gunner, although wounded, kept firing. When he too was killed, the loader took his place, loading and firing the gun on his own until the gun was destroyed and he was thrown from the weapon, badly wounded.
In light of many things that happened in that war, this small and ridiculous sacrifice is not much to be proud of, but it’s enough for me.
posted by Mikkel at 7:29 PM
2 Comments:
That, and the jews, I guess.
The spectacular escape of the majority of the Danish jews to neutral Sweden with the help of the Danish underground - organized or spontaneous - is certainly something to be proud of.
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