Battles of Narvik

Naval battle preceding the first naval battle of Narvik
Part of the Second World War
Date 9 April 1940 Location Narvik, Norway Result German victory
Belligerents
Norway	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Per Askim Odd Isaachsen Willoch †	Friedrich Bonte Eduard Dietl
Strength
2 coastal defence ships	10 destroyers
Casualties and losses
2 coastal defence ships sunk 343 dead	None

First naval battle of Narvik
Part of the Second World War
A map of the Narvik area
Date 10 April 1940 Location Narvik, Norway Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Bernard Warburton-Lee †	Friedrich Bonte †
Strength
5 destroyers	10 destroyers
Casualties and losses
2 destroyers sunk 1 destroyer heavily damaged	2 destroyers sunk 1 ammunition supply ship sunk 6 cargo ships sunk 4 destroyers damaged 163 casualties

Second naval battle of Narvik
Part of the Second World War
Warspite engaging shore batteries during the Second Battle of Narvik.
Date 13 April 1940 Location Narvik, Norway Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Germany
Commanders and leaders
William Whitworth	Erich Bey
Strength
1 battleship 9 destroyers 1 aircraft carrier a small number of aircraft	8 destroyers 2 U-boats
Casualties and losses
3 destroyers damaged 28 killed 55 wounded	8 destroyers sunk or scuttled 1 U-boat sunk 128 killed 67 wounded

Battle of Narvik
Part of the Second World War
Narvik during the Second World War
Date 9 April-8 June 1940 Location Nordland and Troms, Norway Result Initial Allied victory German victory following Allied withdrawal
Belligerents
Norway  United Kingdom France Poland	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Carl Gustav Fleischer William Boyle, 12th Earl of Cork and Orrery Zygmunt Bohusz-Szyszko Raoul Magrin-Vernerey	Eduard Dietl
Strength
Norwegian 6th Division Four British battalions Three battalions of Chasseurs Alpins Two battalions of 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion 342e CACC (15 Hotchkiss H35 tanks) Four battalions of the Polish Independent Highland Brigade Total:24,500 men	2,000 Gebirgsjägers (mostly from Austria) 2,600 sailors 1,000 Fallschirmjägers Total:5,600 men

The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April to 8 June 1940 as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian city of Narvik as part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War.

The two naval battles in the Ofotfjord on 10 April and 13 April were fought between the British Royal Navy and Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine, while the two-month land campaign was fought between Norwegian, French, British, and Polish troops against German mountain troops, shipwrecked Kriegsmarine sailors and German paratroopers (Fallschirmjäger) from the 7th Air Division. Although defeated at sea off Narvik, losing control of the town of Narvik and being pushed back towards the Swedish border, the Germans eventually prevailed because of the Allied evacuation from Norway in June 1940 following the Battle of France.

Narvik provided an ice-free harbour in the North Atlantic for iron ore transported by the railway from Kiruna in Sweden. Both sides in the war had an interest in securing this iron supply for themselves and denying it to the enemy, setting the stage for one of the biggest battles since the Invasion of Poland.

Prior to the German invasion, British forces had considered Narvik as a possible landing point for an expedition to help Finland in the Winter War. Such an expedition also had the potential of taking control of the Swedish mines and opening up the Baltic for the Allies. French politicians were also eager to start a second front as far away from France as possible.

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Wikipedia