Norwegian campaign

Norwegian Campaign

German forces advancing near Bagn in Valdres ·
Norwegian artillery in action near Narvik · King Haakon VII of Norway and his son Crown Prince Olav during a German air raid on Molde ·
German Gebirgsjäger troops near Narvik · German bombing of the Norwegian coastal fortress Oscarsborg

Date

9 April – 10 June 1940 (62 days)

Location

Norway

Result

German victory

Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany
Evacuation of the Norwegian government and royal family
Establishment of the
Norwegian Armed Forces in exile
Reichskommissariat Norwegen

Belligerents

Germany

Norway

United Kingdom

France

Polish Armed Forces in the West

Commanders and leaders

Nikolaus von Falkenhorst

Kristian Laake
(9–10 April)

Otto Ruge
(from 10 April)

Lord Cork

Strength

c. 100,000
7 divisions
1 Fallschirmjäger battalion

Total:
c. 93,000
Norway:
6 divisions
(c. 55,000 combatants involved in the fighting)
Allies:
c. 38,000

Casualties and losses

Official German figures:
5,296
(1,317 killed on land,
2,375 lost at sea,
1,604 wounded)
Material losses:
1 heavy cruiser
2 light cruisers
10 destroyers
6 U-boats
2 torpedo boats
15 light naval units
21 transports/merchant ships
90–240 aircraft

Total:
c. 6,602
British:
On land:
1,869 killed, wounded and missing
At sea:
c. 2,500 lost
1 aircraft carrier
2 cruisers
7 destroyers
1 submarine
112 aircraft
French and Polish:
533 killed, wounded and missing
2 destroyers
2 submarines
Norwegian:
c. 1,700 total, of whom 860 were killed
107 naval ships sunk or captured
c. 70 merchant ships and transports sunk (combined Norwegian/Allied total)

Civilian (Norwegian) casualties:
c. 400 killed

German victory

The Norwegian Campaign (9 April to 10 June 1940) was fought in Norway between Norway, the Allies and Germany in World War II after the latter's invasion of the country. In April, the United Kingdom and France came to Norway's aid with an expeditionary force. Despite moderate success in the northern parts of Norway, Germany's invasion of France in May eventually compelled the Allies to withdraw and the Norwegian government to seek exile in London. The campaign ended with the occupation of Norway by Germany, and the continued fighting by exiled Norwegian forces from abroad. The 62 days of fighting made Norway the nation that withstood a German invasion for the second longest period of time, after the Soviet Union.

Britain and France had signed military assistance treaties with Poland and two days after the German invasion (on 1 September 1939), both declared war on Nazi Germany. However, neither country mounted significant offensive operations and for several months no major engagements occurred in what became known as the Phoney War or "Twilight War". Winston Churchill in particular wished to move the war into a more active phase, in contrast to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.

During this time both sides wished to open secondary fronts. For the Allies, in particular the French, this was based on a desire to avoid repeating the trench warfare of the First World War, which had occurred along the Franco-German border.

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, the Norwegian government had mobilized parts of the Norwegian Army and all but two of the Royal Norwegian Navy's warships. The Norwegian Army Air Service and the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service were also called up to protect Norwegian neutrality from violations by the warring countries. The first such violations were the sinkings in Norwegian territorial waters of several British ships by German U-boats. In the following months aircraft from all the belligerents violated Norwegian neutrality.

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Wikipedia