Von Falkenhorst, his staff, and other headquarters within the Wehrmacht tasked to support Weserübung had been busy during the month of March. The German military officers at times displayed some weaknesses when it came to strategic assessments, and political, economic, and psychological considerations were often not given the proper weight. However, the officers were superb when it came to operational planning. The final operational plans for Weserübung, which were issued on March 5, 1940 and for Narvik on March 12 are excellent examples of meticulous planning. But they are remarkable plans not only for their attention to details and close cooperation between the services, despite the failure to achieve a unified command structure, but also for their display of imagination, innovation, and the assumption of calculated risks. This superb planning was combined with boldness and skill in execution. These were important factors in making an operation that the General Staff regarded as “lunatic” a stunning operational success. In both planning and execution, Weserübung stands in sharp contrast to the dilatory and rather unprofessional efforts on the part of the Allies.
Nevertheless, it must be recognized that the operation was a gamble, and the German General Staff could well have been proven correct in its expectation of failure. While superb planning and bold execution were important factors in its eventual success, the element of luck, hoped for but not planned for in military operations, was equally important. If the Norwegians and the British had heeded the many warnings they received, the stunning operational success could easily have turned into military disaster.
It is rather amazing that the operation succeeded as well as it did, not only because of those risks already alluded to, but also because of the rather makeshift command and operational control mechanism. Much of this can be traced back to inter-service rivalries, but German lack of experience in combined operations also played a large role. Von Falkenhorst commanded only the ground forces, and had no command authority over the naval and air force components, who instead took orders from their respective services. Requirements for the other services were passed from Group XXI to the services, usually through OKW.
This three-way command relationship existed not only for the passage and landing but also for the entire operation. A territorial command for the air force was established, and this with General Erhard Milch’s Fifth Air Fleet absorbed the X Air Corps on April 12. All naval units in Norway after the landings would come under the leadership of Admiral Boehm, with headquarters in Oslo. He established subordinate naval commands in Bergen and Kristiansand.
At the various landing sites, an army officer was designated as commander of the landing forces and for operations to secure the landing site. The senior officer present from either the navy or the army would assume command after the landings were carried out. However, he could only issue orders to the other services within his area in emergencies.
Von Falkenhorst had his headquarters in Hamburg during the actual attack and was directly subordinate to Hitler through OKW. A group was established at OKW, including officers from each service, to serve as a link with Group XXI and as a coordination point, particularly for the flow of reinforcements and supplies after the initial landings. X Air Corps, under Lieutenant General Hans Geissler, also had its initial headquarters in Hamburg. The command and control of naval operations for the attack was divided. OKM decided that the operations in the Baltic, Kattegat, and part of Skagerrak should be under Admiral Carls with his headquarters in Kiel. Operations in the North Sea were under Admiral Saalwächter with his headquarters in Wilhelmshaven.
The fact that the planning for and conduct of the operation proceeded relatively smoothly must be attributed to the personalities and professionalism of the officers at the working level. This is also the conclusion reached by Group XXI in its after-action report:
That the commands and troop contingents of the three armed forces branches worked together almost without friction cannot be credited to purposeful organization of the commanding staff. It was, instead, entirely an achievement of the personalities involved who knew how to cooperate closely in order to overcome the inadequacies of the organization.53
The invasion plan called for one major naval expedition along the Norwegian coast to land the lead elements of the three assault divisions. The assault force designated for the attack was divided into six task forces in addition to a naval covering force. The assault troops were carried on warships. These task forces were scheduled to arrive at the entrance to all target ports shortly after 0400 hours, and the assaults were to be carried out within 30 minutes of arrival.
The targets were geographically separated by about 1,000 miles of water, so the ambitious timetable required not only precision planning and execution but also considerable luck. The dangers for the Germans were much greater in Narvik and Trondheim than at the other ports, which meant that those units would have to be self-sufficient until they linked-up with forces landed in other parts of the country. The Germans might get away with one naval sortie to Narvik, but a second expedition along the coast was completely out of the question. The situation in Oslo and the other parts of southern Norway was considered more favorable since those operations would, at least in part, be under the protective umbrella of German aircraft after the initial landing. A rapid build-up of forces in Oslo was considered feasible, and these forces would push inland as quickly as possible to prevent or disrupt Norwegian mobilization and to establish overland connections with other beachheads.
Task Forces 1 and 2, destined for Narvik and Trondheim respectively, sailed together, escorted by the battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst. Each battleship had a crew of 1,800. Admiral Wilhelm Marshall, Fleet Commander, should have commanded this combined force but he was ill and Vice Admiral Guenther Lütjens assumed command. The two battleships and the ships destined for Trondheim and Narvik were to sail together to designated locations. The battleships would then proceed on a northerly or northwesterly course in an attempt to draw any major British surface forces away from the Norwegian coast. The two battleships, Task Force 1, and Task Force 2 departed various north German ports shortly before midnight on April 6, joined forces at 0200 hours on April 7, and proceeded toward their destination. The fleet was given a strong fighter escort during daylight hours on April 7.
Task Force 1, commanded by Captain Friedrich Bonte, who flew his flag from the destroyer Wilhelm Heidkamp, consisted of ten destroyers. There were 3,140 officers and crew aboard the ten destroyers. The assault elements of Task Force 1 were commanded by Major General Eduard W.C. Dietl and consisted of the reinforced 139th Mountain Regiment, advanced headquarters and staff elements of the 3rd Mountain Division, and various support elements. The approximately 2,000 troops were distributed equally on the ten destroyers.
The naval elements of Task Force 2, under the command of Captain Hellmuth Heye, consisted of the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and four destroyers. These ships had a crew of 2,860 officers and men. The landing force, commanded by Colonel Weiss, consisted of two battalions of the 138th Mountain Regiment, an engineer company, artillery battery, and support units. Total strength of the landing force was 1,700.
Task Force 3, which had the mission of capturing Bergen, departed Wilhelmshaven and Cuxhaven shortly before midnight on April 7. It consisted of the light cruisers Köln and Königsberg, the naval artillery training ship Bremse, two torpedo boats, five motor torpedo boats, and the support ship Karl Peters. The ships were manned by 2,420 officers and men and were commanded by Rear Admiral Huber Schmundt. The Bergen landing force, commanded by Major General Tittel, consisted of elements of the 69th Division staff, two battalions of the 159th Infantry Regiment, two engineer companies, two naval artillery batteries, and various support units. The total strength was 1,900.
The mission of Task Force 4 was to capture Kristiansand and Arendal and Captain Rieve was the navy commander. The naval force consisted of the light cruiser Karlsruhe, three torpedo boats, seven motor torpedo boats, and the artillery training ship Tsingt
au. This task force departed Wesermünde at 0400 hours on April 8. The officers and men on the ships totaled 1,767. Colonel Gihr commanded the landing force, which consisted of one battalion plus one company of the 310th Infantry Regiment, one motorcycle squadron, and some naval artillery personnel. The strength of the landing force was 1,100.
Task Force 5 had as its mission the capture of the Norwegian capital, including the government and king if that was possible. The naval contingent of Task Force 5 consisted of the heavy cruisers Blücher and Lützow, the light cruiser Emden, three torpedo boats, eight R-boats (small minesweepers), and two auxiliaries (armed whalers). Blücher was the newest of the major German surface units, launched on June 8, 1939 and commissioned on September 10, 1939. Its actual displacement was 18,200 tons although it was officially listed at 14,050 tons. Sea trials had just been completed prior to the Norwegian invasion. The Lützow was originally classified as a pocket battleship and named Deutschland. It was reclassified as a heavy cruiser on January 25, 1940 and given a new name. Hitler thought there would be undesirable psychological and propaganda consequences if a ship named Deutschland should be sunk. The ships of Task Force 5 carried a combined crew of 3,800. Rear Admiral Kummetz commanded the naval component. The landing force consisted of two battalions of the 307th Infantry Regiment, one battalion of the 138th Mountain Regiment, plus various artillery, engineer and support units. The strength of the landing force was 2,000. Major General Engelbrecht commanded the landing force.
Task Force 6 was the smallest. Its mission was to capture Egersund on the southwest coast. The Germans considered this small coastal town important enough to be included as a target for the first day because it was the eastern terminal of the underwater cable to England. Task Force 6 assembled in Cuxhaven and sailed from the Elbe estuary at 0445 hours on April 8. Captain Kurt Thomas was the task force’s naval commander, and he had at his disposal four minesweepers with a combined crew of 328 personnel. Captain Eichorn of the cavalry commanded the landing force and had one motorcycle squadron of 150 soldiers for his mission.
Nearly every ship in the German Navy participated in Weserübung. In addition to the protective group consisting of the two battleships mentioned earlier, 36 German U-boats took up positions along the Norwegian coast and in the areas around the Shetland Islands and the Orkneys. The submarines were divided into eight designated groups and four boats operating independently in the waters between Orkneys-Shetlands-Bergen.
The only major units of the German Navy not participating in the Norwegian attack were the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer, the light cruisers Leipzig and Nürnberg, six destroyers, and four torpedo boats. These were all undergoing repairs. The Luftwaffe had sunk two German destroyers by mistake in February 1940.
The army divisions assigned for operations in Norway consisted of the 3rd and 2nd Mountain Divisions, the 69th, 163rd, 181st, 196th, and 214th Infantry Divisions. The two mountain divisions were elite units, consisting of a mixture of German and Austrian troops. The 2nd was not on the original list of units for the invasion but was added and moved to Norway when it became apparent that mountain troops were necessary to establish contact between the Trondheim landing force and that in Narvik.
While the main army units constituting the invasion force did not possess nearly a uniform level of personnel, training, equipment, and experience, they were considered fully combat ready. While some of the troops could be considered old for combat duty, this was compensated for by experience. The 214th Infantry Division, for example, consisted primarily of militia or territorial solders as well as veterans from World War I. A number of the units were armed and equipped with captured materiel (Austrian, Czechoslovakian, and Polish).
Training time varied. Some German units had not trained for winter and mountain operations, and all units lacked training in amphibious operations. These were serious shortcomings that had to be overcome. All units were extensively trained in offensive operations, and all ranks were expected to show themselves capable of flexibility, initiative, and improvisation.
Air Corps X, under Lieutenant General Hans Geissler’s command, was tasked with providing air support for the Norwegian operation and was considerably augmented for this mission. Air Corps X employed more than 1,000 aircraft in the Norwegian operation, including approximately 500 transport aircraft.
Air Corps X consisted of three squadrons and one group of fighter-bombers. Each squadron normally consisted of three groups and each group had 27 aircraft. There was also one group of dive-bombers, two groups of fighters, 18 reconnaissance aircraft, one group of seaplanes, and seven groups of transport aircraft. The Luftwaffe also provided three anti-aircraft battalions, one parachute battalion, and several air landing units. The navy also had under its own command three groups of reconnaissance aircraft. The mission of Air Corps X was to transport parachute and other troops to Oslo, Kristiansand, and Stavanger, to protect the troop transports and the landing of troops in Norway against enemy aircraft, to provide close air support for the troops, and to capture and expand Norwegian airfields.
Only light equipment and limited supplies could accompany the small number of personnel in the attack groups; that is, those transported on warships. It was therefore of great importance that heavier weapons, equipment, and reinforcements for the initial landings arrive in Norwegian harbors on the day of the attack. The timely availability of fuel was particularly critical for the returning warships. Several transport groups were organized to bring the heavy weapons, supplies, equipment, reinforcements, and fuel to Norway. One was referred to as the Export Echelon (Ausführ-Staffel) and consisted of seven merchant ships that were to sail individually from Hamburg to Narvik, Trondheim, and Stavanger with weapons and supplies for those troops that were landed by sea or air. The ships were to pretend to be merchant ships on their way to Murmansk and were to arrive at their real destinations before the warships or airplanes.
The 1st Sea Transport Echelon consisted of 15 merchant ships that assembled in Stettin on March 12 and began loading units from the 69th and 163rd Infantry Divisions on April 4 (3,761 troops, 672 horses, 1,377 vehicles and 5,935 tons of supplies). These forces were earmarked for Oslo, Kristiansand, Stavanger, and Bergen. Two large tankers loaded with fuel sailed from Wilhelmshaven: one to Narvik and one to Trondheim. Another large tanker sailed from Murmansk to Narvik. Five smaller tankers would later bring fuel from Hamburg to Oslo, Stavanger, Bergen, and Trondheim. The ships of the 1st Sea Transport Echelon and the tankers sailed individually, and no visible protective measures were taken. For security reasons, none of the ships from the Export Echelon, the 1st Sea Transport Echelon or the tankers was allowed to leave German harbors earlier than six days before the day of the attack. The time allowed for these ships to reach their destination proved inadequate in many cases and led to serious supply difficulties. However, it was the limited number of tankers for Narvik that caused the most serious problems for the navy.
The 2nd Sea Transport Echelon consisted of 11 merchant ships and carried troops from the 196th Infantry Division (8,450 troops, 969 horses, 1,283 vehicles and 2,170 tons of supplies). It sailed from Goetnhafen (Gdynia) and Köningsberg to Oslo. These ships were scheduled to arrive in Oslo two days after the invasion.
The 3rd Sea Transport Echelon consisted of 12 merchant ships that were to proceed from Hamburg to Oslo with 6,065 troops, 893 horses, 1,347 vehicles and 6,050 tons of supplies. These ships were scheduled to arrive in Oslo six days after the invasion. Further reinforcements and supplies, consisting of 40,000 troops, 4,000 horses, 10,000 vehicles, and 40,000 tons of supplies were to be brought to Oslo as quickly as possible. The returning ships of the 2nd and 3rd Sea Transport Echelons would be used in this effort.
The German attack on Norway was fully underway when the last task force, Task Force 6, departed the Elbe estuary at 0445 hours on April 8, 1940. The first attack wave carried more than 30,000 German sailors and soldiers.
This operation was an extremely hazardous undertaking,
and its success rested on three pillars: complete tactical surprise, the determination and professionalism of those involved, and mistakes by the enemy. There was an extremely slim margin between success and failure. The key element of achieving tactical surprise carried enormous risks. Any action or intelligence that aroused suspicions in Britain or Norway could lead to catastrophe. The overwhelming British naval forces present in or around the North Sea presented a grave threat to the German attack groups. A mobilization of the Norwegian Army as late as April 8, providing additional personnel for the coastal fortresses, and laying the planned minefields, could have made the German landings very costly. Mobilization before the German capture of the depots would have opened the possibilities of Norwegian counterattacks against the isolated German landing forces. Admiral Carls’ assessment on the evening of April 7 was somber, realistic, and prophetic.
The risks are great, and there will be losses. But in view of the great significance of the operation, the price to be paid will not be too great if most of the surface fleet is lost. One must be prepared for the loss of at least half of the committed naval forces if Norwegian or British resistance is encountered.54
The eagerness to carry out Operation Weserübung exhibited by many officers in the German Navy is traceable to their desire to avoid the conditions that prevailed in World War I by acquiring operational bases on Europe’s open coastline that would make a British blockade difficult or impossible. This would greatly simplify and extend the navy’s operational range. It is therefore strange that they were prepared to sacrifice most of the navy in this endeavor, particularly in view of Hitler’s shift of priority to the army and the improved prospects of acquiring bases on the French coast. An outcome along the lines anticipated by Admiral Carls seems to go directly against the objectives the German Navy was trying to achieve.
Hitler’s Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940 Page 11
