Hitler’s Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940

by Henrik O. Lunde

The charge that Colonel Sundlo failed in his duties and surrendered his troops to the enemy applies to many Norwegian military officers on that eventful night or the weeks that followed. Admiral Smith-Johanssen, for example, surrendered Norway’s main naval base at Horten, including all ships in the harbor, to a much smaller German force than that confronting Sundlo. Colonel Østbye in Bergen, when confronting a somewhat similar situation that would have caused a large number of civilian casualties, wisely chose not to take up the fight in the city, but withdrew his forces to defensive positions on its outskirts.

  Carl Joachim Hambro, the leader of the conservative party and the Storting, tried to have Sundlo removed from his post because of his political views long before the German attack. The campaign for his removal even led to a police investigation, which concluded that Sundlo had not done anything wrong.

  The intrigues within the 6th Division for Sundlo’s removal and the activities of the conservative party leadership toward the same end may not have taken place in isolation from each other. The Allies posed the most serious threat to Narvik and no one seriously considered Germany capable of launching operations in North Norway. It is curious that individuals like Hambro and Fleischer considered it risky to have an officer with pro-German political views as the military commander in Narvik when all indications from 1939 on pointed to a British/French expedition being prepared against that city.

  Colonel Sundlo could not mount a successful defense of Narvik with the forces located there and under the conditions that prevailed on 8 and 9 April. Combat in Narvik would not have changed the outcome of the German invasion, but would have caused a large number of civilian casualties. It would have been wiser to use these forces in the manner envisaged by the plans from an earlier generation.27 Those who claim otherwise forget that General Dietl had enormous firepower and additional forces at his disposal. The failure to leave adequate forces at Elvegårdsmoen to destroy that depot if it could not be defended had more serious consequences for future operations than the loss of the town. Colonel Otto Jersing Munthe-Kaas, who was a battalion commander in the 6th Division and later the Norwegian Military Attaché to the U.S., wrote:28

  The campaign in Narvik area would have taken a different and for the Germans a less favorable course if the 1st Bn 13th Inf Regt at Elvegaardsmoen had not been moved, but instead had been given a chance to take up the defense against a German landing in Herjangen, a fjord-arm on the north side of Ofotfjord.

  A defense of Narvik requires long preparation and quite other military and maritime forces and auxiliaries than those that were available on the April night, and only a few hours’ notice, to stand off a powerful and well-planned surprise attack by the Germans. It would have been better if Narvik had been declared an open city inasmuch as its adequate defense had no time to be organized. Instead, all available forces could have been used for isolating the Germans at Narvik by preventing them from pushing eastward along the Ofot railway and northward toward Troms province.

  The facts that Sundlo was a member of Quisling’s party and held positions in his administration during the war made the charges with regard to his conduct in Narvik stick, while leaving the conduct of others untarnished. Sundlo’s subsequent behavior cannot be used as a basis for judging his conduct as military commander in Narvik or as an explanation for a spectacular German success that caught everyone in this part of the country by surprise.29

  The failure of General Fleischer to curtail his inspection trip in East Finnmark was, in retrospect, a poor decision. The possibility of military action against Narvik should have been obvious to General Fleischer and it is difficult to understand why he did not head back to his headquarters as soon as the war clouds began to gather. The British mining operations on April 8 were clear signs of imminent hostilities, but even this failed to change Fleischer’s itinerary. The start of one of the worst winter storms of the season prevented the general and his chief of staff from returning to the divisional headquarters for several days.

  DESTROYER BATTLE

  “Keep on engaging the enemy.”

  CAPTAIN WARBURTON-LEE’S LAST MESSAGE TO HIS DESTROYER FLOTILLA MOMENTS BEFORE BEING MORTALLY WOUNDED.

  The German Situation in Narvik

  General Dietl and Captain Bonte had good reasons to congratulate themselves in the morning of April 9. They had sailed almost 1,500 miles through waters dominated by the British Navy and had captured Narvik without the loss of a ship, a sailor, or a soldier. They had inflicted a crippling blow on the Norwegian Navy, captured, without firing a shot, nearly 600 Norwegian soldiers and sailors, seized one of the largest Norwegian army depots, and captured five armed British merchant ships and their crews.

  Despite these impressive successes, the German position in Narvik was not enviable. Dietl and Bonte each faced serious problems. Dietl’s most immediate task was to consolidate his two beachheads against anticipated Norwegian and British attacks. Bonte’s most urgent task was to return to Germany with his destroyers, a highly dangerous venture now that the British were fully alerted. Several factors complicated the situation for both Dietl and Bonte.

  German planners had placed much reliance on the quick capture of the Norwegian shore batteries at the Ofotfjord entrance. It was one of three primary goals. They planned to use these batteries against any British attempt to enter Ofotfjord. The fact that these batteries did not exist increased the danger to the German forces. Dietl did not have the heavy weapons, equipment, and supplies on which he had planned. Most of the weapons and equipment carried on the destroyers washed overboard on the way to Narvik. The ships Bärenfels, Rauenfels, and Alster were scheduled to have arrived in Narvik before the destroyers. They carried weapons, equipment, and supplies. These three ships left Hamburg on April 3. They proceeded separately in order to give the appearance of innocent merchant ships. None reached their destination. Bärenfels fell so far behind schedule that she was redirected to Bergen, where she arrived on April 11. The British destroyer Havock crippled Rauenfels at the Ofotfjord entrance as the British warship returned from battle with the German destroyers on April 10. A British destroyer captured Alster north of Bodø on April 14. The loss of these three ships was a serious blow to Dietl since he could not count on receiving any further supplies by sea. This made the capture of the depot at Elvegårdsmoen all the more important.

  Bonte’s destroyers reached Narvik almost empty of fuel. They needed to refuel before they could start their return voyage to Germany but the two large tankers scheduled to be in Narvik when TF 1 arrived had not yet arrived. Jan Wellem sailed from Murmansk and reached Narvik on April 8. The Kattegat sailed from Germany and should also have reached Narvik on April 8. She stopped south of Bodø because of the British minefield and was intercepted by the Norwegian patrol boat Nordkapp and sunk in shallow water. The Norwegians later salvaged most of the cargo. German naval officers considered the loss of Kattegat the most serious blow to the Narvik operation since it prevented the German destroyers from departing Narvik on schedule.1

  Bonte’s problems were twofold. Each destroyer required about 600 tons of fuel for the return trip to Germany. With the loss of Kattegat, he had only half of the fuel called for in the operational plan. Jan Wellem could only provide this amount through the time-consuming procedure of mixing diesel oil with boiler oil.2 The second problem involved the time required to refuel. With two tankers, he could have refueled four destroyers at a time and the time required would be much shorter since there would be no need to mix diesel oil and boiler oil. With one tanker, only two destroyers could refuel simultaneously, and each pair required seven to eight hours. Only three destroyers were refueled by 2400 hours, April 9.

  The order in which Bonte refueled them presented a problem in itself. Wilhelm Heidkamp, Bonte’s flagship, was one of the refueled destroyers. The other two were Bernd von Arnim and Georg Thiele. However, the last two destroyers also had minor engine troubles that needed to be fixed before they could undertake the voyage back to Germany. Only
one destroyer was therefore fully ready to depart. At 1357 hours Captain Bonte sent a message to Admiral Saalwächter at Naval Command West and to Admiral Lütjens, who was waiting to link up with the destroyers. The message notified them that the destroyers could not depart Narvik on April 9 as planned, but Bonte intended to depart after dark on April 10, by which time all destroyers should be refueled. Saalwächter approved Bonte’s decision and informed him that German submarines had taken up positions at the entrance to Norwegian fjords, including Vestfjord and Ofotfjord.

  U-boat Group 1, consisting of U25, U46, U51, U64 and U65, operated off North Norway. Some of these submarines were now patrolling Vestfjord and Ofotfjord along the approach any British force would have to follow. U51 patrolled the inner part of Vestfjord; U25 was in position off Barøy Lighthouse; and U46 was in Ofotfjord, off Ramnes. Bonte’s journal entries indicate that he had strong faith in the submarines’ ability to warn him about approaching enemy ships. He was confident that the two submarines in the narrow straits near Barøy and Ramnes would detect any approaching enemy force. He even hoped that the submarines could prevent an enemy attempt to enter the fjord. This assessment was an overestimation of the submarines’ capabilities in the low visibility caused by almost continuous snow squalls. Naval Command West informed Bonte about the submarines’ positions and he in turn asked that command to impress upon the U-boat commanders the importance of their mission to report and hinder a British attack on Narvik.

  The British would have been dismayed to know that the Germans had excellent and accurate intelligence about British naval operations. The information was obtained from intercepted and deciphered British radio traffic. Captain Bonte knew, for example, that a large naval force, thought to be the main body of the Home Fleet, was on its way north and that the force in or near Vestfjord included two battle cruisers. The most important intelligence passed to Bonte was that a British destroyer flotilla had orders to attack an unknown target.

  Bonte may have feared air attacks more than a surface attack and this concern probably influenced how he deployed the ships that were not refueling in the evening of April 9. To some extent, his concern was unwarranted. Narvik was well beyond the reach of British land-based aircraft. The nearest British aircraft carrier was with the Home Fleet, still well out of range, but believed to be heading north. Bonte directed Commander Berger to send George Thiele and Bernd von Arnim into Ballangen Bay, about 15 miles southwest of Narvik. He ordered Commander Bey to take the destroyers Wolfgang Zenker, Erich Giese, and Erich Koellner into Herjangsfjord, about ten miles northeast of Narvik. Commander Hans-Joachim Gadow was to keep three of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla’s four destroyers in Narvik to refuel. The fourth destroyer was assigned patrol duty in Ofotfjord. This destroyer would be relieved, as required, by the refueling schedule. Bonte also kept his flagship, Wilhelm Heidkamp, in Narvik. He planned initially to have the refueled Wilhelm Heidkamp join the three destroyers in Herjangsfjord. However, Dietl convinced him to remain in Narvik to facilitate consultations.

  At 2200 hours on April 9, Captain Bonte received a radio message from Lieutenant Commander Knorr, the skipper of U51. This submarine patrolled the inner part of Vestfjord and reported sighting five British destroyers on a southwest course. This course took them away from Narvik and therefore the message did not cause Bonte to take any further precautions. As in the case of Admiral Forbes earlier with respect to Task Force 2, Captain Bonte placed too much reliance on the reported course of the British destroyers. These ships were waiting for dawn and high tide for their entry into Ofotfjord and the German submarine just happened to see the ships while they were heading southwestward.

  Bonte is criticized for the actions he took or failed to take that fateful evening. Some of the criticism is justified, but not all. Bonte failed to be sufficiently on guard, despite knowing that superior British naval forces were in the Vestfjord area. However, it was logical for Bonte to assume that the three submarines at the entrance to Ofotfjord and one destroyer on patrol in the fjord outside the harbor entrance would provide adequate warning about a British attack. It was difficult for Bonte to increase the early warning patrols since seven of the ten destroyers were not refueled and did not have sufficient fuel to patrol. Nevertheless, he could have used his fully refueled flagship, despite Dietl’s desire for it to remain in Narvik, and the two destroyers in Ballangen Bay to patrol further out in the fjord to provide earlier warning of approaching enemy forces.

  He also kept too many destroyers in Narvik harbor, which was most likely to be the target of any surprise attack. There were five destroyers in the harbor when the British attacked but Bonte believed there were only four. Two had to be there in order to refuel. However, it would have been a good idea to move Jan Wellem to a side fjord to conduct the refueling operation. Refueling destroyers were vulnerable targets and the destruction of Jan Wellem would have ended all hopes of bringing the destroyers back to Germany. He could also have reduced the number of ships in Narvik by taking his flagship out of the immediate harbor area and by relocating the destroyer that was not actually involved in refueling operations. Bogen, on the north side of the fjord, or Rombaken would have been a good place for these two ships.

  Captain Dickens is critical of Bonte for failing to issue orders to the destroyer captains about what actions to take in case of attack. With the exception of those in the harbor, the German ships were in excellent positions to respond to an attack. The three destroyers in Herjangsfjord threatened the flank of any force attacking Narvik. The two in Ballangen Bay could strike an attacking force from the rear. If instructions were in fact lacking, we can only conclude that the German destroyer captains responded in a professional manner and it is difficult to see how instructions could have improved on their actions.

  General Dietl’s main concern was a Norwegian counterattack and he placed his emphasis on improving and strengthening the defenses in the two beachheads. There were five armed British merchant ships in Narvik harbor when the Germans attacked. These were seized, the crews imprisoned, and attempts were begun to bring their guns ashore to support Dietl’s troops. Bonte understood how exposed and ill equipped the German troops were, and he ordered all small arms and ammunition on the destroyers brought ashore for their use. The German operational plan called for Dietl to seize Bardufoss Airfield and the Setermoen depot and training area as quickly as possible after landing. The heavy snowfall blocked all roads leading north and it was therefore not possible to begin this part of the plan immediately.

  The German dispositions at Narvik remained generally unchanged during April 9. The preponderance of the 139th Mountain Infantry Regiment (two battalions) remained near Elvegårdsmoen. This part of the 139th Regiment is later referred to as Group Windisch, after its commander, Colonel Windisch. Platoon and company-size security forces were positioned north of Bjerkvik and on both sides of Herjangsfjord. Dietl had to rely on Norwegian telephone facilities to communicate with Windisch since most of the division’s communications equipment was lost on the stormy passage from Germany.

  In retrospect, General Dietl’s worries about a Norwegian counterattack were not well founded. The only Norwegian force near Narvik was the remnants of the 1/13th Inf that had managed to slip out of town. It was in no position to undertake offensive operations of any kind. The only other forces within a reasonable distance were the 2/15th Inf and the 3rd Mountain Artillery Bn. The 2/15 Inf, located at Setermoen, and a motorized artillery battery were ordered to Elvegårdsmoen late in the evening of April 8, but the heavy snowfall kept these units from making any appreciable progress.

  General Fleischer remained in Vadsø on April 9 since the weather prevented a return to his headquarters. He kept in contact with District Command by telephone. Fleischer did not wait for the government to order mobilization. At 0445 hours on April 9 he ordered the mobilization of the remaining two line battalions of the 16th Infantry Regiment and later the same morning he expanded the mobilization to include the Alta Battalio
n and the remaining battalion of the 14th Infantry Regiment in Mosjøen. He also ordered all aircraft to Bardufoss where they could support operations near Narvik. Fleischer halted the move of the units from Setermoen to the Narvik area and these were instead concentrated in defensive positions in Salangsdal, south of Setermoen.

  The British Reaction to the Capture of Narvik and Admiralty Intervention

  It will be recalled that Admiral Whitworth finally dispatched his destroyers in the morning of April 9 to take up positions at the entrance to Vestfjord to prevent the Germans from reaching Narvik. The British were operating in an intelligence vacuum. The concentration of naval forces at the entrance to Vestfjord was based on the faulty assumption that the Germans were still to their south. When the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, commanded by the 45-year old Captain Bernard Armitage Warburton-Lee, established a patrol line across the Vestfjord entrance at 0930 hours (GMT) on April 9, the Germans were already in firm control of Narvik.

  Shortly after establishing the patrol line across Vestfjord, Captain Warburton-Lee began receiving a stream of contradictory orders and directives from his superiors. At 0952 hours (GMT) An order from Admiral Forbes, bypassing Admiral Whitworth, directed him to send destroyers to Narvik to ensure that no German troops landed in that city. Five minutes later, Warburton-Lee received an order from Admiral Whitworth to join him about 50 nautical miles southwest of Skomvær Lighthouse. Finally, at midday, the Admiralty intervened by sending the following message directly to Captain Warburton-Lee:

  Press reports state one German ship has arrived Narvik and landed a small force. Proceed Narvik and sink or capture enemy ship. It is at your discretion to land forces if you think you can recapture Narvik from number of enemy present. Try to get possession of battery if not already in enemy hands.3