Despite having considered a landing at Bjerkvik out of the question only a few days earlier, Mackesy now ordered General Béthouart to do just that. Some consider that the addition of the Polish troops, now just arriving, gave him more confidence but this is not very likely since he and Cork were already considering sending the 24th Guards Brigade south to meet the German drive from Namsos. It is more likely that he saw that his attempts to delay operations would no longer work and that he settled on what he considered the least dangerous of two courses of action, landing at Narvik or landing at Bjerkvik. The operation against Bjerkvik was also in accordance with an earlier recommendation by General Fleischer and the wishes of his French allies.
The Bjerkvik Landing
General Béthouart was charged with the planning and execution of the landing. He decided to use the two battalions of the 13th Half-Brigade of the Foreign Legion for the landing. The reaction of a legionnaire officer to this mission was probably typical:10 “Ah, it is all very difficult. We are used to traveling on camels across the desert, and here you give us boats, and we have to cross the water. It is very difficult but it will be all right. I think so.” Béthouart also intended to use one of the newly arrived Polish battalions for an overland approach against Bjerkvik from Bogen.
Simultaneously, he planned that the troops on Ankenes Peninsula undertake operations to tie down German forces in that area. Finally, he sought and received General Fleischer’s agreement on May 8 for an attack by the 7th Brigade and the 6th and 14th Battalions of the 27th CA towards Bjerkvik from the north against the 1/139th. The 6th Brigade would attack on the left against the 3/139th on the Kuberg Plateau.
The plan called for the 27th CA to advance along Route 50 to secure the ridgeline from Hill 409 to Hill 416. Having secured Hill 416, the 27th would proceed towards Kvandal, link up with the Foreign Legion at Hill 336 (Skogfjell), continue eastward in the area north of Hartvigvann and make contact on their left with the 7th Brigade and on their right with units of the Foreign Legion advancing eastward from Elvegårdsmoen. The Norwegians were asked to secure the high ground from Hills 664 to 842 and thereafter cut the German line of retreat. Béthouart’s original plan called for the amphibious operation and the Norwegian and French attacks from the north to take place simultaneously during the night of May 10-11. The Norwegians were to launch their attacks at the sound of the heavy guns in Ofotfjord.
The lack of amphibious resources forced Béthouart’s legionnaires to attack the shore in two waves. The 1/13th Half-Brigade constituted the first wave to be landed directly in Bjerkvik while the 2nd Bn, in the second wave, landed at Melby, on the eastern shore of Herjangsfjord. Difficulties in loading the five light tanks that were to support the landings caused one MLC to be damaged beyond repair and this, along with the delay in transporting the Polish battalion from Harstad to Bogen, caused the attack to be delayed for 24 hours. The Polish troops lacked all their medical equipment and much of their means of transportation since these items had been loaded on an unknown ship in Brest.
The operation was postponed yet another day because of transportation difficulties, caused primarily by efforts to shore up the defenses in Nordland Province. The assault force assembled in Ballagen on May 12. The battleship Resolution, the cruisers Effingham and Aurora, and five destroyers constituted the bombardment part of the force. The 1,620 assault troops were embarked on warships, ALCs, and open boats. Cork, Auchinleck, and Béthouart were on the cruiser Effingham. Mackesy was ill on May 13.
The naval bombardment began at midnight and lasted intermittently for two hours. It was already so late in the year that there was only partial darkness in the Narvik area and a night landing had little concealment from enemy observation. However, darkness still prevailed in central Norway and it was hoped that the night landing would complicate German air operations from that part of the country.
The bombardment did little to improve relations between the Allies and the Norwegians. General Béthouart wrote later that no movements ashore were observed and he assumed that the Germans had sought shelter in the many homes along the shore. He states that he had received General Fleischer’s assurances that the civilian population had been evacuated.11 The bombardment and subsequent fighting devastated the village, killing 17 civilians and gravely wounding many more. Kersuady quotes a dramatic account by a Corporal Favrel of the Foreign Legion, “Then the assault began and a frightful butchery ensued, in the course of which we slaughtered more civilians than Germans…” He goes on to write that after its capture, Bjerkvik was systematically plundered, just like Namsos, but this time without British participation.
Hovland writes that General Fleischer had repeatedly warned the population via the radio station in Tromsø to evacuate by Saturday, despite the fact that the message might alert the Germans to the forthcoming landing. Most heeded the warning and evacuated, but when nothing happened on either Saturday or Sunday, many returned and suffered in the battle. This unfortunate incident is yet another example of inadequate coordination and cooperation between Norwegian and Allied forces.
The landing went generally according to plans. It took some time to transfer the light tanks from Resolution to the MLCs but Co 1 of the 1st Bn landed at 0100 hours. It was planned to land directly in Bjerkvik but machinegun fire convinced the commander to land about one kilometer further west, at the Haugen farm.
The covering fire from British warships became more effective after the Germans opened fire and revealed their positions. The relentless fire from so many naval guns forced the Germans to retire into the hills. Colonel Windisch, who had been alerted to the forthcoming landings by the heavy traffic of warships and smaller craft in Ofotfjord, had planned just such a retirement. The three light tanks brought ashore by the French proved very effective initially and the lead legionnaires were able to clear the shoreline quickly with only light casualties, allowing the rest of the battalion to land and begin its northward advance to link up with the 27th CA. It was intended that the two forces should meet near Tverelven, but the advance from the north was stopped by the 1/139th in the area west of Skogfjell. The tanks became stuck in the deep snow and flanking fire from the heights west of Hartvigvann made movement very difficult for the Legionnaires.
The 2/13th Half-Brigade, supported by two light tanks, landed on the eastern side of Herjangsfjord. This landing was delayed until the 1st Bn had landed and sufficient small craft became available. The area from Bjerkvik to Øyjord was held by naval battalion Kothe, consisting of three weak companies from the crews of the sunken destroyers. There were doubts among the German officers about the ability of naval personnel to fight effectively as infantry and they were now put to the test.
The French planned to land the 2nd Bn at a point on the coastline close to Elvegårdsmoen but heavy machinegun fire forced the Legionnaires to land on an alternate beach several hundred meters to the south. Kothe’s naval personnel, badly demoralized by the bombardment, offered little resistance and abandoned their positions, leaving behind nearly all machineguns.
The 2nd Bn divided into two forces after securing the beach. One headed for Elvegårdsmoen, which was secured after some sharp fighting with a small screening force of mountain troops. The camp had been heavily struck in the naval bombardment. The second force headed south towards Øyjord. A company of naval personnel, commanded by Lieutenant Kühlenkamp, abandoned its positions at Gjeisvik after coming under naval gunfire but before a ground attack.
The 3rd Division journal tells about the disintegrated and panic-stricken German naval units arriving at the division base at Bjørnefjell, including all of Company Kühlenkamp. The troops that showed up at Bjørnefjell included a few mountain troops, but these were sent back to the front immediately. The fleeing naval personnel were assembled and kept at Bjørnefjell. Company Kühlenkamp’s abandonment of its positions opened the way to Øyjord and a French motorcycle platoon captured the place within a few hours without resistance.
The 2nd Polish battalion
began its advance from Bogen (Lenvik) at 2200 hours on May 12. Their front and flank were secured by Norwegian ski troops. The battalion reached Bjerkvik after an arduous 12-hour march. The platoon-size German security force in this area made a hasty withdrawal. It found its line of retreat through Bjerkvik blocked and withdrew into the mountains to the north. The unit lost its way in the unfamiliar terrain, ended up in Gratangsbotn on May 16, and was promptly captured by French forces. A small element of the Polish battalion was sent northward to secure the Legionnaires’ left flank near Skoglund while two companies were sent to relieve the French motorcyclists at Øyjoro.
The first opposed amphibious operation of World War II proceeded generally according to plans. There were only 36 French casualties but Moulton notes that it was not a great day for the British:
Of all soldiers, British soldiers should have been most willing to attack from the sea, should have been experts trained and equipped to make such attacks. Yet they left it to men from the desert to show how it could be done. That they should have lacked the skill and equipment was perhaps no worse than that the Chasseurs Alpins came to Norway inadequately trained and equipped to fight in the snow mountains. But at least the Chasseurs made the attempt, and in making it could retain some pride.13
General Hovland’s assessment is that “Béthouart and his Foreign Legionnaires have received most of the honor for the liberation of Bjerkvik. There is little reason to believe that this operation would have succeeded if Fleischer had not simultaneously attacked from the north.”14 It was not so much Fleischer’s simultaneous attack that made the landing a success, but his offensive that had been underway since April 23. These operations had necessitated the commitment of nearly all mountain troops available to Colonel Windisch as well as other units from Bjørnefjell and Narvik. Consequently, the Germans had virtually no reserves left when Béthouart landed his Legionnaires. The German sources attest to this conclusion: “The defense of Herjangsfjord’s east shore was left to three companies of Naval Battalion Kothe alone. All other parts of Group Windisch stood with their fronts to the north, in heavy defensive fighting against continual attacks by superior Norwegian forces.”11
The loss of Elvegårdsmoen was a blow to the Germans. Some magazines, although considerably reduced from April 9, fell into French hands. The Germans left behind three doctors and 45 seriously wounded at their field hospital, all of whom were captured. Group Windisch was now entirely dependent on supplies from the base at Bjørnefjell and the spring thaw made the route to that location very difficult.
Group Windisch Escapes
The Norwegian part of the operations against the Germans involved an attack by the 7th Brigade on the right to seize the Vassdalsfjell area north of Hartvigvann. This attack was expected to result in a link up with the Legionnaires who were moving northeast from Elvegårdsmoen, thereby trapping the 1/139th in its defensive positions astride Route 50. The 6th Brigade on the left was to seize a foothold on the Kuberg Plateau before the Germans could settle into new defensive positions.
Group Windisch was in danger of having its line of retreat severed. Windisch also had to establish a new front, one that faced north as well as west against the forces landed in Herjangsfjord. He had to delay the French advance northeast of Elvegårdsmoen and prevent a link-up with an anticipated advance by the 7th Brigade while shoring up the front facing the 6th Brigade. Failing to do so would prevent the withdrawing forces from occupying and preparing new defensive positions.
Windisch issued orders at 0500 hours on May 13 for his dangerously exposed forces on the German left to withdraw eastward to the area south of Hartvigvann and for the establishment of new defensive line from Storebalak to Fiskeløsvann. Units had orders to destroy heavy weapons and equipment that could not be brought along. Several factors came into play to allow Group Windisch to extricate itself successfully.
The advance of the 1/13th Half-Brigade halted on a line running from Skoglund to Skogfjell while the 1/139th was able to halt the southward drive of the 14/27th CA before it reached the planned link-up point at Tverelven. The two French units were therefore unable to join on May 13 as planned. The advance of the 2/13 Half-Brigade from Elvegårdsmoen was slowed by some very effective, but costly, German rear-guard actions. Lieutenant Bauer, the commander of Co 2 1/139, led a 30-man platoon from his company and tried to halt the French advance. The platoon was driven back after some vicious close-quarter fighting and Bauer was killed. Many of his men were also killed, wounded, or captured.
Elements from Co 13 were ordered to counterattack and try to throw the French back to the coast. The attack failed and the unit took up positions in the hills facing west. This allowed them to keep the Hartvigvann road as well as Route 50 under observation and fire. This fire contributed to halting the northward drive of the 1/13 Half-Brigade.
The fighting now switched to Hill 220 northeast of Elvegårdsmoen. This knoll was held by a weak detachment from Co 11 under the command of Lieutenant Tollschein. His mission was to cover the German withdrawal. The French eastward drive was stopped and the Legionnaires suffered a considerable number of casualties. Tollschein and his men repelled repeated attacks supported by naval gunfire and attacks by Norwegian aircraft. The two tanks supporting the second French attempt to take Hill 220 were stopped by mines that blew off their treads. Tollschein and his men managed to hold the Legionnaires of the 2nd Bn for 24 hours, allowing their comrades to make an orderly, but very difficult, retreat to the east. The position fell on May 14 after a French multi-directional attack. Only five of Tollschein’s men escaped by climbing down the hill’s 180-foot cliff-like backside. Buchner writes that it is difficult to understand why the French did not try to bypass the detachment by advancing south of Hartvigvann where there were no German defenders.
The German divisional reserve consisted of Lieutenant Ploder’s Co 3, 138th Regiment: two officers and 65 men who were landed in Rombakfjord between May 8 and 10. Early in the morning of May 13, this unit was ordered to move forward, occupy Mebyfjell from Hill 482 to Hill 548, and cover the withdrawal of Group Windisch. Hill 482 was secured by only two squads until 0600 hours when the company, ignorant of the actual situation, tried to return to its previous location. It ran into Colonel Windisch who turned it around. French detachments, probing eastward from the landing areas, found no Germans in their path but instead of continuing their advance, they settled in on the plateau and were subsequently driven back by Co 3/138th.
It was of the greatest importance for the Germans to secure and hold open the bridge over the Vassdal River near Gamberg for the withdrawing units, in case the enemy was able to brush aside the delaying forces or descended into the valley from Vassdalsfjell. The river was in flood because of the spring thaw and there was no other crossing point. The regimental engineer platoon was ordered to hold the bridge. Strong Norwegian forces in Gressdal also posed an acute danger to the regiment’s right flank and the weak remnants of naval company Erdmenger had the mission of blocking this threat.
The 1/139th, on the German far left, faced the most difficult withdrawal. The battalion had to disengage while under pressure from French and Norwegians forces from two directions. By leapfrogging from position to position and under the cover of well-selected machinegun emplacements, the remnants of the four companies withdrew successfully. Two mountain howitzers at the east end of Hartvigvann provided continuous support for the withdrawing units. The withdrawal of Group Windisch was mostly completed by 0700 hours on May 14 and the regimental headquarters, the last unit to cross the bridge at Gamberg, was established at the northeastern corner of Fiskeløsvann by 0900 hours.
There was precious little General Dietl and his staff could do to assist Colonel Windisch from their location at Bjørnefjell. Radio communications with Group Windisch were only sporadic after 2145 hours on May 12 and the situation remained unclear until the morning of May 14. Messengers took a long time to cover the distance to Bjørnefjell.
The only unit available after D
ietl ordered the divisional reserve, Co 3/138th, forward to cover Windisch’s withdrawal was a platoon of engineers under the command of Lieutenant von Brandt. This unit was sent forward to the hills immediately west of Cirkelvann but it was not expected to arrive until the next day because of difficult snow conditions. The arrival of fleeing and demoralized naval personnel did little to improve the expectations of Dietl and his staff. Communications were also lost between Colonel Windisch and Major Schleebrügge’s task force on the far right.
The 3rd Division expected at any time to receive news of catastrophic events on the northern front. The entry in the division journal for 0700 on May 13 offers a concise summary of the prevailing sentiment: “It is doubtful that Gruppe Windisch will succeed in withdrawing its units since the enemy has made deep advances in its left flank.” Group XXI’s report to the OKW in the evening of May 13 is equally pessimistic: “Success [of Group Windisch’s withdrawal] in view of its current battle worthiness is questionable.”
Messages to Group XXI and the air support center in Trondheim called for immediate reinforcements and strong Luftwaffe support. The weather prevented effective air support and the only reinforcement received was Co 1, 1st Parachute Regiment commanded by Lieutenant Becker. Sixty-six men of this unit parachuted into the Bjørnefjell area around noon on May 14. The 3rd Division journal notes that the paratroopers arrived without rucksacks, overcoats, snowshoes and equipment needed for mountain operations. Clothing and equipment had to be scraped together to make these troops capable of operating in the mountains. However, within six hours of their arrival, the paratroopers were sent northward to reinforce Major Schleebrügge’s hard-pressed troops where the situation had become critical because of 6th Brigade’s attacks.
Hitler’s Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940 Page 54
