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1: A final order is given for the German attack on Norway and Denmark; 3: The date for invasion is set for 17 March 1940, although this is later delayed to April. 28: The Allies decide to begin mining Norwegian waters (Operation Wilfred), and to send a military force to Norway to pre-empt German aggression. The Allies assumed that Wilfred would ...
While Norwegian, Swedish and American experts in international law claimed the boarding of Altmark was a violation of Norwegian neutrality, the British government argued that the incident was at the most a technical violation that had been morally justified. [17] The whole led to the Germans speeding up their plans for an invasion of Norway.
The surprise and the lack of preparedness of Norway for a large-scale invasion of this kind gave the German forces their initial success. [5] The major Norwegian ports from Oslo northward to Narvik (more than 1,200 mi (1,900 km) away from Germany's naval bases) were occupied by advance detachments of German troops, transported on destroyers.
The most important tactical unit of the Norwegian army was the regiment. When mobilized, each regiment was supposed to muster two battalions of infantry of the line, and one battalion of landvern. Some of the Norwegian forces were ad hoc battalions. The commander of the Norwegian Army at the time of the invasion was General Kristian Laake.
The early phase of the invasion was marked by the German advantage of surprise. Norwegian troops in northern Norway had been called out on a three-month neutrality watch during the winter of 1939/1940, and so they had trained together. From 9–25 April, the Norwegian forces suffered three catastrophes.
[18] Norway was vital to Germany as a transport route for iron ore from Sweden, a supply that the United Kingdom was determined to stop. One British plan was to go through Norway and occupy cities in Sweden. [a] [b] An Allied invasion was ordered on 12 March, and the Germans intercepted radio traffic setting 14 March as deadline for the ...
Cnut's invasion of Norway (1028–1029) Kingdom of Norway: North Sea Empire Norwegian chieftains Danish and Norwegian chieftain victory. Norway conquered by King Cnut; King Olaf II was driven into exile to Kievan Rus; Battle of Stiklestad (1030) Olaf II: Peasant Army Peasant victory. Death of Olaf II; Tryggvi the Pretender's invasion of Norway ...
The Norwegians were taken by surprise by the German invasion on 9 April, which began with German landings in the Norwegian cities of Stavanger, Oslo, Trondheim, Narvik and Bergen. British and French troops landed at Narvik on 14 April to assist the Norwegians, pushing the Germans out of the town and almost forcing them to surrender.