Saturday 20 April 1940

Wehrmacht troops in Copenhagen, marching to celebrate Hitler's birthday, 20 April 1940.

Norway Army Operations: The British War Cabinet on 20 April 1940 cancels Operation Hammer - the bombardment and direct invasion of Trondheim - once and for all. The better way to secure the port, they reason, is the Operation Sickle pincer attack from Namsos in the north and Åndalsnes in the south. The British forces at Åndalsnes, though, are also supporting the Norwegians down at Lillehammer, while the British and French troops to the north at Namsos also are the closest Allied forces to Narvik. Thus, the Allied effort is being dispersed in different directions.

London does not tell General de Wiart of the cancellation of Operation Hammer. He disposes of his forces to support the expected landing, which now will not come. His 146th Brigade occupies advanced positions on Trondheimfjord which are only useful and supportable if the expected landings were to occur.

German forces approach Lillehammer and Rena. At 02:50, Brigadier Morgan moves his 148th Brigade south to Lillehammer by train. The Norwegians are trying to block the Germans advancing up either side of Lake Mjøsa and are giving ground.

The German 196th Infantry Division captures Elverum, the former refuge of the Norwegian government, and pushes north toward Trondheim.

The German forces at Narvik under General Dietl are reinforced by a battalion of 334th Infantry Regiment brought in by Junkers Ju 52 transport planes. Otherwise, they are completely cut off from all re-supply and reinforcement, with the exception of any cargo ships that can make it past the British blockade.

Norway Air Operations: The Luftwaffe launches attacks on Namsos, heavily damaging the harbor installations and largely ruining the port for the British. They sink British trawler HMS Rutlandshire. The Luftwaffe is beginning to demonstrate aerial dominance over Norway. This dominance is aided by the lack of adequate British anti-aircraft guns and air cover. Piles of supplies and equipment are destroyed on the single stone wharf, which also is obliterated.

The Luftwaffe attacks British naval units and transports off Norway without success, losing three of their number.

The Luftwaffe is starting to support the advancing Wehrmacht ground forces heading north toward Trondheim. Among other places, they attack Dombås, the scene of the recent German paratrooper landings and fighting. Aside from the important rail line, it also is a key road junction at the intersection of long mountain defiles. There are British soldiers there, brought down by the rail line that runs through the town. One of the British, Lt. Rob Winter, notes: "Luftwaffe been strafing us all day, and bombing the little town of Dombas. We left our flak guns in the UK."

During the night, the RAF bombs airfields at Kristiansand and Stavanger in Norway, and Aalborg in Denmark, all without loss. The RAF also sends 23 aircraft to lay mines off the German coast during the night.

European Air Operations: RAF 263 Squadron flies 18 Gloster Gladiators (Squadron Leader John Donaldson) to Scapa Flow, where, they are landed on aircraft carrier HMS Glorious for transport to Norway. The Gladiators are not designed for landings and takeoffs on aircraft carriers, nor are their pilots, so Fleet Air Arm pilots carefully fly them onto the carrier.

The RAF shoots down two Bf 109s and two Heinkel He 111s over the western front.

The Luftwaffe night fighters get their first victory when they shoot down a Fairey Battle of the RAF Advanced Striking Force while it is on a reconnaissance mission.

Battle of the Atlantic: British freighters Mersey and Hawnby sink after hitting mines.

Two US freighters in Norwegian ports, Flying Fish and Charles McCormick, have been moved from Bergen to more secure locations to prevent any "incidents."

Convoy OA 133GF departs from Southend, Convoy OB 33 departs from Liverpool.

U-120 (Oberleutnant zur See Ernst Bauer) is commissioned.

Denmark: The government demobilizes the military.

RAF: The Royal Air Force begins training of aircrew from the commonwealth nations pursuant to the Empire Air Training Scheme. This is later known as the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.

Air Marshal Keith Park takes over command of Fighter Command No. 11 Group.

German Military: Partially in celebration of his birthday and partly to honor the success of the current campaign in Scandinavia, Hitler orders the creation of a special Waffen SS regiment to be composed of Danish and Norwegian volunteers. It will be called the "Viking" Division.

US Navy: Captain George J. McMillin becomes the new Commandant of the US Naval Station at Guam.

Science: The first public demonstration of an electron microscope is held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by RCA.

German/Romanian Relations: The two countries conclude a trade agreement.

German Homefront: It is Hitler's 51st birthday, and the big day, as usual, is marked with celebrations and speeches.

Wehrmacht troops lined up to celebrate Hitler's birthday in Viborg, Denmark, April 20, 1940.

April 1940

April 1, 1940: Weserubung is a Go
April 2, 1940: British Subs On Alert
April 3, 1940: Churchill Consolidates Power
April 4, 1940: Missed the Bus
April 5, 1940: Mig-1 First Flight
April 6, 1940: Troops Sailing to Norway
April 7, 1940: Fleets At Sea
April 8, 1940: HMS Glowworm and Admiral Hipper
April 9, 1940: Invasion of Norway
April 10, 1940: First Battle of Narvik
April 11, 1940: Britain Takes the Faroes
April 12, 1940: Germans Consolidate in Norway
April 13, 1940: 2d Battle of Narvik
April 14, 1940: Battle of Dombås
April 15, 1940: British in Norway
April 16, 1940: Germans Cut Norway in Half
April 17, 1940: Trondheim the Target
April 18, 1940: Norway Declares War
April 19, 1940: Dombås Battle Ends
April 20, 1940: Germans Advancing in Norway
April 21, 1940: First US Military Casualty
April 22, 1940: First British Military Contact with Germans
April 23, 1940: British Retreating in Norway
April 24, 1940: British Bombard Narvik
April 25, 1940: Norwegian Air Battles
April 26, 1940: Norwegian Gold
April 27, 1940: Allies to Evacuate Norway
April 28, 1940: Prepared Piano
April 29, 1940: British at Bodo
April 30, 1940: Clacton-on-Sea Heinkel

2019

Friday 12 April 1940

Discussion before take-off for Narvik on 12 April 1940. L-R: LAC Edwin Williams, Wireless Operator; F/L Aubrey Breckon 1st Pilot; Lieutenant Commander Howie, R.N.; Sgt Robert Hughes Navigator, P/O Donald Harkness, 2nd Pilot, and AC Thomas Mumby, Gunner Observer. – From “Early Operations with Bomber Command.” Probably RNZAF Official.

Norway: Operation Weserubung on 12 April 1940 is proceeding with minimal interference so far from either outside powers or the Norwegian military. Locals are responsible for quartering Wehrmacht troops, and, as usual, the German government pays for their billets in Reichsmarks.

The Norwegian government admits in a communique to losing Oslo, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Bergen, Agdense, Trondheim and the Vaernes military base. The rest of southern Norway, it claims, remains in Norwegian hands, along with the entirety of northern Norway save Narvik. The government continues to strike a defiant tone, minimizing the extent of the German invasion. The Germans are annoyed at the Norwegians' refusal to acquiesce like the Danes and express this with an air attack against the small town sheltering the King and government, Elverum, around 17: 20.

Elverum is overflowing with refugees who have followed the government there. Journalist Erik Seidenfaden notes that "The hotels are full of ministers huddling 'round stoves and breaking icicles to clean teeth. All the town's stationery has been bought for government business." King Haakon is distressed at the harm he is bringing to the locals by his presence, stating: "I cannot bear to watch children crouching in the snow as bullets mow down trees." He cannot stay there indefinitely, because the Wehrmacht knows exactly where he is.

In fact, the Wehrmacht is starting to move beyond its city bases in southern Norway. They are expanding away from Oslo in all directions, like a mushroom cloud. The 196th Division takes Kongsberg to the southwest of the city, and the 163rd Division takes Moss, Frederickstad, and Sarpsborg.

Norwegian defenses are firming around Trondheim. An artillery officer, Major Hans Holtermann, collects 250 volunteers and occupies a venerable fort at Ingstadkleiva near Trondheim. This will become known as Hegra Fortress. The fort has been out of operation for some time, but it has four 10.5 cm and two 7.5 cm in half-turrets and 4 Krupp m/1887 field guns, along with a storehouse full of ammunition. The Germans nearby notice the sudden activity at the fort, and a Wehrmacht Major comes to request their surrender. Holtermann refuses.

Danish troops on the morning of the Ger­man in­va­sion, code­named Oper­a­tion Weser­ubung, April 9, 1940. Within hours, two of the squad’s seven men shown in this picture were dead. They were two out of 16 Dan­ish sol­diers total who perished during the in­va­sion.

European Air Operations: The RAF sends its largest raid yet, 83-90 bombers (sources vary), to attack Stavanger airfield, but the damage caused is minimal. The RAF loses around ten planes total during the operation.

The Fleet Air Arm bombs Bergen.

Royal Navy carrier HMS Furious launches air attacks against the German 3rd Mountain Division at Narvik.

The New Zealand (No. 75 NZ) Squadron flies long-range reconnaissance from R.A.F. Bassingbourn in northern Scotland over the Lofoten Islands and Narvik. This requires Wellingtons specially fitted with range petrol tanks, and stripped of armour plating, self-sealing tanks and some armament. Everything considered non-essential, including some chairs and oxygen bottles, is removed to save weight. The reconnaissance, which covers over 2,000 miles, is successful. While near Narvik, the crew spots a Luftwaffe Ju 86 apparently performing similar reconnaissance. Nobody really knows what is going on at Narvik, but everybody is quite interested.
Luftwaffe chief Generalfeldmarschall Hermann Goering creates Luftflotte 5 to cover Norway. Its first commander is Generaloberst Erhard Milch, who operates his headquarters out of Hamburg for the time being. Luftflotte 5 for the time being will assist the ground troops with supplies, transport, and targeted attacks. The planes themselves will be based in Norwegian airfields such as Stavanger.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Gneisenau, Scharnhorst and Admiral Hipper are moving southwest of Stavanger back to Germany. After RAF reconnaissance spots them, the RAF launches both land- and carrier-based air attacks. None hits the ships, two of which already have been damaged, and they make it back to base.

U-37 (Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartmann) continues its successful patrol by torpedoing and sinking the 4,511 ton British freighter Stancliffe 45 miles northeast of Muckle Flugga, Shetlands at 09:42. There are 16 survivors and 21 perish. The survivors sail their lifeboat to Haroldswick, Unst Island.

British submarine HMS Snapper sinks German cargo ship Moonsund.

The Royal Navy has laid mines in both the Skagerrak and the Kattegat. It also has laid mines from near Holland to near Norway.

Convoy OA 128GF departs from Southend.

Royal Navy destroyers arrive at the Faroe Islands and make preparations for the arrival of British troops.

U-103 is commissioned.

Western Front: France and Britain cancel all leave and order forces to be ready to fight at 6-hours notice.

Denmark: The Faroe Islands agree to accept British protection. No troops arrive yet, though.

Cyprus: The Cyprus Regiment officially is formed.

US Government: President Roosevelt refuses to answer a question about whether the Monroe Doctrine applies to Greenland. He states that the issue is "very, very premature" and "awfully hypothetical."

FDR also answers a question about television, which is still very early in its broadcast history. He opines that it has "a great future," but that there were anti-trust issues which the FCC was working on. NBC currently has the most experience with broadcasting locally in the New York City area.

Australian Homefront: The government bans the sale of foreign magazines and newspapers in order aid the country's balance of trade.

American Homefront: Alfred Hitchcock/David O. Selznick film "Rebecca" premieres in the US. It stars Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine. "Dr. Cyclops," a rare technicolor science fiction film of the era, also debuts.

Future History: Herbie Hancock is born in Chicago, Illinois. He becomes famous in the late 1960s for scoring the soundtrack to "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids" and for a collection of jazz and electronic music albums.

The German troops marching through town to Haderslev Barracks in Norway. They are being welcomed as liberators: note the Fuhrer salutes. These marches are a typical Wehrmacht practice, and there is no way to force people into the street to give salutes. In some locales, in fact, the streets are empty on such occasions. The Danish fälg hangs at half-mast due to a memorial service earlier that day for the local fallen.

April 1940

April 1, 1940: Weserubung is a Go
April 2, 1940: British Subs On Alert
April 3, 1940: Churchill Consolidates Power
April 4, 1940: Missed the Bus
April 5, 1940: Mig-1 First Flight
April 6, 1940: Troops Sailing to Norway
April 7, 1940: Fleets At Sea
April 8, 1940: HMS Glowworm and Admiral Hipper
April 9, 1940: Invasion of Norway
April 10, 1940: First Battle of Narvik
April 11, 1940: Britain Takes the Faroes
April 12, 1940: Germans Consolidate in Norway
April 13, 1940: 2d Battle of Narvik
April 14, 1940: Battle of Dombås
April 15, 1940: British in Norway
April 16, 1940: Germans Cut Norway in Half
April 17, 1940: Trondheim the Target
April 18, 1940: Norway Declares War
April 19, 1940: Dombås Battle Ends
April 20, 1940: Germans Advancing in Norway
April 21, 1940: First US Military Casualty
April 22, 1940: First British Military Contact with Germans
April 23, 1940: British Retreating in Norway
April 24, 1940: British Bombard Narvik
April 25, 1940: Norwegian Air Battles
April 26, 1940: Norwegian Gold
April 27, 1940: Allies to Evacuate Norway
April 28, 1940: Prepared Piano
April 29, 1940: British at Bodo
April 30, 1940: Clacton-on-Sea Heinkel


2016

Thursday 11 April 1940

Three Neubaufahrzeuge experimental tanks arriving in Oslo Harbour, April 1940. They are the only three in the Wehrmacht and the only three that will ever be built. They are used in battle in Norway with minimal effect.

Operation Weserubung: General Otto Ruge replaces Major-General Laake as Commander-in-chief of the Norwegian armed forces on 11 April 1940. Laake resigned after being accused of being a defeatist and failing to quickly act against the invasion (the mobilization orders after the German invasion were sent by mail). He establishes his headquarters at Lillehammer and orders the immediate mobilization of all forces. He also orders the destruction of infrastructure around Oslo - roads, bridges, telephone equipment - to delay the Germans.

The Norwegian government has settled in at Elverum for the time being. In a proclamation, Norwegian Premier Nygaardsvold reaffirms the country's determination to resist the German invasion.

German strategy is to link up their forces from Oslo to Trondheim. This is made possible by long mountain defiles that run the length of that section of the country. German 196th Division (General Richard Pellengahr) is to move north from Oslo up the Gudbrandsdal and Østerdal valleys, using air support to clear the way in an early form of Blitzkrieg.

The German 163rd Division and 196th Infantry Division attack the Norwegian 1st Infantry Division around Oslo. More Kriegsmarine transports arrive there carrying troops.

Northwest of Kristiansand, the German 310th Infantry Regiment moves inland and occupies Hægeland.

HMS Furious launches air attacks against shipping in Trondheimsfjord.

Late in the day at Narvik, Kriegsmarine destroyers SMS Erich Koellner (Z13) and SMS Wolfgang Zenker (Z9) both run aground. The Zenker can still move at 20 knots, but the Koellner is in bad shape and the Germans decide to convert it into a stationary defensive battery at the Tårstad, on the north shore of the fjord west of Narvik.

The British are focused on Narvik, which is so isolated in northern Norway that it may as well be an island. Basically, the entire battle in Norway is because of that one port, and whoever controls it basically wins. The British 146th Territorial Brigade re-embarks on transports and ships out of the Clyde, destination: Narvik.

First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill announces to the House of Commons that the Royal Navy is occupying the Faroe Islands. They are a Danish possession, which cannot be ceded to German control:

 We shall shield the Faroe Islands from all the severities of war and establish ourselves there conveniently by sea and air until the moment comes when they will be handed back to the Crown and people of a Denmark liberated from the foul thraldom in which they have been plunged by the German aggression.

While certainly unintentional, Churchill's justification sounds uncannily like the German offer of "protection" to Norway and Denmark. Previously, Iceland essentially seceded from Denmark to avoid German domination.

European Air Operations: The RAF sends 6 bombers to attack Stavanger-Sola airfield. This is the first daylight attack by bomber command on a continental target. One of the bombers is lost.

RAF Coastal Command shoots down a Dornier flying boat in the North Sea.

RAF Bomber Command attacks German shipping around Norway during the night without causing damage.

Two Luftwaffe reconnaissance planes - a Heinkel and a Dornier - are shot down over the western front.

The British Air Ministry issues a report stating that 19 Luftwaffe planes had been shot down in the past four days, to 6 RAF losses.

Hauptmann Herbert Stemmer in front of a light PzKpfw in Norway April 1940. Stemmer passed away in 1974.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Royal Navy submarine fleet is perfectly positioned around Norway and has plenty of targets, thanks to Admiral Horton and his hunch that something was about to happen there.

The Lützow is towed home after an attack by HMS Spearfish during the night in the Kattegat. While Spearfish fires 6 torpedoes and only one hit, that one torpedo nearly rips off her stern. In fact, it is a lucky break for the Kriegsmarine: Spearfish assumed there was an escort that would attack it, but the cruiser, in fact, was traveling without an escort.

British submarine HMS Triad sinks German troop transport Ionia.

British submarine HMS Sealion sinks German ship, August Leonhardt.

Kriegsmarine minelayers set mines in the Skagerrak.

Western Front: The British 42nd Infantry Division embarks for France.

Sweden: Stockholm radio reports that the country has mined its western coast.

Belgium: The country cancels all military leaves - again.

Soviet Union: General Pavel Batov becomes Deputy Commander in Chief of the Transcaucasus Military District.

Albania: Italy clamps down on civil disobedience, outlawing strikes, protests, rallies and the like.

Australia: General Thomas Blamey assumes command of the Australian I Corps.

US Navy: Rear Admiral Claude C. Bloch replaces Rear Admiral Orin G. Murfin as Commandant Fourteenth Naval District and Navy Yard Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii.

China: With the Chinese Winter Offensive over, the Japanese turn to weeding out communist partisans in the central Hebei, Anhui, and Shanghai sectors.

Norwegian General Otto Ruge.

April 1940

April 1, 1940: Weserubung is a Go
April 2, 1940: British Subs On Alert
April 3, 1940: Churchill Consolidates Power
April 4, 1940: Missed the Bus
April 5, 1940: Mig-1 First Flight
April 6, 1940: Troops Sailing to Norway
April 7, 1940: Fleets At Sea
April 8, 1940: HMS Glowworm and Admiral Hipper
April 9, 1940: Invasion of Norway
April 10, 1940: First Battle of Narvik
April 11, 1940: Britain Takes the Faroes
April 12, 1940: Germans Consolidate in Norway
April 13, 1940: 2d Battle of Narvik
April 14, 1940: Battle of Dombås
April 15, 1940: British in Norway
April 16, 1940: Germans Cut Norway in Half
April 17, 1940: Trondheim the Target
April 18, 1940: Norway Declares War
April 19, 1940: Dombås Battle Ends
April 20, 1940: Germans Advancing in Norway
April 21, 1940: First US Military Casualty
April 22, 1940: First British Military Contact with Germans
April 23, 1940: British Retreating in Norway
April 24, 1940: British Bombard Narvik
April 25, 1940: Norwegian Air Battles
April 26, 1940: Norwegian Gold
April 27, 1940: Allies to Evacuate Norway
April 28, 1940: Prepared Piano
April 29, 1940: British at Bodo
April 30, 1940: Clacton-on-Sea Heinkel

2020