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

Authors: Henrik O. Lunde

Tags: #Bisac Code 1: HIS027100

Hitler’s Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940 (102 page)

BOOK: Hitler’s Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940
12.31Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Reynaud, Paul.
La France a suave l’Europe
. Paris: Flammarion, 1957.

*Reynolds, David.
In Command of History
. New York: Random House, 2005. Roskill, Stepehn Wentworth.
The War at Sea 1939–1945
. London: HMSO, 1954.

*Ruef, Karl.
Odyssee einer Gebirgsdivision. Die 3. Geb. Div. im Einsatz
. Stuttgart: Leopold Stocker Verlag, 1976.

*Ruge, Otto.
Felttoget: General Otto Ruges erindringer fra kampene april-juni 1940
. Edited by Olav Riste. Oslo: Aschenhoug, 1989.

Ruge, Otto.
Krigens Dagbok. Annen verdenskrig i tekst og billeder
. Oslo: Halvorsen & Larsen, 1946.

*Salewski, Michael.
Die deutsche Seekriegsleitung 1935–1945
. Volume I: 1935–1941. Frankfurt am Main: Bernard & Graefe Verlag für Wehrwesen, 1970.

*Sandvik, Trygve.
Operasjonene til lands i Nord-Norge 1940
. 2 volumes. Oslo: Forsvarets Krigshistoriske Avdeling, 1965.

*Seraphim, Hans-Guenther.
Das politische Tagebuch Alfred Rosenbergs aus den Jahren 1934/35 und 1939/40
. Göttingen: Musterschmidt-Verlag, 1956.

*Sereau, Raymond.
L’Expedition de Norvège 1940
. Baden-Baden: Regie Autonome des Publications Officielles, 1949.

Shirer, William L.
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960.

*Steen, E. A.
Norges Sjøkrig 1940-1945.
1.
Sjøforsvarets nøytralitetsvern 1939-1940. Tysklands og Vestmaktenes planer og forbe-redelser for en Norgesaksjon
. Oslo: Den Krigshistoriske Avdeling, Forsvarstaben. Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1954–1958.

*Steen, E. A.
Norges Sjøkrig 1940–1945.
2.
Det tyske angrepet i Oslofjorden og på Norges sørkyst
. Oslo: Den Krigshistoriske Avdeling, Forsvarstaben. Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1954–1958.

Steen, E. A.
Norges Sjøkrig 1940-1945.
3.
Sjøforsvar-ets kamper og virke på Vestlandet og i Trøndelag i 1940
. Oslo: Den Krigs historiske Avdeling, Forsvarstaben. Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1954–1958.

*Steen E. A.
Norges Sjøkrig 1940-1945.
4.
Sjøforsvar-ets kamper og virke i Nord-Norge i 1940.
Oslo: Den Krigshistoriske Avdeling, Forsvarstaben. Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1954–1958.

Strabolgi, Lord Joseph Montagua Kenworthy.
Narvik and After. A Study of the Scandinavian Campaign
. London: Gainsborough Press, St. Albans by Fisher, Knight & Co., Ltd, 1940.

*Sundell, Olof.
9. april
. Stockholm: Sohlmans, 1949.

*Tamelander, Michael and Niklas Zetterling.
Niende april. Nazi-Tysklands invasjon av Norge
. Oslo: Spartacus, 2001.

Taylor, Telford.
The March of Conquest. The German Victories in Western Europe, 1940
. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1958.

Tessin, G.
Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS
. Frankfurt-am-Main: Mittler and Sohn, 1966.

Torris, Marcel Jean Marie Joseph.
Narvik
. New York: Bretano, 1943. Unger, Hellmuth.
Die Männer von Narvik
. Oldenburg i. O./Berlin: Gerhard Stalling Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1941.

United Kingdom.
Parliamentary Debates, House of Commons.
Volumes 359–60. United Kingdom.
Notes on the Norwegian Campaign
. London: Historical Branch, Cabinet Office, 1951.

United States, Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Crimes.
Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression
. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1946–1948. 8 vols and 2 supplemental vols.

United States.
German Mountain Troops
. Washington, D.C.: War Department, Military Intelligence Department. Special Series 28, December 1944. Waage, Johan.
The Narvik Campaign. An Eye-Witness Account
. Translated from the Norwegian by Ewan Butler. London: George G. Harrap & Co. LTD, 1964.

Warlimont, Walter.
Inside Hitler’s Headquarters 1939–45
. Translated from the German by R. H. Barry. Novato: Presidio Press, 1962.

Wegener, Wolfgang.
Die Seestrategie des Weltkriges
. Berlin: E. S. Mittler & Sohn, 1929.

Wheeler-Bennett, John W.
The Nemesis of Power: The German Army in Politics 1918–1945
. New York: St. Martin’s Press, Inc., 1954.

*Woodward, Llewellyn.
British Foreign Policy in the Second World War
. London: HMSO, 1970.

Ydstebø, Palle.
Geostrategi, trusselvurdering og operativ planlegging. Forsvaret av Nord-Norge 1880–1920
. Tromsø. University of Tromsø, 2000.

*Ziemke, Earl F.
The German Northern Theater of
Operations 1940–1945
. Washington, D.C.: Department of Army Pamphlet 20–271, 1959.

*Zbyszewski, Karol.
The fight for Narvik: Impressions of the Polish Campaign in Norway
. London: L. Drummond, 1941.

Zeska, Theodor von.
Der Kampf gegen die Westmächte im ersten Vierteljahr 1940 und die Eroberung Norwegen
. Berlin: E.S. Mittler & Sohn, 1941. Zoepffel, Kurt. “Mit Kreuzer ‘Blucher’ nach Norden” in George von Hase,
Die Kriegsmarine erobert Norwegens Fjorde
. Leipzig: v. Hase & Koehler Verlag, 1940.

NOTES

Prologue

1
While foreign representatives in the Scandinavian countries and Scandinavian representatives in other countries were known as “ministers” and their offices “legations,” I have chosen to use the more recognized terms “ambassadors” and “embassies.”

2
Bjørn Bjørnsen,
Narvik 1940
(Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1980), pp. 146-147.

3
Rolf Hobson and Tom Kristiansen, Norsk Forsvarshitorie. Bind 3 1905-1940. Total krig, nøytralitet og politisk splittelse (Bergen: Eide Forlag, 2001), p. 248.

4
Michael Tamelander and Niklas Zetterling,
Niende april. Nazi-Tysklands invasjon av Norge
(Oslo: Spartacus, 2001),

Chapter 1

1
J. L. Moulton,
A Study of Warfare in Three Dimensions
:
The Norwegian Campaign of 1940
(Athens, Ohio: The Ohio University Press, 1967), p. 44.

2
Winston Churchill,
The Gathering Storm
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1948), p. 536.

3
William Norton Medlicott,
The Economic Blockade
(London: HMSO 1952-59), vol. 1, chapter 4 Section 6.

4
Memorandum by the War Economy and Armament Division of the OKW, dated February 22, 1940, contained in
Fuehrer Conferences on Matters Dealing With the German Navy 1940
(Translated and printed by the Office of Naval Intelligence, Navy Department, Washington, D.C., 1947), vol. 1, pp. 18-19.

5
Maurice Harvey.
Scandinavian Misadventure
(Tunbridge Wells: Spellmount, 1990), p.33.

6
Churchill,
Gathering Storm, pp.
544-547.

7
Ibid, 544-545.

8
United Kingdom Public Record Office (PRO),
War Cabinet (CAB
), 66/5 WP (40) 60, 19 February 1940.

9
Churchill,
Gathering Storm
,
p.
546.

10
See Patrick Cosgrave,
Churchill at War, alone 1939–1940
(London, 1974), vol. 1, pp. 120-128.

11
Bjørnsen,
Narvik 1940
(Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1980), p. 55.

12
An investigation by the Norwegian Navy was inconclusive. It could not ascertain with certainty that the sinking of two of the three ships took place within Norwegian territorial waters. They felt relatively certain that
Deptford
was sunk in territorial waters. This sinking claimed 30 lives, including two Norwegian pilots. It was determined during the Nuremberg Trial that the German submarine
U38
had sunk all three ships.

13
Letter from Ambassador Wollbæk on January 12, 1940, quoted in E. A. Steen,
Norges Sjøkrig 1940-1945.
1.
Sjøforsvarets nøytralitetsvern 1939-1940. Tysklands og Vestmaktenes planer og forbe-redelser for en Norgesaksjon
(Oslo: Den Krigshistoriske Avdeling, Forsvarstaben. Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1954–1958), p. 57.

14
François Kersaudy,
Norway 1940
(New York: St Martin’s Press, 1987), p. 24.

15
The Swedish Cabinet Secretary, Erik Boehman, had a stormy meeting with Pollock, the First Secretary of the British Embassy in Stockholm about the British note. Boehman asked Pollock if the British Government had not already sufficient number of small nations, whose destinies they had ruined, on their conscience (PRO,
CAB
66/3, January 7, 1940). Bjørn Prytz, the Swedish Ambassador in London, espoused a completely different line after having delivered the Swedish protest to Halifax. In commenting on Boehman’s outburst in a conversation with Charles Hambro in the Ministry of Economic Warfare, Prytz mentioned that he personally felt that the British should carry out their threatened action. He stated that the Norwegians would only complain loudly and try to blame Sweden (PRO,
FO
371, 24820 WM (40) 7 CA, January 9, 1940).

16
Roderick Macleod and Denis Kelly (eds),
Time Unguarded. The Ironside Diaries 1937-1940
(New York: David MacKay Company, Inc., 1963), p., 228.

17
Sir John Kennedy,
The Business of war: The War Narrative of Sir John Kennedy
(Edited by Bernard Fergusson. London: Hutchinson, 1957), p. 49.

18
Ibid, 48.

19
Steen,
Norges Sjøkrig 1940-1945,
vol. 1, p. 69.

20
The armed merchant ship
Westerwald
, flying the German naval flag, had been allowed to proceed through Norwegian territorial waters without inspection after a decision by the Norwegian Foreign Office. It was also allowed to proceed through the restricted area around Bergen under escort during daylight hours.

21
Churchill,
Gathering
Storm, p. 561.

22
Each torpedo boat had a crew of 21.
Kjell
had one 76mm (3-inch) gun and three torpedo tubes.
Skarv
had two 47mm cannons and three torpedo tubes. The patrol boat
Firern
arrived on the scene during the confrontation. This 247-ton vessel with a crew of 12 and a single 76mm gun did not change the enormous odds facing the Norwegians.

23
Steen,
Norges Sjøkrig 1940–1945,
vol. 1, p.71.

24
Churchill,
Gathering
Storm, p. 562. The British later claimed that Captain Vian suggested the joint escort to Bergen to Lieutenant Halvorsen during their conference. Halvorsen denied that any such exchange had taken place. Churchill sent his orders to Vian at 1725 hours and it is therefore unlikely that Vian had these instructions at the time he talked to Halvorsen.

25
Steen,
Norges Sjøkrig 1940-
1945, vol.1, p. 90.

26
Churchill, 564.

27
Steen, 1:99. It should be noted that Germany also violated Norwegian neutrality during this period. A German submarine–
U21
–ran aground in Norwegian territorial waters on March 27, and it was captured and interned. A German aircraft made a forced landing in Norway on April 3. The crew destroyed the aircraft before they were captured by Norwegian forces.

28
Christopher Buckley,
Norway. The Commandos. Dieppe
, 13.

29
Churchill,
Gathering Storm,
p. 584.

30
Steen,
Norges Sjøkrig 1940-1945,
vol 1, p. 166.

31
Ibid, vol 1, p. 106.

32
Bjørnsen,
Narvik
, pp. 222-223.

33
Ibid, p. 220.

34
The actual composition of the various cruiser squadrons and destroyer flotillas changed frequently, as ships were attached or detached.

35
PRO,
CAB
65/6 WM (40) 83, April 6, 1940. Also, Bjørnsen,
Narvik
, pp. 182 and 223.

36
Kersaudy, 26.

Chapter 2

1
Basil H. Liddell-Hart,
History of the Second World War
(New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1971), p. 52.

2
Wolfgang Wegener,
Die Seestrategie des Weltkriges
(Berlin: E. Mittler & Sohn, 1929), p. 49.

3
The Anglo-German Naval Agreement in 1935 fixed German naval tonnage at one-third of the British fleet. However, the German Navy’s desire to play a major role is demonstrated by the
Z Plan
, which called for the construction, by 1945, of 10 battleships, 13 pocket battleships (
Panzerschiffe
), four aircraft carriers, five heavy cruisers, 44 light cruisers, 68 destroyers, 249 large, medium, and small submarines, and 90 torpedo boats. Hans-Martin Ottmer,
Weserübung. Der deutsche Angriff auf Dänemark und Norwegen im April 1940
(Oldenburg: Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt, 1994), p.13.

4
Kenneth P. Hansen, “Raeder Versus Wegener: Conflict in German Naval Strategy,” in
Naval War College Review
, September 22, 2005. Raeder was godfather to one of Wegener’s children and describes him as an intimate friend in his memoirs, but they developed such an animosity that Raeder refused to deliver the eulogy at Wegener’s funeral in 1956.

BOOK: Hitler’s Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940
12.31Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

North of Heartbreak by Julie Rowe
Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh
The Dead Place by Rebecca Drake
Promises I Made by Michelle Zink
A Lily Among Thorns by Rose Lerner
A Holiday Fling by Mary Jo Putney
Midnight Before Christmas by William Bernhardt
Camino a Roma by Ben Kane
Horizon Storms by Kevin J. Anderson