NORWAY’S WAR 1940-1945
by Rolf RichardsonPublish: Nov 29, 2022Book Overview
Hitler’s invasion of Norway in April 1940 might appear to have been a foregone conclusion: Europe’s mightiest war machine against a tiny country without a standing army. In fact, it was high risk and nearly ended in disaster.The German problem was that their attack had to be amphibious, something they had neither the expertise nor tools to pull off successfully. The kriegsmarine was designed for battle, not transporting troops, so the initial assault would be ludicrously under strength. If Oslo got even a whiff of what was about to hit them, their citizen army would be mobilised and easily able to repel the tiny number of invaders. To cap it all, every large Norwegian coastal town was protected by a fort, permanently on guard and able to pour lethal fire at point-blank range on any invader.
Germany’s invasion succeeded due to Norwegian ‘head-in-the-sand’ attitude and lots of luck. Even so, with allied help and thanks to her ‘fortress’ terrain, Norway held out for longer than either Poland or France and was never conquered militarily. She had to surrender in June 1940 due to events elsewhere.
This account focuses on the people involved, as much as the events themselves. It includes much material only available in Norwegian. The dramatic events of the campaign were followed by five years of German occupation, when Norway was ruled, with dictatorial powers, by Hitler’s henchman, Reichskommissar Josef Terboven.
We end with the aftermath, the purges of those who had helped the invaders.
