Hitler’s Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940 (14 page)

Peace negotiations between the Finns and Soviets were underway, but the Finnish Foreign Minister had made it known that if the Soviet demands were too harsh, Finland would ask for Allied assistance. The British Prime Minister stated on March 10 that help would be provided if asked for. Also that day, public reports and German knowledge of the concentration of British naval forces in Scotland caused the German Naval Staff to conclude that preparations for an Allied invasion of Norway might already be completed and carried out as early as the following week. SKL made this accurate assessment in its journal:

It appears that Raeder had lost some of his earlier enthusiasm for the Scandinavian venture by February and March 1940. We can only guess at the reasons. The navy had three objectives in mind in its initial planning for an operation against Scandinavia. One was the securing of iron ore from Sweden, so important for the shipbuilding program. Second, bases in Norway would improve the German navy’s strategic position. Third, preventing British occupation of bases in southern Norway would secure the Baltic approaches and increase the security of naval facilities in the Baltic against air attacks. It was not at all certain in the autumn of 1939 that the war would be short, and securing the great French mines in Lorraine was by no means assured. Under these circumstances, Raeder saw a chance for his service to play an important role and he attempted to draw Hitler’s attention to the north, away from the great offensive in the west. However, by the spring of 1940, it had become obvious to Raeder that Hitler could not be distracted from his western plans.

The prospects for success in the west were improved greatly by the plan General Erich von Manstein developed and sold to Hitler. It was now more reasonable to assume that a breakthrough to the English Channel would succeed. This would provide the navy with bases on the French Atlantic coast and force the French to retreat from the Lorraine region. Norwegian bases no longer had the same importance. Equally significant to Raeder was a decision taken by Hitler on January 17, 1940 with respect to the long struggle over rearmament priorities. Hitler decided that the army should have priority, and he even suggested that it could become necessary to disband large naval units. Raeder’s protests over this decision were not successful.
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The blow to Raeder’s hopes of having a navy in the mid-1940s that could secure Germany’s trade routes while threatening those of Great Britain, together with a more promising chance of securing naval bases in France at virtually no cost to the navy, must have caused him to have second thoughts about the wisdom of attacking Norway. The preservation of the navy now assumed greater importance. The greatest concentration of British sea power in North Sea harbors since World War I threatened the very existence of the German Navy, unless complete operational secrecy was maintained. Raeder’s concerns are shown by the fact that he expressed doubts to Jodl about the importance of “playing a preventive role in Norway.” There also appears to have been some reluctance within von Falkenhorst’s command, based on entries in Jodl’s diary: “Certain naval officers seem to be lukewarm about
Weserübung
and need a shot in the arm. Even von Falkenhorst’s three immediate subordinates bring up points that are none of their business.”
⁴⁷

There remained the objective of securing the flow of Swedish iron ore, and this was the argument used by Raeder in his meetings with Hitler in the spring of 1940.
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The availability of this source and the prospect of the Lorraine fields preserved the chance that Hitler could still be prevailed upon to shift the armament priority to the navy after a successful campaign in the west. The loss of the Swedish ore, while a severe blow to the German war industry, would be particularly devastating to the navy.

The conclusion of peace between Finland and the Soviet Union on March 12 caused problems not only for the British but also for the Germans. An entry in Jodl’s diary on March 10 warned, “For us the situation is troublesome because the justification for Falkenhorst’s action becomes difficult if peace (between Finland and Russia) is soon concluded.” Notations in the same diary from March 12 to 14 indicate that Hitler was also searching for a way to justify
Weserübung
. For example, an entry for 13 March reads, “Fuehrer does not give the order for ‘W’ [
Weserübung
]. He is still trying to find a justification.”

As noted, Raeder appears to have become somewhat more cautious, and there was disagreement among senior members of his staff, as well as within von Falkenhorst’s staff, about the necessity for and wisdom of the Norwegian operation. For his part, Hitler would probably not have minded a delay in
Weserübung
as evidenced by his order on March 13 for the planning to continue “without excessive haste.”
⁴⁹
However, he agreed with Raeder that the British had not abandoned their strategic objective of eliminating German ore imports through Norwegian territorial waters and that, for this reason, Scandinavia would remain an area of unrest that had to be dealt with eventually. Hitler reaffirmed his intention to carry out
Weserübung
before the attack in the west.

Hitler left Berlin on March 17 for a meeting with Benito Mussolini, the Italian fascist leader, at the Brenner Pass. There are no indications that he mentioned anything to Mussolini about his plans for Norway and Denmark. Hitler spent the following days at Obersalzberg, and called for an immediate meeting with Raeder, Keitel, and Jodl when he returned on March 26.

Raeder reported to Hitler that he no longer considered a British landing in Norway imminent, but that their goal of cutting off Germany’s iron ore import remained. He expected this to take the form of disruption of the ore traffic in Norwegian waters in the hope that this would create a pretext for action against Norway. Raeder concluded that the Germans would be forced to carry out
Weserübung
eventually and argued for early action. He pointed out that the new moon on April 7 would provide favorable conditions, and that the northern nights would be too short after April 15; that German U-boats covering the planned operation could remain in position for only two or three additional weeks; and that the anticipated foggy and overcast weather conditions in early April favored the Germans. Hitler agreed that the landings should take place on April 7, but the following day, March 27, he told Halder that he wanted the operation to take place on April 9 or 10. We do not know what caused this postponement, which was strongly opposed by the navy, but it probably had something to do with a new round of inter-service squabbling.

Raeder wanted the air force to drop mines in all major British estuaries in order to hamper the movement of their fleet during the most critical part of the operation. Göring resisted this request and offered instead to bomb Scapa Flow. The navy believed bombing would be ineffective in preventing the movement of the fleet. Raeder also wanted the German ships to return to Germany as quickly as possible after landing the troops. Göring argued that the ships should remain to support the operations, and it appears that Hitler was also leaning in this direction. Raeder considered this a life and death issue for the German Navy, and after the regular meeting with Hitler, General Keitel, General Jodl, and Commander von Püttkammer in the afternoon of March 29, 1940, he requested to see the Führer privately. Hitler still wanted to leave naval forces behind in Narvik and Trondheim, but after Raeder had again enumerated the many arguments against such an idea, Hitler relented and allowed for the ships in Narvik to return to Germany immediately after landing the troops and refueling. With respect to Trondheim, he asked Raeder to “investigate the matter once more.”
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Hitler held a final review of the
Weserübung
plan and preparations on April 1. Von Falkenhorst, the senior officers from each service, and the commanders of each landing force gave the briefing. Hitler gave the plan and preparations his blessings and concluded with a short pep talk to those present, including his justification for carrying out the operation. He stated that, while he had full confidence in the carefully prepared operation and its commanders, the time between this review and the completion of the operation would impose on him the greatest nervous anxiety of his life.
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Rosenberg’s diary entry for April 9 depicts a more euphoric Hitler, who is alleged to have said, “Just as Bismarck’s Reich was born in 1866, the Great German Reich will be born from what is going on today.”
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The following day Hitler set the date and time for the operation as April 9 at 0415 hours. He also relented in his desire to keep warships in Trondheim.

The Operational Plan

Von Falkenhorst, his staff, and other headquarters within the Wehrmacht tasked to support
Weserübung
had been busy during the month of March. The German military officers at times displayed some weaknesses when it came to strategic assessments, and political, economic, and psychological considerations were often not given the proper weight. However, the officers were superb when it came to operational planning. The final operational plans for
Weserübung
, which were issued on March 5, 1940 and for Narvik on March 12 are excellent examples of meticulous planning. But they are remarkable plans not only for their attention to details and close cooperation between the services, despite the failure to achieve a unified command structure, but also for their display of imagination, innovation, and the assumption of calculated risks. This superb planning was combined with boldness and skill in execution. These were important factors in making an operation that the General Staff regarded as “lunatic” a stunning operational success. In both planning and execution,
Weserübung
stands in sharp contrast to the dilatory and rather unprofessional efforts on the part of the Allies.

Nevertheless, it must be recognized that the operation was a gamble, and the German General Staff could well have been proven correct in its expectation of failure. While superb planning and bold execution were important factors in its eventual success, the element of luck, hoped for but not planned for in military operations, was equally important. If the Norwegians and the British had heeded the many warnings they received, the stunning operational success could easily have turned into military disaster.

It is rather amazing that the operation succeeded as well as it did, not only because of those risks already alluded to, but also because of the rather makeshift command and operational control mechanism. Much of this can be traced back to inter-service rivalries, but German lack of experience in combined operations also played a large role. Von Falkenhorst commanded only the ground forces, and had no command authority over the naval and air force components, who instead took orders from their respective services. Requirements for the other services were passed from Group XXI to the services, usually through OKW.

This three-way command relationship existed not only for the passage and landing but also for the entire operation. A territorial command for the air force was established, and this with General Erhard Milch’s Fifth Air Fleet absorbed the X Air Corps on April 12. All naval units in Norway after the landings would come under the leadership of Admiral Boehm, with headquarters in Oslo. He established subordinate naval commands in Bergen and Kristiansand.

At the various landing sites, an army officer was designated as commander of the landing forces and for operations to secure the landing site. The senior officer present from either the navy or the army would assume command after the landings were carried out. However, he could only issue orders to the other services within his area in emergencies.

Von Falkenhorst had his headquarters in Hamburg during the actual attack and was directly subordinate to Hitler through OKW. A group was established at OKW, including officers from each service, to serve as a link with Group XXI and as a coordination point, particularly for the flow of reinforcements and supplies after the initial landings. X Air Corps, under Lieutenant General Hans Geissler, also had its initial headquarters in Hamburg. The command and control of naval operations for the attack was divided. OKM decided that the operations in the Baltic, Kattegat, and part of Skagerrak should be under Admiral Carls with his headquarters in Kiel. Operations in the North Sea were under Admiral Saalwächter with his headquarters in Wilhelmshaven.

The fact that the planning for and conduct of the operation proceeded relatively smoothly must be attributed to the personalities and professionalism of the officers at the working level. This is also the conclusion reached by Group XXI in its after-action report:

The invasion plan called for one major naval expedition along the Norwegian coast to land the lead elements of the three assault divisions. The assault force designated for the attack was divided into six task forces in addition to a naval covering force. The assault troops were carried on warships. These task forces were scheduled to arrive at the entrance to all target ports shortly after 0400 hours, and the assaults were to be carried out within 30 minutes of arrival.