Hitler’s Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940 (46 page)

A series of events after April 11 made it considerably more difficult for the Germans to make a successful breakout. Two destroyers—
Erich Koellner
and
Wolfgang Zenker
—ran aground in Ofotfjord while on patrol during the night between April 11 and 12.
Erich Koellner
was so badly damaged when it hit an underwater reef that it was no longer seaworthy.
Wolfgang Zenker’s
propellers were damaged, limiting its speed.

Commander Bey reported to Naval Command West in the afternoon of April 12 that two destroyers—
Hans Lüdemann
and
Hermann Künne
–were operational, that three destroyers—
Erich Giese
,
Bernd von Arnim
, and
Georg Thiele
—could operate at a maximum speed of 28 knots, and that
Wolfgang Zenker
could travel at a maximum speed of only 20 knots. The remaining two destroyers—
Erich Koellner
and
Diether von Roeder
—were so heavily damaged that they were not seaworthy. Bey planned to use
Erich Koellner
as a floating battery on the north side of Ofotfjord, just east of Ramnes. He planned to use
Diether von Roeder
in a similar capacity in Narvik harbor.

The German Situation Ashore

The Germans quickly brought ashore all recoverable weapons, equipment, and supplies from those destroyers damaged beyond repair in the destroyer battle on April 10. Survivors from
Wilhelm Heidkamp
and
Anton Schmitt
were organized into a naval infantry battalion, armed mostly with weapons from the Norwegian depot at Elvegårdsmoen. Lieutenant Commander Erdmenger, the skipper of the sinking
Wilhelm Heidkamp
, was placed in command of this force. The Germans also continued to bring ashore and set up the heavy guns from the armed British merchant ships in the harbor.

General Dietl’s situation looked precarious to General von Falkenhorst and the OKW. He was isolated in an area over 400 miles from the nearest friendly forces. He had lost many of his supplies and equipment and was faced by a Norwegian army in the process of mobilizing superior forces and with the distinct prospect that the Allies would land troops either directly in Narvik or nearby. Dietl was directed to find a suitable place for a temporary airfield pending the capture of Bardufoss. This was a tall order in the mountainous area around Narvik and resulted in a request from Dietl that long-range seaplanes and bombers be used for resupply. He was promised that seaplanes carrying supplies would arrive on April 11, but only one appeared, and it did not land. A German unit discovered that the ice on Lake Hartvigvann was more than three feet thick and Dietl directed that it be examined to determine if it could be used as an airfield.

Dietl still had to accomplish two critically important parts of his mission, securing the railway from Narvik to the border and capturing Bardufoss Airfield and Setermoen. Control of Narvik would be meaningless unless the railroad connection to Sweden was secured. Securing the northward advance to Bardufoss was also important, but the ability to accomplish it with the available resources was questionable. No immediate move was made towards the Swedish border and only a reinforced company from one of the two battalions available to Colonel Windisch saw any appreciable combat on the northern front before the last week in April. The weather played a role as the month of April witnessed some of the worst conditions in many years. The fear of Allied landings and stiffening Norwegian resistance were undoubtedly other factors that led to the somewhat hesitant German attitude.

General Fleischer’s Assessment

The return of General Fleischer and his chief of staff from eastern Finnmark was delayed because of snowstorms. They managed to get to Tromsø after a harrowing five-hour flight on April 10 and by April 12, Fleischer was at his headquarters at Moen in Målselv.

Since the northern part of the country was now isolated from southern and central Norway, General Fleischer assumed the mantle of Commander-in-Chief in North Norway. This gave him control of the civil administration and naval forces in the area. Both the mobilization and assumption of overall command were taken on his own initiative. The right to order mobilization was reserved for the government and although he was designated as wartime commander-in-chief, no orders were received to execute that contingency plan. It is to Fleischer’s credit that he took these important decisions without waiting for orders from a government that appeared incapable of taking immediate effective action in this chaotic situation.

Fleischer’s area of responsibility stretched about 600 miles as the crow flies, from north to south. An enemy bridgehead now cut that area in two. The southern portion was relatively safe for now since the Germans were located in the Trondheim area, over 100 miles from the southern border of his command. However, he had to keep an eye on the situation in the south since it would be logical for the Germans to try hard to establish land communications with their forces in Narvik. Furthermore, he could not neglect the border with the Soviet Union. Soviet actions in Poland while the Germans were invading that country from the west were still fresh in everyone’s mind. That danger was somewhat alleviated with the arrival of Allied forces in North Norway since it was unlikely that the Soviets would risk hostilities with the British and French. Even as he kept these threats in mind, Fleischer had to contend with an expanding German bridgehead in Narvik and assemble sufficient forces to commence offensive operations.

Fleischer’s first task was to bring the German advances to a halt, particularly their northern thrust towards Bardufoss Airfield. German capture of this airfield would significantly alter the situation in their favor and put any Allied assistance in jeopardy. The German northward thrust also posed a threat to Setermoen, the other major Norwegian mobilization depot and training area. The Norwegians knew that a German battalion was advancing northward with the mission of capturing these two objectives. The total strength of the Germans in Narvik was not known, but General Fleischer assumed that they numbered several thousand of Germany’s most elite troops.

Fleischer reasoned that it was not sufficient merely to isolate the Germans in Narvik. Such an approach would tie down his forces, give the Germans time to organize and build up their strength for continued attacks at points of their choosing while waiting for a link-up. He believed that a defensive strategy would not be successful since he had to assume that German forces from the south would drive aggressively towards Narvik and he had no forces to halt such an attack as long as Dietl’s 3rd Mountain Division tied him down.

The only clear alternative in Fleischer’s mind was to attack and destroy the German forces in Narvik or drive them over the border to Sweden. This would allow him to move substantial forces south to meet an eventual German drive from Trondheim. He viewed his soldiers as the hardiest in the world and felt certain that they would acquit themselves well when pitted against the German mountain troops.

In order to achieve local superiority for an attack, Fleischer found it necessary to risk reducing troop strength along the Soviet Border. He ordered the 1/12th Inf to the Narvik front as quickly as possible. He also decided to bring the Alta Bn south as soon as its mobilization was completed. These forces had to be transported by sea, which would take some time. Fleischer had only the 1/14th Inf battalion in Mosjøen in the southern part of his area. This force was inadequate to cope with a German advance from the Trondheim area and Fleischer decided that the best use of this unit was to move it south and attach it to Colonel Getz’ 5th Field Brigade in the Steinkjer area. Halfdan Sundlo, the brother of the regimental commander in Narvik, commanded this battalion.

Fleischer’s plan had as its goal the gradual reduction of the German ability to fight by first taking their base area at Bjerkvik and Elvegårdsmoen, prevent them from establishing a connection to Sweden, and finally of capturing Narvik. Fleischer concluded that the experienced German elite troops were professionally superior to his own units but he planned to compensate for this drawback by relying on what he saw as Norwegian superior mobility in the wild and snow-covered terrain around Narvik.

The partial destruction of the 1/13th Inf on April 9 was a serious setback for the Norwegians. It was doubtful that the remnants of the 1/13th could successfully resist a strong German advance to the border. It was hoped that the threat of Allied landings and Norwegian attacks from the north would prevent the Germans from undertaking offensive operations towards the border.

The loss of Elvegårdsmoen was most serious. It was the mobilization center for the 15th Infantry Regiment and a number of other units. Their valuable stores of equipment and supplies were now lost and this made it difficult or impossible for these units to carry out an orderly mobilization. In addition to acquiring a bridgehead on the north side of Ofotfjord for their northward drive, the Germans obtained stores that proved of immense importance and made the Norwegian task of eliminating the German bridgehead more problematic.

The Defense of the Ofot Railway

The remnants of the 1/13th Inf that withdrew from Narvik on April 9 were located along the railway leading to Sweden. Majors Spjeldnæs and Omdal decided to establish defensive positions and hold Nordal Bridge until they received more definite orders. Captain Bjørnson’s company went into positions at the bridge while the rest of the troops moved to Bjørnefjell railroad station, about three kilometers to the northeast.

Major Omdal had to prepare against a German advance from Elvegårdsmoen as well as along the railroad from Narvik. A platoon from Co 3 was sent to take up defensive positions near a chain of small lakes northwest of Bjørnefjell. This platoon surprised and captured a 13-man German patrol on April 11. According to Buchner, the patrol was a German attempt to establish a link between German forces in Elvegårdsmoen and Narvik.

The 16th Infantry Regiment established contact with Major Omdal’s forces on April 11 via a ski patrol. Omdal informed the general that he intended to prevent the Germans from pushing through to the Swedish border but his troops were in great need of supplies. Fleischer ordered Omdal to hold the Nordal Bridge as long as possible and authorized its destruction in case it could not be held. He also ordered the tunnels at the west end of the bridge destroyed. The rails west of the bridge were removed on April 13 and two iron ore cars were demolished within the tunnel.

The Norwegian troops that escaped from Narvik had only brought with them weapons, what ammunition they could carry, and a few rations. Skis were left behind and this made mobility in the snow-covered mountains difficult and exhausting. In the days immediately following their arrival in the Bjørnefjell area, the Norwegians were able to obtain skis, winter camouflage clothing, rifle ammunition, and some provisions from Swedish military units across the border. These Swedish supplies eventually dried up, due to German pressure on the Swedish Government, and assistance became limited to humanitarian help in the form of provisions and the evacuation of seriously ill or wounded soldiers.

The Norwegians had hoped for Swedish weapons and ammunition, but the Swedes were maintaining their neutrality. As a result, the Swedes at the border confiscated ammunition sent by the shortest route from the Norwegian forces in East Finnmark to their forces in the Narvik area.

The commander of the Hålogaland Air Group, Major L. Feiring, who had just arrived from southern Norway via Sweden, suggested that Major Omdal’s forces be supplied by air. The first supply drop took place on April 14 and then four aircraft were able to land on a frozen lake on April 15. In this manner, ammunition and provisions for eight days were brought to the troops at Bjørnefjell.

The German Northward Advance

The German push north from Elvegårdsmoen was undertaken by the 1/139th Regiment, commanded by Major Stautner. General Dietl may have already decided that his forces were insufficient to secure Bardufoss and Setermoen, the final objectives in his directive. The goal of his northward advance was therefore limited to seizing more defensible terrain by pushing through the Gratangen Valley to seize the Oalgge Pass, immediately west of Lapphaugen. Control of that high ground would leave Colonel Windisch’s troops less exposed to Norwegian counterattacks and would allow the Germans to trade space for time.

Major Stautner’s troops seized Elvenes, 17 kilometers north of Bjerkvik, late on April 10 without encountering Norwegian resistance. Heavy snowfall slowed the German advance and they were too exhausted to push further without a rest. They continued their advance on April 12 through the Gratang Valley towards Lapphaugen.

The Norwegian forces from Setermoen were caught in a vicious snowstorm as they tried to make their way to the Narvik area on April 9. The motorized battery from the 3rd Mountain Artillery Bn made it to the Gratangen Tourist Station by 1100 hours when it had to stop because of blizzard conditions. It later withdrew to the Fossbakken area. The main force of the 2/15th Inf was ordered to take up positions at Lund in Salangsdal, with a platoon-size security force near Lapphaugen. Colonel Løken, commander of the 6th Field Brigade, decided, however, to stop the Germans in the defile near Lapphaugen. The position near Lund (Brattli) was more defensible, but to let the Germans advance that far would reduce the Norwegians’ ability to carry out mobile operations in the wild and roadless terrain to the south. The Gratang/Fossbakken area had to be held in order to cover Setermoen and Bardufoss and for mobilization of units in that area.

Sixty-six students from the 6th Division command and leadership school, commanded by Captain O. Forseth, were on their way from Tromsø to their training area near Setermoen on April 8. They learned about the German attack when they landed at Sjøvegan at 0800 hours on April 9. After arriving in the Setermoen area, Captain Forseth was ordered to organize his students and personnel at the training area into a field company. This 170-strong force was organized on April 10. At noon on April 11, Forseth was directed to take up defensive positions at the Gratangen Tourist Station and delay the German battalion moving north from Bjerkvik. This was necessary to provide time for the 2/15th Inf and the 3rd Mountain Artillery Bn to prepare defensive positions near Lapphaugen. Forseth’s unit was in defensive positions at the Gratang Tourist Station shortly after midnight on April 11.