Hitler’s Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940 (6 page)

The Norwegian government viewed the British threat so seriously that they prevailed on King Håkon VII to send a telegram on January 7 to his nephew, King George VI, asking for his personal intervention. George VI answered that it was necessary in this period for his country to defend its interests. The official Norwegian protest pointed out that British actions of the type threatened would lead to German counter-measures, and that the Norwegian Navy had orders to repel any violations of Norwegian neutrality by all means, regardless of the perpetrator’s nationality.

At least one writer claims that the exchange of letters between the two monarchs had a significant impact. Kersaudy writes, “Actually, the intervention of such an eminent personality as King Haakon of Norway was more than enough for Neville Chamberlain to give up even the semblance of any warlike initiative.”
¹⁴
It is more likely that Chamberlain and Halifax used the strong Norwegian response to the British note, along with a very negative response from Sweden, as reasons to put the brakes on Churchill’s plans.
¹⁵
In the middle of January, the British government shelved Churchill’s plan for immediate action against the iron ore traffic.

There followed over the next month a series of note exchanges between the British and Norwegians. Lord Halifax suggested to the Norwegian Ambassador that Norway take steps to close its waters, and an aide memoir of January 22 made the same suggestion. The Norwegian answer in early February stated that the Norwegian government would examine measures to protect its territorial waters, including mining. It was not until March 20 that the Norwegian Defense Ministry was asked to examine the possibility of mining specific points along the coast. Rear Admiral Henry E. Diesen, Commander-in-Chief of the Norwegian Navy, recommended on April 2 that if the government deemed it necessary, mine barriers should be laid south of Stadt. The Allies did not wait for the Norwegians to make a final decision.

Allied Military Plans

The British and French military staffs presented their plans to the Allied Supreme War Council in Paris on February 5, 1940. The War Council, based on these plans, approved a British motion to prepare and dispatch a military expeditionary force of several brigades of British, French, and Polish troops to the Finnish front. The expedition would be under British command. The primary objective of this force, which was to proceed to the Finnish front through Norway and Sweden, is actually found in another plan, code-named
Avonmouth
. The iron ore mines were included in the objectives of the expeditionary force.

The plan required Allied forces to land in Narvik and advance along the railroad to Kiruna and Gällivare, and on to Luleå on the Baltic. It was planned that the brigades would be positioned along this line before the middle of April, when Luleå would again be free from ice and open to German ore traffic. The unreasonableness of the assumption that Allied forces would be able to accomplish this in the roadless arctic wilderness was confirmed when elite British troops proved unable to undertake any off-road operations, and French Alpine troops were deemed unsuited for operations in the mountains around Narvik by their commander as late as May. Only part of the expeditionary force would proceed to Finland, and there is no doubt that the main objective was to halt the export of iron ore to Germany under the guise of helping the Finns.

The Allied plan anticipated a strong German reaction to the occupation of parts of northern Norway and Sweden. However, the planners did not expect Ger many to be in a position to act effectively until late spring when the Baltic was ice-free. Nevertheless, to meet possible German countermoves, the Allied plans called for the occupation of the cities of Trondheim, Namsos, Bergen, and Stavanger by five British territorial brigades. This part of the operation was codenamed
Stratford
. The occupation of these cities would provide bases from which to defend Norway, and open an alternate route to Finland via Trondheim. That city, along with Namsos, would serve as the main Allied base. Bergen would be an important secondary base and serve as the eastern terminal of a planned North Sea mine barrier. The planned operation against Stavanger can best be characterized as a raid. The city was to be held only long enough to destroy the Sola Airfield in order to deny its use by the Luftwaffe.

The plan for actions in Norway and Sweden called for reinforcements to be sent via Trondheim to take part in possible operations against Germans in southern Sweden, code-named
Plymouth
. These forces would consist of about 100,000 British and 50,000 French troops. Two British divisions due to embark for France were held back in Britain to be available for the Scandinavian operations. The port facilities in Trondheim were limited and it was estimated that it would take one month to get about 24,000 combat troops to link up with Swedish forces in positions to oppose a German advance. The rest of the force was needed to hold bases and keep lines of communications open. Over 40 destroyers were required as close-in escorts for the troop transports. The mission of the Home Fleet, strengthened by units of the French fleet, was to protect the transports against attacks by enemy surface units and the Luftwaffe. The air force contingent consisted of only six and one-half squadrons, three of which were fighters. In addition, four squadrons of heavy land-based bombers were placed at the disposal of the operation. While these were large commitments at this stage of the war, their inadequacy is confirmed by Britain’s own intelligence estimate, mentioned earlier, of what the Germans needed to carry out a similar operation. Derry maintains that these commitments were not large if the military chiefs were right in their opinion that it was their first and best chance to grab the initiative and shorten the war.

Even if the military chiefs were right in their assessment of the effects on the German war effort, the resources were inadequate against the logical reactions of the two Scandinavian countries, and particularly against the probable reactions by Germany and the Soviet Union. The issue of what to do if Norway and Sweden resisted, a probability Churchill claims to have recognized, was never faced by the Supreme War Council.

Preliminary requests to Norway and Sweden on March 2, 1940 about free passage of Allied troops to Finland were rejected quickly and firmly. In spite of this refusal and strong indications that Sweden and Norway would resist, the planners made no increase in the planned force levels. The likelihood of Norwegian resistance was eventually accepted, but the operation proceeded despite this probability. The military planners questioned what to do if the Norwegians and Swedes resisted, but the issue was studiously avoided by decision-makers. A note in Ironside’s diary is illustrative.

Another astonishing excerpt from the instructions to the commanders was:

These were early examples of the many muddled statements and directives that were to emanate from the British command authorities during the Norwegian campaign. Chief Air Marshal Newall was on the mark when he said at the time, “I think the whole thing is hare brained.”
¹⁸

The
Altmark
Incident

On February 16, 1940 an episode occurred that proved tailor-made for Churchill’s plans. At the same time, the outcome was such that future violations of Norwegian neutrality by the Allies would be viewed with greater understanding both domestically and in neutral countries. The episode involved violations of Norwegian neutrality by both the German and British navies, and the Norwegians can certainly be blamed for not enforcing their own rules and for handling the incident in a clumsy manner.

The German pocket battleship
Admiral Graf Spee
had raided shipping in the South Atlantic before it was scuttled off Uruguay’s Platte River on December 17, 1939. Survivors from merchant ships she had sunk had been transferred to one of her supply ships—
Altmark
—before the pocket battleship encountered the Royal Navy. The
Altmark
, commanded by Captain Heinrich Dau, headed back to Germany with its cargo of prisoners after the demise of the
Admiral Graf Spee
and entered Norwegian territorial waters on February 14.

The Norwegians had their suspicions about the ship’s cargo but allowed it to proceed along the coast under naval escort. The ship flew the German naval flag, but despite this fact, Dau allowed three visits by Norwegian naval personnel on February 15. The German captain reported that the ship had participated in exercises in the Atlantic and was on its way from Port Arthur, Texas to Germany with a cargo of 8,500-tons of oil, that the ship was armed with 20mm anti-aircraft guns, but that these were stowed away before entering Norwegian waters.

Rear Admiral Carsten Tank-Nielsen, the commander of Norway’s 2nd Naval District, was in a dilemma. If
Altmark
was a merchant ship, it had the right, under the neutrality regulations, to sail through the restricted area around Bergen after being inspected. A warship, on the other hand, could not sail through the area. Classified as a naval auxiliary, the ship did not fit neatly into either of the two categories.

The Norwegian destroyer
Garm
, with Admiral Tank-Nielsen aboard, and the minelayer
Olav Tryggvason
intercepted
Altmark
well within the restricted area, escorted by the torpedo boat
Snøgg
. The acting chief of staff of the naval district and
Snøgg’s
captain boarded
Altmark
and conferred with Captain Dau. The Norwegians informed Dau that either he had to submit to a search or he would not be allowed to proceed through the restricted area. Captain Dau stated that the ship was a naval auxiliary and he would not permit a search. He was then ordered to take his ship out to sea, around the restricted area.

While this conference was underway, the Germans broke radio silence and sent a report to the German Embassy in Oslo. Norwegian naval communicators intercepted the radio message and the military control office in Oslo stopped the telegram from reaching the German Embassy. Captain Dau was admonished not to use his radio while in Norwegian waters. The German captain apologized but asked the Norwegians to notify the German Embassy that he had refused inspection and was taking his ship out to sea. Admiral Tank-Nielsen agreed to this request.
Altmark
withdrew from the restricted area to await an answer from the German Embassy. Norwegian warships remained in the vicinity to ensure that the German ship did not reenter the restricted area.

The destroyer
Garm
had been close enough to
Altmark
for sailors to report that SOS whistle signals were heard from the German ship and that white handkerchiefs had been displayed at the portholes.
Garm
also reported that the Germans had started up the on-board cranes and other machinery, obviously in an attempt to drown out the signals.

Admiral Tank-Nielsen sent the following message to the Norwegian Naval Staff: “The ship has refused supplemental visitation and its passage through the restricted area has been denied. Probably prisoners aboard. Inform the Commander-in-Chief.”
¹⁹
The telegram reached Admiral Diesen at 1554 hours. Diesen conferred with the Norwegian Foreign Office. Both the Foreign Office and Admiral Diesen appear to have felt there had been enough visitations to the German ship, and that Admiral Tank-Nielsen was not handling this problem in accordance with supplemental instructions after a somewhat similar situation in November 1939.
²⁰
Diesen and the Foreign Office decided to send the German ship on its way at once. The Norwegians were eager to get this embarrassing and potentially dangerous ship out of its territorial waters as quickly as possible.

The report from
Garm
about suspicious activities aboard
Altmark
did not reach the Norwegian naval headquarters until after Admiral Diesen’s decision, but he stated later that receipt of the report would not have altered his decision. Admiral Tank-Nielsen was ordered to let
Altmark
pass in its capacity as a naval auxiliary and to provide an escort. The passage through the restricted area was accomplished in darkness, an action contrary to the navy’s own neutrality regulations.

Meantime, a report of
Altmark’s
presence in Norwegian waters had reached Rear Admiral H. Boyles, the British Naval Attaché in Oslo. Boyles passed this report on to the British Admiralty. Churchill recognized the potential opportunities in the situation and acted quickly. He instructed Admiral Pound that he should not hesitate “… to arrest
Altmark
in territorial waters should she be found. The ship is violating neutrality in carrying British prisoners of war to Germany…. The
Altmark
must be regarded as an invaluable trophy.”
²¹

Three reconnaissance aircraft from Coastal Command were dispatched to locate
Altmark
. She was sighted in Norwegian waters south of Stavanger. The escorting Norwegian patrol boat
Firern
had no antiaircraft guns and could only signal the British aircraft that they were violating Norwegian airspace, and warn them to stand off.