Posted on 04/11/2010 6:04:59 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/apr40/f11apr40.htm
Norwegian King calls nation to arms
Thursday, April 11, 1940 www.onwar.com
In Norway... The King and government appeal to all Norwegians to fight. A new Commander in Chief, General Ruge, is appointed for the Norwegian Army. He replaces General Laake, who has resigned.
In Belgium... The Belgian army cancels all leaves.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/11.htm
April 11th, 1940
NORWEGIAN CAMPAIGN:
General Laake Commander in Chief of the Norwegian Army resigns and General Ruge is appointed.
Bombing - Shipping in the Kattegat.
10 Sqn. Six aircraft. One returned U/S, one bombed ship without result.
51 Sqn. Five aircraft. One bombed ship without result.
77 Sqn. Six aircraft. One returned U/S. No ships sighted. One FTR.
102 Sqn. Six aircraft. One bombed and destroyed an 8,000 ton ammunition ship.
RAF Bomber Command: 6 Wellingtons attack Stavanger airport, this is the first RAF bombing operation against a target in the interior.
Returning from the Oslo landings, pocket battleship Lutzow is torpedoed and badly damaged by submarine HMS Spearfish in the Skagerrak.
Cruiser HMS Penelope is damaged when she runs aground in Vestfjord on her way into Narvik.
Fleet Air Arm aircraft attack Trondheim.
(Mark Horan adds): When the German invasion of Norway began, the Royal Navy was quick to respond, sending the Home Fleet to sea to support its other elements at sea and to, hopefully, crush the Kriegsmarine forces involved. One of the ships dispatched to join the gathering forces was the sole Royal Navy carrier in home waters, HMS Furious. Unfortunately for future operations Furious, which had been in the Clyde, had only had on hand her two Swordfish TSR Squadrons, 816 and 818. Her presence with the fleet being considered a necessity, the ship did not close the Orkneys to embark her Skua equipped fighter-dive bomber Squadron, 801, than at Evanton in Scotland. Thus, when she joined the fleet off Trondheim on 10 April, she embarked but 18 Swordfish.
RAF reconnaissance reports having placed KMS Admiral Hipper in Trondheim on 10 April, plans were drawn up for Furious’s squadrons to make a dawn torpedo attack on Trondheim Harbour and sink the foe. This was to be the first aerial torpedo attack of the war to date. All 18 aircraft were to participate, 816 Squadron being led by Lt.Cdr. H. Gardner and 818 Squadron by Lt.Cdr. P. Syndey-Turner.
Takeoff commenced at 0400, with the entire force taking its departure at 0419, the squadrons proceeding independently to attack from different directions. Climbing to 8,000 feet enroute, the 816 Squadron sighted Trondheim Fjord at 0514, the roads being entirely obscured in cloud. Hoping to surprise the foe, the formation commenced a diving attack at 0519. Emerging from the clouds at 3,000 feet, the cruiser was nowhere to be seen, having “flown the coup” the prior evening. Flying towards Skjoren Fjord, the Squadron sighted a destroyer at anchor an opted for her, the attack commencing at 0522. All nine aircraft made good drops, but to their horror, about 500 yards from the target, all the torpedo tracks ended, four of the nine exploding. Not equipped with proper maps, the attackers had not realized the target was protected by shoals!
Meanwhile, 818 Squadron sighted a Maas-class destroyer in Trondheimfjord heading towards the harbour. Opting for her, eight of the nine attackers were able to release their “kippers”. Two exploded prematurely, the other six being avoided. It was a very disheartened band that returned to the ship at 0630.
Later that morning, Furious dispatched a two Swordfish of 816 Squadron on an armed reconnaissance over Trondheim harbour. After completing the main task, they opted to dive bomb the German destroyer still anchored in Skjoren Fjord at 1220. Unfortunately, all the six bombs dropped fell wide of the mark. Both aircraft returned safely at 1345..
MEDITERRANEAN SEA:HMS ARK ROYAL and HMS GLORIOUS arrive independently at Malta, and then depart for Gibraltar escorted by the destroyers HMAS STUART, HMS BULLDOG, HMS WESTCOTT and HMS WISHARD.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Day 224 April 11, 1940
British Vice-Admiral Horton’s submarine deployment pays off again. HMS Spearfish, patrolling in the Kattegat, encounters the already-damaged German cruiser Lützow returning from Oslo just after midnight. Spearfish fires a spread of 6 torpedoes then runs, not realizing that Lützow is unescorted. 1 torpedo hits Lützow nearly ripping off her stern. Lützow is towed back to Kiel but is out of action until repairs are complete in June 1941.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_101II-MN-1038-06,_Kiel,_Schwerer_Kreuzer_%22L%C3%BCtzow%22.jpg
German success depends on reducing Norwegian Army resistance in southern Norway. The key is to link up their forces at Oslo and Trondheim via the long parallel mountain defiles. German 196th Division under General Richard Pellengahr moves North from Oslo up the Gudbrandsdal and Østerdal valleys with air support, brushing aside improvised Norwegian roadblocks.
General Kristian Laake is removed from command of the Norwegian Army for being defeatist and failing to mobilize his troops. He is replaced with General Otto Ruge. http://www.generals.dk/general/Laake/Kristian_Kristiansen/Norway.html
http://www.generals.dk/general/Ruge/Otto/Norway.html
Trondheim is where Sgt. Milner, in “Foyle’s War,” lost his leg.
You just gave me the idea for my next Netflix series.
I get the DVDs from the library. I saw in the “Acorn” category that there’s going to be an additional set of episodes; it had “ended,” but they’ve got plenty more war to do, so why not!
“Category” should be “catalog”!
So the Germans were already wanting to put Quisling in charge before actually taking over the country?
German Admiral Raeder first recommended invading Norway in October 1939.
Hitler and Raeder met with Vidkun Quisling on December 14, 1939.
That same day Hitler ordered "low level" planning to begin for a possible invasion of Norway.
On December 18, the three met again and Hitler told Quisling that he would not invade Norway, as long as the Brits did not violate Norway's neutrality.
In the mean time, planning for the invasion continued, and Germans made full use of Norway's neutrality to protect their own interests.
For example, on February 14, 1940, the German tanker Altmark carrying about 300 British POWs fled and hid in a Norwegian fjord.
When the Brits rescued their prisoners from the Altmark on February 16, that was enough reason for Hitler to order full scale, urgent preparations to invade Norway.
Point is, Quisling was part of Hitler's plan from the very beginning.
Actually, Hitler only appointed Quisling as a last resort. In general, Hitler never liked the idea of appointing local Nazis are leaders, he would try to go with respected politicians, i.e., Marshall Petain.
Is there evidence that Hitler ever considered anyone other than Quisling for the job?
Remember, Quisling was in on the plan from Day One -- December 14, 1939.
If so, it was because the Nazis determined that there were no other Norwegians who would step up for the job.
Gauleiter Josef Teboven was sent to Norway as Reichsskommissar. Quisling had no real power, and Hitler ruled through Terboven.
bump for later
I will agree that even Hitler found Vidkun Quisling, well, distasteful, and that real power in Norway flowed through the Nazi apparatus.
My only point is that Quisling was in on the ground floor of the Norway invasion, having met with Hitler and Raeder on the same day that Hitler first ordered planning for it to begin -- December 14, 1939.
Quisling was the obvious choice for his largely ceremonial post.
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