Posted on 04/22/2010 5:02:26 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/apr40/f22apr40.htm
Germans advance north from Lillehammer
Monday, April 22, 1940 www.onwar.com
In Norway... The British 148th Brigade is attacked north of Lillehammer by the superior German force advancing up the Gudbrandsdal and forced to retreat.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/22.htm
April 22nd, 1940
UNITED KINGDOM:
RAF Bomber Command: 4 Group. Bombing - Fornebu, Kristiansund, Aalborg and Trondheim airfields. 10 Sqn. One aircraft to Kjeller. Airfield bombed and machine-gunned.
51 Sqn. Seven aircraft. Six bombed Kjeller, Fornebu and Aalborg. 1 FTR.
77 Sqn. Two aircraft to Trondheim. No bombing possible due to adverse weather conditions. They were to have bombed a frozen lake south of Trondheim that was being used as a landing ground.
Corvette HMS Mimose (ex-FS Mimosa) laid down.
Corvettes HMS Anemone, Clematis and Honeysuckle launched.
Destroyers HMS Quantock and Lightning launched.
Corvette HMS Clarkia commissioned.
(Dave Shirlaw)
GERMANY: Berlin: Jodl notes in his diaries that Hitler is ‘increasingly worried about the English landings.’
U-204, U-402 laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)
NORWAY: RAF air reconnaissance of Trondheim reveals three troopships and seven seaplanes moored off the town. On a nearby frozen lake, 12 He 111s, 6 Ju87s and 4 Ju52s are observed covered with snow and little sign of activity around them. Four Coastal Command Hudsons attacked camouflaged petrol-tanks in Oslo Fjord claiming hits on one of them.
German air raids are directed against Aandalsnes, its railway and shipping. The railway line was cut in several places.
RAF personnel begin construction of the runway on frozen lake Lesja for the Gladiators of 223 Sqn.
Allied troops clash with Germans north of Trondheim. The weight of the attack hits hardest against the Lincolnshire Battalion, one company of which suffers 25% casualties. The Lincolnshires begin to waver. Ordered to retreat on Steinkjer, they get out of hand and cannot be rallied for a rear-guard stand. That evening as a German destroyer shells the village, German troops come ashore and seize the only bridge across the Ogna River, cutting the road north to Namsos.
Those British troops east of Steinkjer were now cut off. But by chance one of their senior officers, a Lieut. Col. H. B. Hibbert, had spent several boyhood holidays fishing in the nearby mountains. Hibbert dimly remembered an old wooden bridge well to the east of Steinkjer. Thinking that it might provide an escape route, Hibbert dispatched a volunteer Norwegian guide on skis to look for it while he got his battalion ready for a forced march. The guide returned. There was indeed a bridge east of Steinkjer; it was six miles away as the crow flies, but a much longer hike over mountain trails. Hibbert’s men loaded their wounded onto sleds and moved out, single file and three yards apart so that if one man fell on the slippery footing he would not bring down the whole line behind him. They covered approximately 82 miles in 67 hours, reaching Mauriceforce’s new position north of Namsos without losing a weapon or leaving behind a straggler.
Lillehammer: Morgan tries to reform his line on a new position. but the Norwegians could not help; they said there ski troops were too weary to provide cover for his flanks. Small parties of Germans on skis worked there wa into Morgan’s flanks and rear, and they even managed to raid his brigade HQ. The British fell back along the east bank of the Lagen River to a bridge at the village of Trettin. The bridge had to be held until the Norwegians and British west of the river could retreat across it.
(Mark Horan adds): Fleet activity picks up.
HMS Ark Royal, again flying the flag of Vice-Admiral Aircraft Carriers L. V. Wells, CB, DSO, RN and in company with the destroyers HMS Sikh, HMS Mashona, and HMS Juno, departs Greenock at 0700 for Scapa Flow. She is still carrying her three TSR squadrons, 810, 820, and 821.
HMS Glorious, in company with the destroyers HMS Hyperion, HMS Hereward, and HMS Hasty, arrives off Scapa Flow at 1500, where she is joined by the destroyers HMS Arrow, HMS Acheron, and HMS Brazen to cover her during the flight evolutions that follow. First, the 17 RAF Gladiator IIs of 263 Squadron are flown out to the ship from Hatston by the pilots of 802 Squadron and the spare pilots of 804 Squadron. Once they are aboard, the Swordfish of 823 Squadron leave for Hatston. Meanwhile, at 1545, the nine Sea Gladiators of 804 Squadron and the twelve Skuas of 803 Squadron fly out from Hatston. In the event, Skua 8R of 803 Squadron crashed over the side while landing aboard and though the pilot, Acting Sub-Lieutenant(A) A. S. Griffith, RN was rescued by the plane-guard destroyer, Naval Airman first class Kenneth Admiral Brown, RN (AG) was lost with the plane. With the operation complete, HMS Arrow, HMS Acheron, and HMS Bulldog are detached to Rosyth while the rest put into Scapa Flow to refuel.
HMS Ark Royal and HMS Glorious continue to shuffle aircraft as they shove every available Fleet Air Arm fighter aboard in preparation for supporting the Allied landings near Trondheim. HMS Ark Royal embarks four squadrons with 44 aircraft: 800 (9 Skua, 2 Roc), 801 (9 Skua, 3 Roc), 810 (12 Swordfish), and 820 (9 Swordfish). HMS Glorious embarks 263 Squadron, RAF (17 Gladiators) and three FAA squadrons with 27 fighters: 803 (12 Skua), 802 Squadron (9 Sea Gladiators), 804 Squadron (9 Sea Gladiators).
Meanwhile, HMS Furious, though now with a failing engine, continues to support the Allied effort. Today’s goal being to support a planned Royal Navy bombardment of German positions at Narvik. Amid abominable weather, hourly patrols of one or two Swordfish each, are sent to the target area, each being armed with four 250 lb. bombs and under orders to assist as they could. 818 Squadron’s U3G:P4163, flying the second patrol, was shot down by Flak. Leading Airman Thomas George Cutler, RN (AG) was killed outright in the crash and, although Sub-Lieutenant P. C. Roberts, RN (P) and badly wounded Lieutenant Charles Robert Dalton Messenger, RN (O) were rescued by HMS Aurora, the later died of his wounds. Unfortunately, the entire effort was for naught as the bombardment had been cancelled although no one thought to inform Furious!
One of the 803 Squadron Skuas crashes overboard landing aboard, killing the telegraphist air gunner, NA1 Kenneth Admiral Brown. Due to the loss of one of 263 Squadrons Gladiators the day before, 802 Squadron “sells” one of theirs (N5518) to 263 Squadron RAF for duty in Norway. It remains with the four-tone sea “grey” camouflage scheme, but with the RAF Squadron code (HE-K) painted on. The two carriers depart Scapa for Norway at high speed.
NORTH SEA: U-43 was attacked in the North Sea by two Hudson aircraft with bombs and suffered slight damage. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: AA cruiser USS Atlanta laid down. This ship would later be christened by Margaret Mitchell, author of “Gone With the Wind”. (Dave Shirlaw)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 235 April 22, 1940
General de Wiart, the old soldier, can smell defeat. German air strikes paralyse Namsos and his supply lines South. Moreover, he risks 146th Brigade becoming encircled at Vist by German landings on his flank. He orders a fighting withdrawal to Namsos.
Further South, Morgan’s 148th Brigade digs in at Faaberg, North of Lillehammer. However, they are flanked by German mountain troops scaling the 2,165ft high Balbergkamp, forcing another overnight retreat. They fall back 20 miles North and prepare to make a final stand at Tretten Gorge, one of the narrowest and most defensible point in the Gudbrandsdal.
At the Supreme War Council meeting in Paris, strategy takes a backseat to French political infighting between Reynaud and Daladier. Allies believe success is at hand and, out of touch with reality, contemplate a “march on towards Oslo”.
2 Lockheed Hudsons bomb U-43 in the North Sea. U-43 escapes with slight damage.
My wife says that New Mexico doesn’t advertise. Should I show her page 18 of this magazine?
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