Press conference by Serge Gjennom de to siste hundre De er allierte i kampen mot IS - n Archie - A Pilot in RAF Bomber Command. A plaque mounted on a granite plinth within the Commonwealth War Graves Commission plot gives the following outline about the war in Norway: The War in Norway 1. On 9th April 1. 94. Hitler's Germany, already at war with the Commonwealth, France and Poland (the Allies), invaded Norway and by that evening had captured Oslo, the ports of Kristiansand, Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik and Sata, the airfield at Stavanger. The German objectives were to secure naval and airbases on the west coast and the use of the ice free route along that coast for the shipping of iron ore from the Gattivare mines. The invasion disrupted the Norwegian Army's mobilisation, but the Norwegian Navy and the coast defences inflicted serious losses on German warships and transport, which were also attacked in the Skagerrak by British submarines. Tysklands utenriksminister Frank-Walter Steinmeier kom sOn 1. 0th April a flotilla of five British destroyers sank two German destroyers and six supply ships in Narvik harbour. Two British ships were lost. On the 1. 3th the Battleship HMS Warspite and seven destroyers with air cover from the carrier HMS Glorious sank the remaining German ships. Although Southern Norway was lost, there seemed a chance of holding Central Norway if the Gudbrandsdal and Osterdal could be held and the German garrison in Trondheim overcome. Norwegian troops were stoutly defending the routes through these valleys and Allied forces were landed, 'Moriceforce', at Namsos on the 1. Sickleforce' at Andalsnes on the 1. Trondheim by a pincer movement. Mauriceforce, comprising the British 1. Brigade and three battalions of French Chasseurs Alpins, advanced southwards but were held at the head of Trondheim Fjord by a German column which had come out to meet it and had shelled from the fjord by warships which also landed troops to threaten it's flank. Sickleforce, comprising the British 1. Brigades, advanced to Dombas which was held by Norwegian forces after a German parachute attack had been repelled, then southwards in reinforcement of the Norwegian defenders who were under pressure in the Gudbrandsdal. Although the German advance was checked twice at Kvam and Otta, the positions could not be held under threat to the lines of communication to Andalsnes from a parallel German advance up the Osterdal. Only very limited air support could be given from carriers and from a squadron of fighters, which operated from the frozen Lesjaskog Lake near Dombas. When the depleted squadron was forced to withdraw, the consequent German aerial dominance exposed the troops to constant harassment while the Namsos and Andalsnes bases were made nearly useless by bombing. Both Mauriceforce and Sickleforce were now being driven back and on 2. April the decision was taken to withdraw from Central Norway. The evacuation was completed by 3rd May. On 1. 6th April a force, codename 'Ruperforce', comprising the 2. Guards) Brigade, three battalions of Chasseurs Alpins and two of the Foreign Legion and a Polish Brigade, began to land at Harstad, selected as the base for the assault on Narvik. Several Norwegian units, comprising both infantry and mountain artillery participated. Harstad was at first frequently raided by German aircraft, but on 2.
May the airfield at Bardufoss was brought in to full operation and a squadron of Gladiator fighters and one of Hurricanes based there. This gave the Royal Air Force a local ascendancy, which greatly assisted the conduct of the land operation. The Guards Brigade, reinforced by five 'independent guerrilla companies' was deployed to defend the ports of Mosjoen, Mo and Bodo against German landings. Mosjoen was held until the 1. Mo until the 1. 8th and Bodo until 3. May. The remainder of Rupertforce, in which the British component was and anti- aircraft brigade, meanwhile attacked Narvik and recaptured it on 2. May. Allied reserves in France then compelled withdrawal of the force, which was completed on 8th June. The troop convoys, one of which carried the King of Norway and his Government, reached Britain unscathed but HMS Glorious and her escorting destroyers Acasta and Ardent were sunk by the battle- cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau with heavy loss of life. Supported by supplies dropped by the Royal Air Force, by bombing raids and by British/Norwegian Commandos, raids along the coast, the Norwegian Resistance movement effectively prevented any reduction in the German garrison for the remainder of the war, at the cost of many lives. On 8th May 1. 94. Norwegian and British troops landed in Norway, followed on 1. May by Crown Prince Olav and representatives of the Norwegian Government. With the return of King Haakon on 7th June 1. Norway was a fact.
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