Battles of Narvik

The Battles of Narvik were fought from April 9 until June 8 1940 as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian city of Narvik as part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War.

The two naval battles in the Ofotfjord on 10 April and 13 April were fought between the British Royal Navy and the German Kriegsmarine, while the two-month land campaign was fought between Norwegian, French, and Polish troops against Germany.

Narvik provided an ice-free harbor in the North Atlantic for iron ore transported by the railroad from Kiruna in Sweden. Both sides in the war had an interest in securing this iron supply for themselves and denying it to the enemy, setting the stage for one of the first large-scale battles during World War II.

Prior to the German invasion, British forces had considered Narvik as a possible landing point for an expedition to help Finland in the Winter war or to take control over the Swedish mines. French politicians were also eager to start a second front as far away from France as possible.

German invasion

Naval battle preceding the first naval battle of Narvik
Part of World War II
File:Eidsvold class costal defence cruiser photo.jpg An Eidsvold class costal defence ship underway.
Date April 9, 1940 Location Narvik, Norway Result German victory
Belligerents
Norway	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Odd Isachsen Willoch Per Askim	Friedrich Bonte
Strength
2 coastal defence ships	10 destroyers
Casualties and losses
2 coastal defence ships sunk 343 dead	None

On 1 March 1940, Adolf Hitler ordered the invasion of Norway, codenamed Weserübung. This operation would involve most of the German navy (Kriegsmarine). Participating units were divided into six groups, which were to occupy the main Norwegian ports.

Group I departed Bremerhaven on 6 April. It consisted of ten German destroyers (Georg Thiele, Wolfgang Zenker, Bernd von Arnim, Erich Giese, Erich Koellner, Diether von Roeder, Hans Ludemann, Hermann Künne, Wilhelm Heidkamp (flagship) and Anton Schmitt commanded by Commodore Friedrich Bonte. The warships carried 200 soldiers (total 2,000 Austrian mountain troopers (Gebirgsjäger) commanded by General Eduard Dietl).

On 9 April in the early morning, the destroyers of Group I passed Westfjord and arrived at Ofotfjord leading to Narvik, in fog and heavy snow. In Ofotfjord they captured three Norwegian patrol boats (Senja, Michael Sars and Kelt). The German ships Wolfgang Zenker, Erich Koellner and Hermann Kunne landed their soldiers in Herjangsfjord (part of Ototfjord) in order to capture a supply base in Elvegaardsmoen. Hans Ludemann and Hermann Künne also landed their troops in order to engage the nearby Norwegian forts. Diether von Roeder remained in Ofotfiord in order to ensure German control of the sea, Erich Giese was delayed through engine trouble and did not join the main force for some time.

The destroyers, moving closer to Narvik, were spotted by Norwegian vessels, which promptly reported the sighting and alerted the old armored coastal defense ships HNoMS Eidsvold and HNoMS Norge. Both Norwegian ships prepared for combat: the guns were loaded and life preservers issued to the crew. Around 04:15am, the Germans spotted Eidsvold and Eidsvold immediately signalled the leading German destroyer with an aldis lamp. When the Germans failed to respond to the signal, a warning shot was fired across their bow while he flew a two flag signal, ordering the destroyer to halt.

The Germans had orders to occupy Norway peacefully if at all possible, so the German flagship Wilhelm Heidkamp stopped and signalled Eidsvold that it would send an officer to negotiate. From a distance of about 200 meters, a small launch ferried Korvettenkapitän (lieutenant commander) Gerlach over to Eidsvold. Gerlach and a signalman were taken to the bridge to speak to Captain Willoch. At the same time, the gun crews of both the 21 cm guns and the 15 cm guns aboard Eidsvold kept the German destroyer in their sights, at point-blank range.

Gerlach tried to convince Willoch that the Germans had arrived as friends and that Willoch should surrender peacefully. Willoch pointed out that he was bound by duty to resist, but asked for a ten-minute break to consider the matter. He used this time to contact his superiors, including the captain of Norge, further inside the fjord, informing them of his intent to engage the German forces. In the meantime, a second German destroyer crossed behind Eidsvold and took up a position 700 meters from the vessel, ready to fire her torpedoes.

Gerlach tried once again to convince Willoch to surrender, but Willoch refused. As Gerlach left Eidsvold, he fired a red flare, indicating that the Norwegians intended to fight. At this point, Captain Willoch shouted: "På plass ved kanonene. Nå skal vi slåss, gutter!" ("Man the guns. We're going to fight, boys!"). Eidsvold turned towards the closest destroyer and accelerated, while the battery commander ordered the port battery (three 15 cm guns) to open fire.

The Germans, afraid that Eidsvold might ram the destroyer, fired two or four torpedoes from Wilhelm Heidkamp at the old ship. Two or three of the torpedoes hit before the port guns could fire, according to Norwegian sources: one under the rear turret, one midship and one in the bow. It is likely that the torpedoes ignited one of the magazines aboard, because Eidsvold was blown in two and sunk in seconds around 04:37am, propellers still turning. Only six of the crew were rescued by the Germans, 175 died in the freezing water.

Deeper inside the fjord, the explosions were heard aboard Norge, but nothing could be seen until two German destroyers suddenly appeared out of the darkness and Captain Per Askim of Norge gave orders to open fire at 04:45am. Four rounds were fired from the 21 cm guns (one from the fore gun and three from the aft) as well as seven or eight rounds from the starboard 15 cm guns, against the German destroyer Bernd von Arnim, at a range of about 800 meters. Due to the difficult weather conditions, the guns' optical sights were ineffective: the first salvo fell short of the target and the next ones overshot it.

The German destroyers waited until they were alongside the pier before returning fire. Bernd von Armin opened fire with her 12.7 cm (5 inch) guns as well as with machine guns, but the weather gave the Germans problems as well. The destroyer also fired torpedoes; three salvos of two torpedoes each. The first two salvos missed but the last struck Norge midships and she sank in less than one minute. 90 of the crew were rescued, but 101 perished in the battle which had lasted less than 20 minutes. The destruction of "Norge" signaled the stop of Norwegian resistance in the port.

The German destroyers were now short of fuel and had only one fuel tanker in support (Johann Wellem): a second tanker, Kattegat had been sunk on 10 April by the Norwegian patrol boat Nordkapp. Refueling was difficult, only two destroyers could be refuelled simultaneously, taking seven or eight hours.

In the meantime, British forces had tried to engage the German navy, but for the most part, unsuccessfully. On 8 April, the British destroyer HMS "Glowworm" engaged the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and two destroyers, and was lost, ramming and damaging Hipper in the battle. On 9 April, the British battlecruiser HMS Renown exchanged artillery salvos with German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, which were screening the destroyers, damaging Gneisenau and forcing the Germans to retreat. Their main mission had been completed, however, as the destroyers had succeeded in landing the invasion force.

First Naval Battle of Narvik

First naval battle of Narvik
Part of World War II
A map of Narvik area
Date April 10, 1940 Location Narvik, Norway Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Bernard Warburton-Lee	Friedrich Bonte
Strength
6 destroyers	10 destroyers
Casualties and losses
2 destroyers sunk 1 destroyer damaged	2 destroyers sunk 7 cargo ships sunk 4 destroyers damaged 163 casualties

The day after the German invasion, the Royal Navy took an opportunity to defeat the Kriegsmarine. The 2nd Destroyer Flotilla under Commodore Bernard Warburton-Lee comprising six H class destroyers (HMS Hardy (flagship), Hotspur, Havock, Hunter and Hostile (British H class destroyers were smaller than the German destroyers) moved up the fjord in the early morning. As they approached Narvik, they engaged a German force at the entrance to the harbour and sank two destroyers Wilhelm Heidkamp (killing Commodore Bonte) and Anton Schmidt, heavily damaged the Diether von Roeder and inflicted lesser damage on two others. They also exchanged fire with German invasion troops ashore, but did not have a landing force aboard and therefore turned to leave.

They were then engaged by three more German destroyers (Wolfgang Zenker, Erich Koellner and Erich Giese) emerging from the Herjangsfjord, led by Commander Erich Bey, and then two more (Georg Thiele and Bernd von Arnim) coming from Ballangen Bay, under Commander Fritz Berger. In the ensuing battle, two British destroyers were lost: the flotilla leader HMS Hardy, which was beached in flames, and HMS Hunter, which was torpedoed and sank. A third, HMS Hotspur, was also damaged badly by a torpedo. Hotspur and the other remaining British destroyers left the battlefield, damaging Georg Thiele as they did so. The German destroyers, now short of fuel and ammunition, did not pursue and the British ships were able to sink seven German or German-seized transport ships outside Narvik port, including the supply ship Rauenfels. Soon the German naval forces were blocked in by British reinforcements, including the cruiser HMS Penelope. On 11 April, Erich Koellner sustained further damage when it ran onto uncharted rocks.

As the British destroyers left the Vestfjord outside Narvik, two German submarines, U-25 and U-51, fired torpedoes at them, but German torpedoes at the time had severe problems with their magnetic detonator systems: all of them failed and either did not detonate at all or detonated well before their targets.

Both the German naval commander, Commodore Friedrich Bonte (on Wilhelm Heidkamp), and the British commander, Captain Bernard Warburton-Lee (on Hardy), had been killed in the battle. Warburton-Lee was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, Bonte the Knight's Cross.

Second Naval Battle of Narvik

Second naval battle of Narvik
Part of World War II
Warspite engaging shore batteries during the Second Battle of Narvik.
Date April 13, 1940 Location Narvik, Norway Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Germany
Commanders and leaders
William Whitworth	Erich Bey
Strength
1 battleship 9 destroyers small number of aircraft	8 destroyers 2 U-boats
Casualties and losses
1 destroyer heavily damaged 28 casualties, 55 wounded	8 destroyers sunk or scuttled 1 U-boat sunk 128 casualties, 67 wounded

The Royal Navy considered it imperative, for morale and strategic purposes, to defeat the Germans in Narvik, so Vice Admiral William Whitworth was sent with the battleship HMS Warspite and nine destroyers; four Tribal class (HMS Bedouin, Cossack, Punjabi, Eskimo) and five others (HMS Kimberley, Hero, Icarus, Forester and Foxhound), accompanied by aircraft from the aircraft carrier HMS Furious. These forces arrived in the Ofotfjord on 13 April to find that the eight remaining German destroyers, now under the command of Fregattenkapitän (Commander) Erich Bey, were virtually stranded due to lack of fuel and were short of ammunition.

During the opening stages of the battle, a Fairey Swordfish launched from Warspite bombed and sank the German submarine U-64, at anchor in a side-fijord near Bjerkvik. Most of the crew survived and were rescued by German mountain troops. This was the first U-boat to be sunk by an aircraft during the Second World War.

In the ensuing battle, three of the German destroyers were sunk by Warspite and her escorts, and the other five were scuttled by their own crews when they ran out of fuel and ammunition. First to go was Erich Koellner which was trying to ambush the Allied forces, but was spotted by Warspite's Swordfish and subsequently torpedoed and shelled by the destroyers and battleship. Then Wolfgang Zenker, Bernd von Arnim, Hans Ludemann and Hermann Künne engaged the British forces, but only managed to lightly damage HMS Bedouin. British aircraft from Furious tried to engage the German destroyers but were unsuccessful; two were lost. Wolfgang Zenker unsuccessfully attempted to torpedo Warspite.

Finally, when the German destroyers were low on ammunition, they retreated, except for Hermann Künne, which had not received the order. Hermann Künne was torpedoed and sunk by HMS Eskimo. Eskimo was in turn ambushed by Georg Thiele and Hans Ludemann, losing her bow but surviving. Diether von Roeder and Erich Giese, both suffering engine problems, fired upon the British forces while still docked, damaging Punjabi and Cossack, but they were both sunk before they could cause further damage. That was the last German counter-attack and the remaining German destroyers were scuttled soon after. The only German ship which survived within the port area was the submarine U-51.

Shore batteries and installations were also very badly damaged by Warspite's guns. On the Allied side, the damage to HMS Eskimo kept her in Norway until 31 May 1940. German submarines again suffered torpedo failures, when U-46 and U-48 fired at the departing Warspite on 14 April.

The Germans lost over 1,000 men and the destroyers Hermann Künne, Wolfgang Zenker, Erich Koellner, Georg Thiele, Bernd von Arnim, Erich Giese, Hans Lüdemann and Diether von Roeder, in addition to U-64.

Most of the remaining German sailors were transformed into an improvised marine infantry unit and fought in the subsequent land battle.

Later naval operations

After the naval battles of Narvik, the port and its surroundings remained in German hands, as no Allied forces were available to be landed there. Naval operations were limited at this stage to shore bombardment, as Narvik was not a primary Allied objective.

Among others, the Polish destroyers - ORP Grom, ORP Burza and ORP Błyskawica took part in these operations, during which the Grom was sunk by German aircraft on 4 May 1940.

Land battle

Battle of Narvik
Part of World War II
Narvik during World War II
Date April 9-June 8, 1940 Location Narvik, Norway Result German victory
Belligerents
Norway United Kingdom France Poland	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Carl Gustav Fleischer William Boyle, 12th Earl of Cork	Eduard Dietl
Strength
ca. 10 000 Norwegians 4 English battalions 3 battalions Chasseurs alpins, 2 battalions Foreign Legioners 4 Polish battalions	5,600 men (2,600 of these were sailors)

During the Norwegian Campaign, Narvik and its surrounding area saw significant fighting, initially from 9 April between German and Norwegian forces, subsequently between Allied and German forces, conducted by the 6th Division of the Norwegian Army as well as by an Allied expeditionary corps until 9 June 1940. Unlike the campaign in southern Norway, the Allied troops in Narvik would eventually outnumber the Norwegian troops. Five nations participated in the fighting. From 5 May to 10 May the fighting in the Narvik area was the only active theatre of land war in the Second World War.

At the outset, the position of the German comander, Dietl, was not good: his 2000 troops were outnumbered. After the German destroyers had been sunk, however, about 2600 German sailors joined in the land battle. Another 290 German specialists travelled via Sweden posing as health care workers. During the last 3-4 weeks the Germans were also reinforced by about 1000 men air dropped over Bjørnefjell, thus bringing the total number of Germans to around 5000. Their position and outlook changed from good to dire several times. Hitler's mood was reportedly swinging heavily and he repeatedly contemplated withdrawal. On occasions, the entire operation was controlled directly from the German High Comand in Berlin.

The Norwegian force under General Fleischer eventually reached 8-10,000 men after a few weeks. The total number of Allied troops in the campaign, in and around Narvik, reached 24,500 men.

The early phase of the invasion was marked by the German advantage of surprise. General Fleischer had an advantage denied to Norwegian forces in southern Norway: he had had time to prepare and organise his troops. Norwegian troops in northern Norway had been called out on a three month neutrality watch during the winter of 1939/1940 and so they had trained together. During the early phase of the fighting, the Norwegian forces suffered three catastrophes. First, on 9 April, the forces protecting Narvik were unable to resist the Germans; second, on 16 April, the so-called "Trønder battalion" of Infantry Regiment no. 12 was caught and destroyed while resting at Bjørnefjell (its commander, Major Bøckmann, had failed to set up guards and effective defence posts); third, on 25 April, the force sent to hold Gratangsbotten was resting in its camp when the Germans attacked.

The Germans did not want to hold Gratangsbotn and withdrew from Lapphaugen and the Gratang valley. The Norwegians followed to fill the gap but were not ready to go on the offensive for a couple of days. In the beginning of May, the Norwegians started an advance southwards towards Narvik. Once it became clear that the Allies would mount the main invasion of Narvik itself, in mid May, the Norwegian direction altered towards Bjørnefjell and the Swedish border. The Norwegians therefore concentrated their efforts on controlling the ore railway and, for them, the Battle for Narvik was a long mountain campaign. The French assisted in the mountain operations and the Poles covered the southern front around Ankenesfjellet. The weather was a harsh enemy with biting cold, snow and blizzards, supply lines were extremely difficult and sleep was scarce.

The Allied offensive started slowly. Unlike the Germans, they did not have a clear operational objective in Norway and therefore did not steer their operation with as much decisiveness. The British had drafted plans to land in Narvik before the German invasion and troops and supplies had even been loaded onto ships when they executed their mining operation on 8 April. These had been hastily unloaded when German ships were spotted northbound. The British thought that the German ships were trying to break into the Atlantic to avoid being trapped in German ports. Following this rationale, they wanted all their own ships available to intercept the German fleet. The consequent confusion would dog the troops for weeks: troops and materiel were shipped to Norway separately without clear landing sites and orders were changed while en route. It was as if the Allies were confused by the many small and large fjords and bays and could not decide where it would be best to start. In addition, British, French and Polish units would rapidly relieve each other.

The British arrived first and set up headquarters in Harstad on 14 April. In the following days three battalions were deployed mainly at Sjøvegan, Skånland (where a naval base was established) and at Bogen. Later they were deployed south of Ofotfjord, at Ballangen and Håkvik. In May most British troops were withdrawn from the Narvik area and redeployed southwards to Nordland, in order to delay the German advance there.

The initial British detachment was reinforced on 28 April by a French expeditionary force, led by General Antoine Béthouart. Three battalions of Alpine specialists and two battalions of Foreign Legioneers were deployed both north and south of the Ofotfjord, but later, the north would be the main French area of operation.

Four Polish battalions arrived on 9 May. They were first deployed north of the Ofotfjord, but later redeployed to the area south of the fjord. In early June the Polish Independent Highland Brigade under Zygmunt Bohusz-Szyszko also operated in the area. The Polish units had been set up on French soil and consisted both of Poles who had escaped the German occupation of Poland and of Poles resident in France.

In addition, the Allies had difficulties in deciding how best to retake Narvik and the iron ore railway. There was no unified Allied command for the troops at Narvik: the Norwegians and the Allies retained separate commanders and cooperation between them was not always smooth. Even within the British forces, the Army and Navy commanders (Major General Pierse J. Mackesy and Admiral William Boyle) had difficulties cooperating: Boyle advocated a swift and direct attack from the sea while Mackesy advocated a cautious approach from both sides of the Ofotfjord. In the end, the British Naval commander, Boyle, was given command of all Allied troops.

The cold and snow was a common enemy for all troops at Narvik, but most of the Allies were poorly prepared for it. The Norwegians were the only ones fully equipped with skis and able to use them. The British attempted to use skis, but their troops were largely untrained and supply was scarce. German sailors faced the same problems. Even within the German and French mountain specialists, only a few units were equipped with skis.

Most troops were untested in battle. The German mountain specialists had participated in the invasion of Poland and some of the troops that had been air dropped over Bjørnefjell had fought in the Netherlands. Some of the French Foreign Legioneers came directly from fighting in North Africa and some Polish officers had participated in the defence of Poland.

In the second week of May, the Norwegian advances against the Germans east of Gratangseidet were the most significant movements on the Narvik front. The Norwegians were supported on the right flank by French alpine specialists advancing up the Laberg valley with a company of Norwegian troops. In the south the Allies did not have much success and in the north of the Ofotfjord they were not making any movements. The Norwegians continued their successful mountain campaign and in mid May the Allies took the initiative and achieved the significant victories. Both Paris and London had been growing impatient with the slow progress in Narvik and the French commander, Béthouart, had pressed for more action.

The cautious approach on land was abandoned and an amphibious attack was launched at around midnight on 12 May. This attack was directed at Bjerkvik and was preceded by a naval bombardment from British warships in Herjangsfjord. Then the French Foreign Legioneers were put ashore supported by five light French tanks. The French took Bjerkvik, Elvegårdsmoen and advanced north east to where the Germans were retreating and south along the east side of Herjangsfjord. The plan also required Polish troops to advance towards Bjerkvik from land on the west side of the fjord, but heavy terrain delayed then and they did not arrive before Bjerkvik was taken. It had also been part of the plan for French and Norwegian troops to advance from the north in order to box the Germans in, but cooperation problems between the Norwegian and French commanders left a gap through which the Germans escaped. Despite this, the Allies had a clear path north of Narvik and planned to attack over Rombaksfjord.

Again the attack was stalled while the Allies waited for air support to be fully established from Bardufoss. At 23:40 on 28 May a naval bombardment commenced from the north. Two French and one Norwegian battalion would be transported across the Rombaksfjord and advance on Narvik from the north. In the south the Polish battalllions would advance towards Ankenes and inner Beisfjord. The maximum capacity of the landing barges was 290 men and these troops could not be reinforced for 45 minutes. These first troops were able to get a foothold on Ornes by the time the rest of the French and the Norwegians were landed. The French moved westwards towards the city and eastwards along the railway. The Norwegians moved towards Taraldsvik mountain, circled around and moved down towards the city.

The German commander decided to evacuate already before 07:00am and retired along Beisfjord.

It seemed now that it was only a matter of time before the Germans would have to surrender. They were pushed from the north by the Norwegians, from the west by the French and from the southwest by the Poles. It looked like Bjørnefjell would be the Germans last stand, but events elsewhere in Europe came to their rescue. London had secretly decided to evacuate already on 24 May and that became apparent in the following days. The night of 24/25 May, Lord Cork received orders to retreat (Operation Alphabet), but under cover so the Germans would be prevented from interfering. The Allied commanders agreed that an attack on Narvik would disguise the retreat and allow the destruction of the iron ore harbour.

The Norwegian government and commanders were first told in early June and the news were met with disbelief and bitterness. The Norwegians still hoped to defeat the Germans alone and, as late as 5 June, one of the two Norwegian brigades was ordered to attack. The Norwegian government also explored the possibility of creating a neutral, but free Northern Norway. This plan was futile and on 7 June the King and government were evacuated to Britain. All Allied troops were evacuated from Narvik between 4 June and 8 June 1940.

On 8 June the British aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and two escorting destroyers were sunk by the Gneisenau and Scharnhorst.

Three Polish passenger ships, MS Sobieski, MS Batory and MS Chrobry, took part in the evacuation operation. Chrobry was sunk on 14/15 May by German warplanes.

On 8 June, General Dietl retook Narvik and on 10 June the last Norwegian forces in Norway surrendered.

Aftermath

The Germans lost the naval battle, but achieved the main goal of their operation - the successful invasion and occupation of Norway.

Around Narvik, German naval losses were high: they lost 10 destroyers (half of their entire destroyer force), one submarine and several support ships. In exchange, they sunk two British destroyers and damaged several others. The reason for this defeat lay in the German plans which made it impossible for the destroyers to retire quickly, even if they had had adequate supplies. This was compounded by the design of German destroyers, despite their relatively large size and armament they had inadequate fuel and ammunition storage.

On the other hand, British forces, while achieving an indisputable local naval victory, were unprepared to follow it up with any land operation. This allowed the Germans to consolidate their occcupation of Norway and made the subsequent Allied counter invasion more difficult.

The Narvik Peace Foundation was established in 1990 with the events of 1940 as a background.

References

• U64 entry at uboat.net
• First Naval Battle of Narvik
• The land battle (Norwegian)