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Norwegian campaign order of battle

The German operation for the invasion of Denmark and Norway in April 1940 was code-named Weserübung, or "Weser Exercise." Opposing the invasion were the partially mobilized Norwegian military, and an allied expeditionary force composed of British, French, and Free Polish formations. The following list formed the order of battle for this campaign.

Germany

Gruppe XXI

On 1 March 1940, the German 21st Army Corps was renamed Group XXI and placed in charge of the invasion of Norway. The group was allotted two Mountain and five Infantry divisions for this task. It was led by the commanding officer of the XXI Korps, General der Infanterie Nikolaus von Falkenhorst. His chief of staff was Oberst Erich Buschenhagen.

Luftwaffe

The Luftwaffe's X Fliegerkorps was commanded by Generalleutnant Hans Ferdinand Geisler; it had operational command of all Luftwaffe units participating in Operation Weserübung.

Kriegsmarine

Baltic Sea and Norwegian Waters Naval Group Command West – Generaladmiral Alfred Saalwächter

Battleship Force – Vizeadmiral Günther Lütjens

Objective: Narvik

Warship Group One – Kapitän zur See and Kommodore Friedrich Bonte ( 10 April)

Transporting:

  • Advanced HQ/3rd Mountain Division – Generalleutnant Eduard Dietl, 139th Mountain Regiment/3rd Mountain Division – Oberst Windisch, coastal artillery battery (crew only), Naval signals section, Army signals platoon, I Bn/32nd LW Flak Regiment (personnel only)

Landing Group (planned to be at or entering Narvik when Warship Group One was scheduled to arrive.)

  • (cargo ship) (army equipment, guns, and ammunition) – diverted to Bergen and sunk by Fleet Air Arm air attack on 14 April
  • (cargo ship) (army equipment, guns, and ammunition) – sunk by British destroyers and while entering the Ofotfjord on 10 April.
  • (cargo ship) (motor transport and military stores) – captured by the British destroyer near Bodø on 10 April

Tanker Group

  • (tanker) – arrived at Narvik, sunk 13 April
  • (tanker) – scuttled by crew after being intercepted by Norwegian patrol boat on 9 April

Objective Trondheim

Warship Group Two – Kapitän zur See Hellmuth Heye,

Transporting:

  • 138th Mountain Regiment/3rd Mountain Division – Oberst Weiss, minus one company on the Lutzow, diverted to Oslo, 1./112th Mountain Artillery Regiment, 1./38th Engineer Battalion, naval signals detachment, army signals platoon, Two Coast Artillery Batteries (crews only), I Bn/611th LW Flak Regiment – personnel only, airbase personnel

Landing Group (Planned to be at or entering Trondheim when Warship Group Two was scheduled to arrive.)

  • (supply ship) (mined off Bergen on 9 April, mine laid by Norwegian minelayer ),
  • (cargo ship)
  • (supply ship) (captured and sunk on 9 April by Norwegian destroyer )

Tanker Group

  • (tanker) (scuttled on 14 April when intercepted by the Royal Navy cruiser )
  • (tanker) (sunk on 12 April by the British submarine )

Objective Bergen

Warship Group Three – Rear Admiral Hubert Schmundt

1. S-Boatflotilla – Kapitänleutnant Heinz Birnbacher

  • S-Boat-Tender , Kapitänleutnant Otto Hinzke (damaged by Norwegian coastal artillery on 9 April)
  • S19, S21, S22, S23, S24, (mined off Bergen on 10 April, mine laid by Norwegian minelayer Tyr), (damaged and beached 25 April)

Transporting:

  • HQ/69th Infantry Division, 1./169th Engineer Bn, 2./169th Engineer Bn, HQ/159th Infantry Regiment, I./159th infantry Regiment, II./159th infantry Regiment (-5. Company), 159th Band, naval signals section, army signals platoon, two coastal artillery batteries (crews only), I Bn/33rd LW Flak Regiment – personnel only, airbase personnel

Landing Group

  • (troop ship) (torpedoed and sunk off Lillesand by the Polish submarine )

Landing Group Stavanger

  • (cargo ship) (captured and sunk on 9 April by Norwegian destroyer )

Objectives Kristiansand and Arendal

Warship Group Four – Kapitän zur See Friedrich Rieve

  • – Kapitän zur See Friedrich Rieve (torpedoed and sunk on 9 April by the British submarine on return voyage to Germany)
  • Torpedo boat – Kapitänleutnant Karl Kassbaum, flagship of Kapitän zur See Hans Bütow (F.d.T. = Leader of T-Boats),
  • Torpedo boat – Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm-Nikolaus Freiherr von Lyncker, flagship Korvettenkapitän Wolf Henne, leader of 5. Torpedo Boat Flotilla),
  • Torpedo boat – Kapitänleutnant Franz Kohlauf,

2. S-Boat-Flotilla – Korvettenkapitän Rudolf Petersen

  • S-Boat-Tender Tsingtau – Kapitän zur See Carl Klingner
  • S7, S8, S17, S30, S31, S32, S33

Transporting

  • HQ/310th Infantry Regiment, I/310th Infantry Regiment, 9 Co./310th Infantry Regiment, 234th Bicycle Infantry Co., naval signals platoon, two coastal artillery batteries (crews only)

Objectives Oslo and Oslofjord

Warship Group Five – Rear Admiral Oskar Kummetz Objective Oslo

Objectives Son and Moss

  • Torpedo boat – Kapitänleutnant Helmut Neuss

Objective Horten

  • Torpedo boat Albatros – Kapitänleutnant Siegfried Strelow (grounded and wrecked 10 April while under fire from Norwegian coastal artillery)
  • Torpedo boat Kondor – Kapitänleutnant Hans Wilcke
  • R17 (sunk 9 April by Norwegian warships and )
  • R22 (damaged by Olav Tryggvason and Rauma)
  • Rau 7

Objective Rauøy Island

  • R20
  • R24

Objective Bolærne Island

  • R22
  • R23

Objective Egersund Cable Station

Warship Group Six – Korvettenkapitän Kurt Thoma, 2 Minehunting Flotilla

  • , , ,

Objectives Korsör and Nyborg

Warship Group Seven – Kapitän zur See Gustav Kleikamp

  • Schleswig-Holstein – Kapitän zur See Gustav Kleikamp
  • Claus von Bevern (mine warfare trial ship, ex minesweeper/large torpedo boat)
  • Pelikan (mine warfare trial ship, ex minesweeper)
  • Nautilus (mine warfare trial ship, ex minesweeper)
  • (cargo ship)
  • (cargo ship)
  • MRS 12 (minesweeper)

School Flotilla of Commander in Chief Baltic Approaches

  • Six armed fishing trawlers – Fregattenkapitän Dr. Oskar Dannenberg

Objectives Copenhagen

Warship Group Eight – Korvettenkapitän Wilhelm Schroeder

  • Hansestadt Danzig (minelayer) – Korvettenkapitän Wilhelms Schroeder
  • (icebreaker)

Warship Group Eight supported in the waters of the Belt by 13. Patron-Flotilla – Kapitänleutnant Dr. Walther Fischer

Objectives Middelfart and Belt Bridge

Warship Group Nine – Kapitän zur See Helmut Leissner, F.d.V.O

  • (cargo ship), flagship of F.d.V.O,
  • Arkona (M115), Otto Braun (M129), Cressida, Silvia, R6, R7 (minesweepers)
  • UJ 107 (ASW patrol craft)
  • Passat, Monsun (Tugs)

Objectives Esbjerg and Nordby

Warship Group Ten – Kapitän zur See and Kommodore Friedrich Ruge F.d.M. West

  • Königin Luise (F6) (patrol craft)

12. Minehunter Flotilla – Korvettenkapitän Karl Marguth

  • KFK M1201, KFK M1202, KFK M1203, KFK M1204, KFK M1205, KFK M1206, KFK M1207, KFK M1208, M4, M20, M84, M102 (minesweepers)

2. Minesweeper Flotilla – Korvettenkapitän Gert von Kamptz

  • R25, R26, R27, R28, R29, R30, R31, R32 (R boat minesweepers)

Objective Thyborön

Warship Group Eleven – Korvettenkapitän Walter Berger 4. Minehunter Flotilla – Korvettenkapitän Walter Berger

  • M-61, M-89, M-110, M-111, M-134, M-136 (minesweepers)

3. Minesweeper Flotilla – Kapitänleutnant Hagen Küster

Mine Sweeper Covering Group Laying minefields to the Skagerrak to protect the German resupply route to southern Norway.

Minelaying Group – Kapitän zur See Kurt Böhmer:

U-Boat Force Force – Rear Admiral Karl Dönitz

U-Boat Group One Patrol area: Narvik, Harstad, Vestfjord, VÃ¥gsfjord

  • , , , (sunk 13 April),

U-Boat Group Two Patrol area: Trondheim, Namsos, Romsdalsfjord

  • ,

U-Boat Group Three Patrol area: Bergen, Ålesund, Shetland Islands

  • , , , ,

U-Boat Group Four Patrol area: Stavanger

  • (sunk c. 6 April),

U-Boat Group Five Patrol area: East of the Shetland Islands, VÃ¥gsfjord, Trondheim

  • , , , , (sunk 15 April), (sunk 6 April)

U-Boat Group Six Patrol area: Pentland, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands

  • (sunk 31 May), , ,

U-Boat Group Seven Never assembled

U-Boat Group Eight Patrol area: Lindesnes, Egersund

  • , , ,

U-Boat Group Nine Patrol area: Bergen, Shetland Islands

  • , ,

Unassigned to a group Operating in the area of the Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, and Bergen

  • , , ,

Norway

Owing to the speed and surprise achieved by the German forces, the Norwegian army was only able to partially mobilize. Unit strengths were only a fraction of their paper establishments.

Unlike the armies of most other nations, the Norwegian "division" was more of an administrative and mobilization unit, rather than a fighting formation. The most important tactical unit of the Norwegian army was the regiment. When mobilized, each regiment was supposed to muster two battalions of infantry of the line, and one battalion of landvern. Some of the Norwegian forces were ad hoc battalions.

The commander of the Norwegian Army at the time of the invasion was General Kristian Laake. He was replaced by Colonel Otto Ruge on 11 April.

Each Regiment had 3,750 soldiers, with 60,000 being the total number of soldiers by 1940. Every battalion had around 1,250 soldiers. However, only 55,000 soldiers were well prepared.

Norwegian Army

During the campaign, the 6th Division formed two light infantry brigades. The 6th Brigade was initially commanded by Colonel Kristian Løken, and from 9 May by Lieutenant Colonel Ole Berg, and the 7th Brigade, commanded by Colonel Wilhelm Faye.
  • Additional units – These were additional units not organised into divisions.
  • 1st Dragoon Regiment <small>(based at Gardermoen, including Norway's only tank)</small>
  • 2nd Dragoon Regiment <small>(based in Hamar)</small>
  • 3rd Dragoon Regiment <small>(based in Rindleiret, Verdal)</small>
  • 1st Artillery Regiment <small>(based in Ski)</small>
  • 2nd Artillery Regiment <small>(based at Gardermoen)</small>
  • 3rd Artillery Regiment <small>(based in Trondheim/Stjørdal)</small>
  • 1st Mountain Artillery Battalion <small>(based in Evje)</small>
  • 2nd Mountain Artillery Battalion <small>(based in Voss)</small>
  • 3rd Mountain Artillery Battalion <small>(based in Bardufoss)</small>
  • Alta Battalion <small>(based at AltagÃ¥rd in Alta)</small>
  • Varanger Battalion <small>(based in Kirkenes, with training grounds at Nyborgmoen near Varangerbotn)</small>

At the time of the German invasion, the Norwegian Army was only partially mobilized, and thus only the following land units were immediately available to the Norwegians;

  • The Oslo battalion of the Royal Guards
  • 4 regiments of the 1st and 2nd Divisions
  • 3 battalions of the 3rd Division
  • 5 battalion for the 4th Division
  • Only about 2 battalions and a company of 5th Division
  • The 6th Division
  • Three landvern companies at Horten, Haugesund and on various fortresses in the Oslofjord.
  • One artillery battalion at Fredrikstad, and another one in the extreme north.
  • One artillery battery at Gardermoen, and two more in the extreme north.
  • One mountain artillery battery at Evjemoen
  • One engineer company near Madla
  • Partially mobilised elements of the 3rd Dragoon Regiment at the outskirts of Trondheim
  • A company of volunteers at Hegra Fortress
  • The Alta and Varanger Battalions

Norwegian Army Air Service

At the outbreak of the German invasion, the Norwegian Army Air Service consisted of:

  • 11 Gloster Gladiator biplane fighters <small>(7 operational)</small>
  • 3 Armstrong Whitworth Scimitar biplane fighters <small>(none operational, undergoing maintenance)</small>
  • 4 Caproni Ca.310 monoplane reconnaissance/bombers <small>(3 operational)</small>
  • 25 Fokker C.V-D reconnaissance/bomber biplanes <small>(24 operational)</small>
  • 16 Fokker C.V-E reconnaissance/bomber biplanes <small>(16 operational)</small>
  • 29 de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane trainers <small>(26 operational)</small>
  • 3 de Havilland DH.60 Moth biplane trainers <small>(none operational, undergoing maintenance)</small>
  • 6 Curtiss P-36 Hawk monoplane fighters <small>(none operational, still under final assembly)</small>

Of the Norwegian Army Air Service's aircraft, all were shot down, destroyed or captured by the Germans during the campaign, except two Fokker C.Vs and one Tiger Moth that were flown to Finland on 8 June 1940. The three biplanes were intended to form a Norwegian Army Air Service training unit in Finland under the command of Captain Ole Reistad, but were eventually taken over by the Finnish Air Force.

Royal Norwegian Navy

The Royal Norwegian Navy during the campaign consisted of:

  • 2 s:
  • (sunk 9 April), (sunk 9 April)
  • 7 destroyers:
  • Three : (captured 18 May), (sunk 26 April) and (evacuated to the United Kingdom 9 April).
  • Four : (sunk 9 April), (evacuated to the United Kingdom 25 April), and (both captured 9 April)
  • Two incomplete Sleipner-class destroyers: (scuttled 9 April) and (captured 9 April)
  • 11 minelayers:
  • Five : (captured 13 May), (captured 9 April, sunk by Norwegian forces 1 May), (captured 9 April), (captured 14 April), (captured 14 April)
  • Two : (captured 13 May), (captured 20 April),
  • Two : (captured 14 April), (captured 14 April),
  • Two unique vessels: (scuttled 13 April), (captured 9 April)
  • 8 minesweepers:
  • Two Otra-class: (captured 10 April) and (captured 9 April)
  • Six rebuilt 2. class torpedo boats: (scuttled 2 May), (scuttled 2 May), (captured 11 April), (captured 12 April), (captured 12 April), (captured 9 April)
  • 9 submarines:
  • Three A class: (damaged and run aground 9 April), (scuttled 16 April), (scuttled 16 April)
  • Six B class: (evacuated to the United Kingdom 8 June), (captured 11 April), (scuttled 10 June), (captured 10 April), (captured 9 April), (captured 18 May)
  • 17 torpedo boats:
  • Three : (sunk 25 April), (captured 5 May), (sunk 20 April)
  • Six 1. class: (captured 9 April), (captured 13 April), (sunk 18 April), (wrecked 12/13 April), (scuttled 5 May), (scuttled 8 May)
  • Eight 2. class: (scuttled 17 April), (scuttled 17 April), (captured 11 April), (captured 9 April), (scuttled 17 April), (captured 9 April), (scuttled 14 April), (captured 9 April)
  • 58 patrol boats, including:
  • (evacuated to the United Kingdom 8 June), (evacuated to the United Kingdom 8 June), (captured from the Germans 13 April, evacuated to the United Kingdom 7 June), (evacuated to the United Kingdom 8 June), (captured 22 May), (captured 14 April), (evacuated to the United Kingdom 8 June)

Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service

The Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service consisted of:

Of the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service's fleet of aircraft, four Heinkel He 115s were evacuated to the United Kingdom at the end of the campaign, while one He 115 and three Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.11s were flown to Finland and taken over by the Finnish Air Force.

Allied

Mauriceforce

Commanded by Major-General Carton de Wiart V.C., this group began landing at Namsos on 14 April.

Sickleforce

Commanded by Major-General Bernard Charles Tolver Paget, this force landed at Åndalsnes starting 18 April.

Rupertforce

Commanded by Major-General Pierse Joseph Mackesy, this force landed at Harstad, north of Narvik, between 15 April and 5 May.

North Western Expeditionary Force

Commanded by Lieutenant-General Claude Auchinleck, this force resulted from the reorganisation of British forces in the Narvik area on 13 May 1940.

Royal Navy

  • 4 battleships – , , and
  • 2 battlecruisers – and
  • 3 aircraft carriers – , and (sunk 8 June)
  • 5 heavy cruisers – , , (grounded 17 May, lost), (beached 17 April) and
  • 5 light cruisers – , , , , and
  • 5 light cruisers – , , , and (grounded 11 April, damaged)
  • 6 anti-aircraft cruisers – (damaged 28 May), , , , (damaged 24 April) and (sunk 26 May)
  • 7 Tribal-class destroyers – (sunk 3 May), , , , (sunk 9 April), and
  • 14 destroyers – (sunk 8 June), (sunk 8 June), , , (sunk 8 April), (sunk 10 April), , , , , (sunk 10 April), , ,
  • 4 sloops – (damaged 20 April), (sunk 30 April), , , , ,
  • 17 submarines – including (sunk c. 18 April), (sunk 10 April), (sunk 10 April), (captured 5 May)
  • ?? minesweepers

French Navy

  • 2 cruisers – and
  • 4 auxiliary cruisers – El Djezaïr, El Mansour, El Kantara, Ville d'Oran
  • 9 destroyers – (sunk 3 May), , , , , , , ,
  • 17 transport ships – Ville d'Alger, Djenné, , Président Doumer, Chenonceaux, , Colombie, Amiénois, Saumur, Cap Blanc, Château Pavie, Saint Firmin, Albert Leborgne, Paul Émile Javary, Saint Clair, Vulcain, Enseigne Maurice Préchac
  • 1 submarine –

Polish Navy in exile

  • 3 destroyers – , , (sunk 4 May)
  • 1 submarine – (sunk 8 June)
  • 3 troopships – (damaged later scuttled 16 May), ,

Royal Air Force (deployed to Norway)

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

  • Brigadier N. W. Routledge, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery, 1914-55, Brasseys: London, United Kingdom, 1994. .

External links