Hitler’s Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940 by Henrik Lunde (popular e readers .TXT) 📗

stamp of inferiority on the North Norwegian units which is completely unjustified and which Norwegian commanders should be the last to facilitate …

Ruge answered in a personal letter to Fleischer where he pointed out that the latter’s agreement with the main point of the proposal carried with it some inescapable conclusions:25 “Thereby, the rest follow naturally since the various sectors and the District Command have been, and should be in the future, under the direct authority of the commander-in-chief (hereafter FOK).” Ruge agreed to allow the division’s current relationship with the District Command to remain essentially unchanged to ease the transition to the new command relationship. He also agreed to leave Roscher-Nielsen and his forces in Nordland under Fleischer for the time being. He rejected Fleischer’s proposal for a conference between FOK, the defense ministry, and the 6th Division, since matters concerning organization and dispositions of military forces fell within his authority and responsibility. The new command relationships were made effective in a FOK order on May 29.

Fleischer felt that Ruge handled the division’s views in an unsatisfactory manner and he did not let the matter rest after the issuance of the order. In a letter as late as June 6, the 6th Division stated that, in view of developments, the FOK order of May 29 should be cancelled. For his part, Ruge wrote that this struggle over prerogatives was the only one he had experienced during the war and that it made his job more difficult than it should have been. Writing as a prisoner of war in the fall of 1940, Ruge regretted that he had not involved himself earlier and more forcefully. However, he recognized that General Fleischer probably felt he had involved himself too much into his affairs.26

The changed command relationships became effective so late that they had little, if any, effects on the operations. However, the continuous wrangling tells us much about the personalities involved. The spiteful atmosphere made a situation that called for the highest degree of professional behavior more difficult.

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“It is, for the sake of the country, absolutely necessary that the brigades make a renewed effort to bring the Narvik Campaign to a conclusion.”

GENERAL FLEISCHER’S MAY 30 DIRECTIVE TO HIS TROOPS.

Plans to Recapture Narvik

The recapture of Narvik and the offensive on the northern front were the two main topics dealt with at the conference between Generals Fleischer and Béthouart on May 14. The Norwegians were satisfied with the choice of the French general as the Allied ground commander in the Narvik area. They demonstrated their confidence in him by placing one infantry battalion and a motorized artillery battery under his command for the operation against Narvik. It was the first and only time during the Narvik campaign that this was done.

The 2/15th Inf and the 9th Motorized Artillery Battery moved from the Kvernmoen area to the vicinity of Skoglund, north of Bjerkvik, in the evening of May 21. The two battalions of the Foreign Legion moved off the high ground east of Herjangsfjord with the 1st Bn remaining on the east side of that fjord while the 2nd Bn moved to Øyjord. This battalion left some security detachments in the mountains as it withdrew. These detachments withdrew after the Norwegians pushed forward to the area around Cirkelvann.

The 14th Bn, CA landed at Liljedal on May 19 and moved northeast to establish a bridgehead from Hill 332 to Hergot. The 12th Bn, CA was located at Lenvik on the north side of Ofotfjord as Béthouart’s reserve. The 6th Bn, CA was pulled out of the front on May 14 and moved to Gratangen to rest and recover from a very high percentage of frostbite cases. From Gratangen it moved to Sjøvegan to reorganize. The Polish troops were positioned as described in the previous chapter.

The attack on Narvik was to take place simultaneously with other attacks designed to tie down German forces in order to keep reinforcements from reaching Narvik and to cut the enemy’s line of retreat. Three Polish battalions were to attack the German positions on the Ankenes Peninsula. Norwegian troops were to keep up their pressure on the northern front. The Allies also planned to make a wide envelopment from the south against Bjørnefjell, a move that Dietl anticipated.

Lieutenant Colonel Magrin-Vernerey, the commander of the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion commanded the Narvik landing forces. These consisted of the two battalions of Legionnaires, a Norwegian battalion (2/15th Inf), an artillery group consisting of one Norwegian and two French batteries, and two tanks.

Magrin-Vernerey’s mission was to land at Ornes, establish a bridgehead as far inland as Hill 457, and seize the city of Narvik. He intended to carry out these tasks by landing 1st Bn of the Legion just east of Ornes. This battalion was to establish security towards the east by advancing along the railroad. The 2nd Bn of the Legion and 2/15th Inf were to embark at Seines and land in the same place as the 1st Bn, but the two tanks were to be landed at Taraldsvik when that place was secured. The second French battalion, with the two tanks, was to advance towards Narvik via the Framnes Peninsula. The Norwegian battalion would pass through units of the 1st Bn of the Legion and seize Taraldsvikfjell (Hill 457). The three artillery batteries would support the attack from positions at Øyjord. British warships would provide additional fire support and British aircraft were expected to keep the Luftwaffe at a distance.

There were insufficient landing craft to move the three battalions in one lift and the units were therefore divided into assault and follow-up elements. There were only three assault and two mechanized landing craft available for the operation. This limited the number of troops in each wave to 290. Some troops were transported in Norwegian fishing vessels. To insure surprise, the assault elements of the battalions were embarked at Seines, shielded