Part of the Denmark invasion force. It was replaced by garrison troops from the 160th Security Division on 13 May, when the brigade was withdrawn for use in the invasion of France.
Landing Group (planned to be at or entering Narvik when Warship Group One was scheduled to arrive.)
Bärenfels (cargo ship) (army equipment, guns, and ammunition) – diverted to Bergen and sunk by Fleet Air Arm air attack on 14 April
Rauenfels (cargo ship) (army equipment, guns, and ammunition) – sunk by British destroyers Havock and Hostile while entering the Ofotfjord on 10 April.
Alster (cargo ship) (motor transport and military stores) – captured by the British destroyer Icarus near Bodø on 10 April
Tanker Group
Jan Wellem (tanker) – arrived at Narvik, sunk 13 April
Kattegat (tanker) – scuttled by crew after being intercepted by Norwegian patrol boat Nordkapp on 9 April
Lützow – Kapitän zur SeeAugust Thiele (damaged by Oscarsborg 9 April, then torpedoed and further damaged by Spearfish on 11 April, during the return voyage to Germany)
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.
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 Rifleman 1940
Norwegian Army
The Royal Guards battalion – based in Oslo and Elverum, the only unit in Southern Norway that received proper training during the inter-war years.
6th Division – This division had its headquarters in Harstad, and was commanded by Major-General Carl Gustav Fleischer. The division was better prepared for war than any other unit of the Norwegian Army as it had been mobilised and kept on duty during the Finnish Winter War.
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.[4]
Norwegian Army 7.5 cm field gun
Additional units – These were additional units not organised into divisions.
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;
6 Curtiss P-36 Hawk monoplane fighters (none operational, still under final assembly)
Norwegian dh.82 fighter biplane
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.[7]
Fridtjof Nansen (evacuated to the United Kingdom 8 June), Heimdal (evacuated to the United Kingdom 8 June), Honningsvåg (captured from the Germans 13 April, evacuated to the United Kingdom 7 June), Nordkapp (evacuated to the United Kingdom 8 June), SS Oster (2) (captured 22 May), Pol III (captured 14 April), Thorodd (evacuated to the United Kingdom 8 June)
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.[15]
British No. 2 Independent Company commanded by Major Hugh Stockwell, landed at Bodø 15 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.[18]
24th (Guards) Brigade, acting commander, Brigadier Colin Gubbins; organisation as above. Brought back to Narvik from Bodø for evacuation on 29–31 May.[19]
Nos 2, 3 and 5 Independent Companies: brought back to Narvik from Bodø for evacuation on 29–31 May, Nos 1 and 4 Companies having been evacuated directly to home ports.
17 transport ships – Ville d'Alger, Djenné, Flandre, Président Doumer, Chenonceaux, Mexique, Colombie, Amiénois, Saumur, Cap Blanc, Château Pavie, Saint Firmin, Albert Leborgne, Paul Émile Javary, Saint Clair, Vulcain, Enseigne Maurice Préchac
^The 3rd The King's Own Hussars embarked three Light Tank Mk VIs, the only British tanks despatched to Norway, on the Polish troopship MS Chrobry; but, in while en route to Bodø in the early hours of 15 May 1940, she was attacked by German aircraft with the resulting loss of the ship and all of the equipment aboard it.[16][17]
Dildy, Doug (2007). Denmark and Norway 1940: Hitler's Boldest Operation. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN978-1-84603-117-5.
Hafsten, Bjørn; Ulf Larsstuvold; Bjørn Olsen; Sten Stenersen (2005). Flyalarm – luftkrigen over Norge 1939–1945 (in Norwegian) (2nd, revised ed.). Oslo: Sem og Stenersen AS. ISBN82-7046-074-5.
Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield, East Sussex: Naval and Military Press. ISBN978-1-84342-474-1.
Brigadier N. W. Routledge, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery, 1914-55, Brasseys: London, United Kingdom, 1994. ISBN1-85753-099-3.
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