The Battle of Narvik took place from April 9 to June 10,
1940. Even in year 2020 people are interested in reading about the battle. The
main reason for the public interest of the battle is that the German military
forces were defeated for the first time during the Second World War. Some years
ago I paid a visit to the headquaters of the French Foreign Legion situated in
Aubagne in France. The Battle of Narvik was not forgotten by the French Foreign
Legion. The military contribution of the French Foreign Legion was described in
details by the museum where an exhibiton of the battle was made.
In 2018 a new book about the famous battle was published
written by Asbjørn Jaklin. The title of the book is: « Kampen om Narvik. 62
desperate dager «. In 2013 Frode Lindgjerdet wrote a book about the same
subject:» Kampen om Narvik»
.
My concern for the time being is the book written by Asbjørn
Jaklin. He has managed to give the reader a realistic view of what went on in
the Northern part of Norway in 1940.Inviduals who took part in the fighting
have given good reports of their private experiences. The author has also
presented reports made by civilians who were active during the fight.
SOME HISTORICAL FACTS ABOUT THE BATTLE OF NARVIK
Nazi-Germany and Great Britain were both interested Norway
in 1940 but the reasons for the attentions differed. Great Britain wanted the
put an end to the transport of ore from Sweden to Narvik where the ore was
tranported to Nazi-Germany to be used in the military industry.
Nazi-Germany was intersted in the coast of Noway to wage war
against Great Britain and to protect the tranport of ore from Sweden. The Norwegian government wanted to avoid a
military conflict with both of the fighting nations. An attack on Norway could
also come from Great Britain to finish the transport of ore from Sweden without
occupying the whole country. The British military and politican attitude to a
war in Norway were limited to British interests only.
THE ALLIED MILITARY FORCES IN NARVIK IN 1940
The Norwegian military forces consisted of about 10.000
soldiers. About 14.000 British soldiers took part in the fighting. The Polish
and the French military contribution were about 11.700 soldiers.
About 25.800 Allied soldiers were stationed in the Northern
part of Norway to fight the German forces.
How was the military situation in Norway in 1940?
The official information given to all after the end of the
war was that we were not prepared for the war at all. The author, Asbjørn
Jaklin, does not agree with the standard information about the military
situation given. On page 289 he is publishing facts revealing the wrong information
about the standard of the military forces of Norway:
-The number of soldiers armed is a figure between 17000 and
21 000.
-The army had mobilized four infantry divisions in the
Southern part of Norway and five infantry divisions in the Northern part of the
country.
-Eight batteries in field artillery
-The marine had mobized two old warships (panserskip), four modern
corvettes, twenty fast attack crafts, nine submarines, two minelayers, and one
support ship.
-Coast artillery had mobilized about 500 men who were
stationed in the Fjord of Oslo, Kristiansand, Bergen and Agdenes.
- The Norwegian air force consisted of about ninety aicrafts.
THE GERMAN FORCES IN NARVIK
About 6000 soldiers
were under the command of the German General Edvard Dietl.
THE MILITARY DEFEAT
While reading the
book , I asked myself some critical questions challenging my own decisions
about the strategy and the chairing of the battle. First of all I must make it
clear that I admire the Norwegian untrained soldiers who did a good work. I
think the strategy of the Norwegian General Carl Gustav Fleischer (1883-1942)
was correct. Attack, attack and once more, attack the enemy all the way.
Splendid strategy in contrast to the battle of the Southern part of Norway
where the Germans got time to build up forces for attack.
The military campaign in the Northern part of Noway was
administrated by General Carl Gustav Feischer. The campaign in the Southern
part of the country was led by General Otto Ruge.
CONCULSION
My main question is: Why could not the Norwegian forces go on
with the fighting by finishing the battle once and for all? Why did not the
Polish and the French forces remain in the battle field making a joint attack
with the Norwegian army towards the Germans? Did the Norwegian authorites any
approach making an agreement witht the Polish and the French forces to continue
the fight? Why not bring all the Polish soldiers in England to Norway paid by
the Norwegian government who had brought « the gold» out the country? We had money
to pay the bills.
None of the dominating Norwegian generals showed great leadership.
General Fleischer was too much a military leader. He did a great work making
the Northern part of Norway ready for war. But he was not a « Julius Cæsar». General
Otto Ruge was defeated due to the facts
that he did not attack the enemy as quick as possible. He gave the Germans time
to organize the campaign, above all:He believed in the support from the British
forces. Too many mistakes at the time.
For those of you who are interested in administation of
conflicts,the readings of reports and books about the battle of Narvik is
recommended as a warning about how to avoid a defeat in the future. I will also
recommend a study of the battle of Poltava where the Swedish King Karl 12 lost
the battle.
Asbjørn Jaklin: Kampen om Narvik. 62 desperate dager.Gyldendal.2018.
448 pages.
Viewing published documentaries aiming at searching for misused
archival footage ,is a private sport of mine. My goal for the sport is to
highlight active use of audiovisual archives. The content of the documentaries
is important. Facts, photos and films presented must show events in a correct
way. Last evening I viewed a documentry dealing with famous American generals
from the Second World War. The movies are all made for information of the war.
The content of the films portrayed the generals in positive way. My main
concern was the film about General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964). He was the most
brilliant military strategist America has ever known. I have viewed some movies
about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,Hawaii in 1941. The attack on Pearl Harbor
was done by Japanese aircrafts. But when you view the archival footage about
the event you will see that Amercan aircrafts are used – not only once -but again
and again: American aircrafts are bombing Pearl Harbour. I was surprised to
discover that even the film about Douglas MacArthur had used the wrong
footage.The aircrafts used are: Douglas SBD Dauntless, dive-bomber. A small
detail you may say but the content of any documentary must present correct content,
I think.
