military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (04/10/90)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Tuesday, 9 April, 1940 German troops invade Norway; six divisions of infantry and a parachute battalion land at Oslo, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim, and Narvik. The landings are largely unopposed, but in Oslo Fjord, Norwegian shore batteries engage the German fleet, sinking the cruiser Bluecher, and damaging the panzerschiff Luetzow. Elsewhere, the light cruisers Karlsruhe and Koenigsberg are lost, the former to the British submarine Truant. In Narvik, German destroyers sink the Norwegian coastal ships Eidsvold and Norge, while the defending garrison is betrayed by its commander, Colonel Sundlo. As King Haakon escapes the German forces occupying Oslo, Vidkun Quisling installs himself as the head of the government. Meanwhile, German troops under General Kaupitsch occupy Denmark, staging numerous amphibious landings in coordination with an overland invasion. Scattered units of the Danish army offer brief resistance, but Copenhagen is occupied within 12 hours. Germany announces that both nations are to be "protected" for the war's duration, and Britain promises military aid to Norway. At sea, the British Home Fleet is repulsed by heavy air attacks, with damage to the battleship Rodney and 4 destroyers, one of which, HMS Gurkha, is sunk. HMS Renown and the German battleship Gneisenau exchange gunfire, both receiving slight damage. Belgium refuses Allied requests for permission to enter that nation. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@cbnews.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "I shall be called the big traitor." - Vidkun Quisling