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.

Contents

Germany

XXI Gruppe

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 Infantrie Nikolaus von Falkenhorst. His Chief of Staff was Colonel Erich Buschenhagen.

Luftwaffe

The Luftwaffe's X Fliegerkorps organization was commanded by Lieutenant-General Hans Ferdinand Geisler, and 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 - Vice Admiral Gunther Lutjens

Objective: Narvik Warship Group One - Kapitän zur See and Commodore Friedrich Bonte

Transporting:

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

Tanker Group

Objective Trondheim

Warship Group Two - Kapitän zur See Hellmuth Heye,

Transporting:

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.)

Tanker Group

Objective Bergen Warship Group Three - Rear Admiral Hubert Schmundt

1. S-Boatflotilla - Kapitänleutnant Heinz Birnbacher

Transporting:

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

Objectives Kristiansand and Arendal Warship Group Four - Kapitän zur See Friedrich Rieve

2. S-Boat-Flotilla - Korvettenkapitän Rudolf Petersen

Transporting

Objectives Oslo and Oslofjord Warship Group Five - Rear Admiral Oskar Kummetz Objective Oslo

Objectives Son and Moss

Objective Horten

Objective Rauøy Island

Objective Bolærne Island

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

'School Flotilla of Commander in Chief Baltic Approaches

Objectives Copenhagen Warship Group Eight - Korvettenkapitän Wilhelm Schroeder

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

Objectives Esbjerg and Nordby Warship Group Ten – Kapitän zur See and Commodore Friedrich Ruge F.d.M. West

12. Minehunter Flotilla - Korvettenkapitän Karl Marguth

2. Minesweeper Flotilla - Korvettenkapitän Gert von Kamptz

Objective Thyborön 'Warship Group Eleven – Korvettenkapitän Walter Berger 4. Minehunter Flotilla - Korvettenkapitän Walter Berger

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, Westfjord, Vagsfjord

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

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

U-Boat Group Four Patrol area: Stavanger

U-Boat Group Five Patrol area: East of the Shetland Islands, Vagsfjord, Trondheim

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

U-Boat Group Seven Never assembled

U-Boat Group Eight Patrol area: Lindesnes, Egernsund

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

Danish

Due to a non-aggression treaty with Germany, the army of Denmark had not been mobilized and no fortifications had been built. As a result, only a few elements of the Royal Danish Army were able to mount a defence.

Royal Danish Army

The Commander in chief of the Danish army was General William Wain Prior.

Royal Danish Navy

The small Royal Danish Navy consisted of a few coastal vessels.

Norwegian

Due to the speed and surprise achieved by the German forces, the Norwegian military was only able to partially mobilize their military. Actual unit strengths only achieved a portion of their listed organizations. 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.

Unlike the armies of most other nations, the Norwegian 'division' was more of an administrative and mobilization unit, rather than a fighting unit. 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 Landwehr.

Norwegian Army

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;

Royal Norwegian Navy

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, near Narvik, between 15 April and 5 May.

Royal Navy

Allied Navies

See also

References

  1. ^ 3rd The King's Own Hussars embarked 3 Light Tank Mk VIs, the only British tanks to land in Norway, on the Polish troopship MS Chrobry, but on the night of 14/15 May 1940 she was attacked by German aircraft with the resulting loss of the ship and all of the equipment aboard it. See: T.K. Derry, THE CAMPAIGN IN NORWAY, HISTORY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR - UNITED KINGDOM MILITARY SERIES, London, 1952, HMSO, p. 183.

Sources