Senior military commander assesses the reasons behind the ignominious failure of the British campaign in Norway in 1940.

En forholdsvis nyforsket redegørelse for det, som det, som anmelderne benævner den ødelæggende og inkompetente allierede kampagne, som franske og engelske styrker, støttet af nordmændene udførte til Norges forsvar i 1940. Der er fokus på politiske og militære fejl i kampagnen og dennes konsekvenser.

An “excellent” history of the often overlooked WWII campaign in which Hitler secured a vital resource lifeline for the Third Reich (Library Journal). After Hitler conquered Poland and was still fine-tuning his plans against France, the British began to exert control over the coastline of neutral Norway, an action that threatened to cut off Germany’s iron-ore conduit to Sweden and outflank from the start its hegemony on the Continent. The Germans responded with a dizzying series of assaults, using every tool of modern warfare developed in the previous generation. Airlifted infantry, mountain troops, and paratroopers were dispatched to the north, seizing Norwegian strongpoints while forestalling larger but more cumbersome Allied units. The German navy also set sail, taking a brutal beating at the hands of Britannia, but ensuring with its sacrifice that key harbors would be held open for resupply. As dive-bombers soared overhead, small but elite German units traversed forbidding terrain to ambush Allied units trying to forge inland. At Narvik, some six thousand German troops battled twenty thousand French and British until the Allies were finally forced to withdraw by the great disaster in France, which had then gotten underway. Henrik Lunde, a native Norwegian and former US Special Operations colonel, has written the most objective account to date of a campaign in which twentieth-century military innovation found its first fertile playing field.

On 9 April 1940, German forces invaded Denmark, and then Norway, in an attempt to secure the vital mineral resources of Scandinavia for their war industry. This assault, Operation Weserübung, represents the first joint air-land-and-sea campaign in the history of warfare, and was the only such campaign planned, launched, and completed by the three services of the Wehrmacht. It also included the use of the rarest of German armoured vehicles, the Naubaufahrzeug NbFz.A/B (PzKw V/VI) experimental 'land battleship'. This book describes the events of this tumultuous campaign of World War II (1939-1945) that not only led to Winston Churchill's appointment as British Prime Minister, but also saw the crippling of the German Kriegsmarine as a fighting force, as it was reduced to a fleet of submarines and a handful of heavy warships used as commerce raiders.

London, early May 1940: Britain is on the brink of war and Neville Chamberlain's government is about to fall. It is hard for us to imagine the Second World War without Winston Churchill taking over at the helm, but in SIX MINUTES IN MAY Nicholas Shakespeare shows how easily events could have gone in a different direction. The first land battle of the war was fought in the far north, in Norway. It went disastrously for the Allies and many blamed Churchill. Yet weeks later he would rise to the most powerful post in the country, overtaking Chamberlain and the favourite to succeed him, Lord Halifax. It took just six minutes for MPs to cast the votes that brought down Chamberlain. Shakespeare shows us both the dramatic action on the battlefield in Norway and the machinations and personal relationships in Westminster that led up to this crucial point. Uncovering fascinating new research and delving deep into the backgrounds of the key players, he has given us a new perspective on this critical moment in our history.

This major history documents the German invasion of Norway, focusing on the events at sea. The first operation in which the air force, army, and navy worked closely together, Operation Weserübung included the first dive-bomber attack to sink a major warship and the first carrier task-force operations. Based on primary sources from British, German, and Norwegian archives, this book gives a balanced account of the reasons behind the invasion and showcases an unrivaled collection of photographs. As the definitive study of Germany's first and last major seaborne invasion, it offers a close look at an important but often neglected aspect of World War II.

Given the dearth of scholarship on the Phoney War, this book examines the early months of World War II when Winston Churchill’s ability to lead Britain in the fight against the Nazis was being tested. Graham T. Clews explores how Churchill, as First Lord of the Admiralty, proposed to fight this new world war, with particular attention given to his attempts to impel the Royal Navy, the British War Cabinet, and the French, toward a more aggressive prosecution of the conflict. This is no mere retelling of events but a deep analysis of the decision-making process and Churchill’s unique involvement in it. This book shares extensive new insights into well-trodden territory and original analysis of the unexplored, with each chapter offering material which challenges conventional wisdom. Clews reassesses several important issues of the Phoney War period including: Churchill’s involvement in the anti-U-boat campaign; his responsibility for the failures of the Norwegian Campaign; his attitude to Britain’s aerial bombing campaign and the notion of his unfettered “bulldog” spirit; his relationship with Neville Chamberlain; and his succession to the premiership. A man of considerable strengths and many shortcomings, the Churchill that emerges in Clews’ portrayal is dynamic and complicated. Churchill’s Phoney War adds a well-balanced and much-needed history of the Phoney War while scrupulously examining Churchill’s successes and failures.