Hitler’s Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940 Henrik Lunde (general ebook reader txt) 📖

Narvik. Starting around 0300 hours, he tried to contact District Command by telephone but was unable to get through. Captain Dalsve, who was present, testified that the District Command had still not answered when he left the regimental headquarters at 0330 hours.

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ERMAN

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TTACK ON

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ARVIK

“Act with the greatest decisiveness in your approach to the designated debarkation harbors and do not permit signals to stop or other actions by military authorities, patrol vessels, or fortresses to keep you from reaching your objectives.”

ADMIRAL RAEDER’S INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS COMMANDERS FOR THE PROSECUTION OF OPERATION WESERÜBUNG

The German Attack Force

Task Force 1 was approaching Narvik at high speed in the early morning hours of April 9, 1940. It consisted of three destroyer flotillas commanded by Captain Friedrich Bonte.1

The 1st Destroyer Flotilla, commanded by Commander Fritz Berger, consisted of two ships, Wilhelm Heidkamp and Georg Thiele. Berger was aboard Georg Thiele while the navy and army component commanders were aboard Wilhelm Heidkamp.

The 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, commanded by Commander Hans-Joachim Gadow, consisted of four ships: Hans Lüdemann, Hermann Künne, Diether von Roeder, and Anton Schmitt. Commander Gadow was aboard Hans Lüdemann.

The 4th Destroyer Flotilla, under Commander Erich Bey, also consisted of four ships: Wolfgang Zenker, Bernd von Arnim, Erich Giese, and Erich Koellner. Bey was aboard Wolfgang Zenker.

The German destroyers were modern warships, launched between 1935 and 1938. The destroyers Wilhelm Heidkamp, Hans Lüdemann, Hermann Künne, Diether von Roeder, and Anton Schmitt had a displacement of 2,411 tons. Their armament consisted of five 5-inch guns, four 37mm antiaircraft guns, and eight 21-inch torpedo tubes. They could reach a maximum speed of 38 knots and each had a crew of 315 men. The other five destroyers were somewhat smaller, with a displacement of 2,270 tons; however, they had the same armament, speed and crew as their larger brothers. There were about 3,150 naval personnel in Task Force 1.

The army component of TF 1 consisted of three battalions of the reinforced 139th Mountain Regiment of the 3rd Mountain Division.2 The troops were for the most part Austrian. Colonel Alois Windisch was the regimental commander.3 There were also advanced elements of the 3rd Mountain Division staff, a company of naval artillery, and intelligence and signal elements. Total strength was approximately 2,000 and the troops were divided equally among the 10 destroyers. Major General Dietl assumed command during and after the landing.

General Dietl

Eduard Wolrath Christian Dietl was born on July 21, 1890 in Oberbayern. He came from a middle class family of artisans and soldiers. Dietl’s favorite hobbies were skiing and mountain climbing. He won numerous national and international sport awards and was captain of the German ski team at the 1936 Winter Olympics.

Dietl chose a military career, but his un-soldierly appearance kept him from being accepted in an infantry regiment from Bamberg. His second try resulted in an appointment, on October 1, 1909, in the 5th Bavarian Inf Regt. Dietl attended the Munich Military Academy and was commissioned a Lieutenant on October 26, 1911.

He began his service in World War I as a machinegun company commander. The courage and daring for which he became famous was quickly tested in the heavy fighting in Lorraine where he became the first German soldier in the war to receive the Iron Cross, 2nd Class. A couple of days later he was wounded and his two brothers killed. Dietl served as a company commander during the whole war, participated in the battles of Somme, Arras, and Flanders, and was wounded three times. The end of the war found him in a military hospital.

Dietl became a company commander in Freikorps Epp after the war and participated in the fighting against the communists. Later, he entered the Reichswehr and was assigned as company commander in the 3/19th Bavarian Inf. It was at this time that he became acquainted with Hitler. He and his company stood ready to support Hitler and his followers during the Beer Hall Putsch on November 9, 1923, but they were not called on to act. Subsequently, Dietl became an instructor in tactics at the Munich Infantry School and on October 1, 1928, he assumed command of the 3/19th Bavarian Inf. Dietl rose rapidly in rank. He was promoted to major on February 1, 1930, to lieutenant colonel on January 1, 1933, and to colonel exactly two years later. At the same time as he was promoted to colonel, he assumed command of the 99th Mountain Regiment in Füssen. Following the occupation of Austria, he was promoted to major general and assumed command of the 3rd Mountain Division. The division operated in the Carpathian Mountains during the Polish Campaign.

Dietl had some familiarity with Norway since he had undergone winter training in that country. He was in Norway for a two-month period in 1930 and 1931, attending the Infantry Winter School at Terningmoen in eastern Norway.

Dietl was respected and beloved by his soldiers. The loyalty and respect worked both ways as is illustrated by his concept of leadership:

Soldiers must be led by the heart. Only then are they committed … He who has the soldier’s heart can defy the devil in hell … Leadership calls for two separate things. The first is definitely, live with the man. Wish to have nothing but what he has. Go with him, listen to him, understand him, and help him in tough places. However, the second is, be better than the man. Never forgive yourself anything. Always know what you as a leader have to do. Be hard if necessary, demand the utmost, but first do the outmost yourself.4

Dietl’s motto was “rules don’t apply.” This may in part explain some incidents that led the Norwegians to accuse the Germans of violating the recognized rules of war. Dietl was an ardent Nazi before the Beer Hall Putsch and he was one of Hitler’s favorites. Dietl ventured everything on living up to Hitler’s friendship and expectation. He faced the most difficult