Might Makes Right ETO (id:#56439)

Multi-Man Publishing (ASL Journal # 3 ID: J40)   [next]   [previous]

Finneidfjord, Norway 1940-05-11 (34 others)

Overview:

When they invaded Norway on 9 April 1940, the Germans acted boldly and quickly, taking full advantage of the element of surprise. Allied reactions were confused and ineffective. Early in May, German troops began marching on Narvik. They planned an operation, codenamed "Wildente", whose objective was to catch the Anglo-Norwegian units offguard by barring their way south of Ranfjord. To do so, the steamer Nord Norge edged its way under the nose of the Royal Navy, sailed up the fjord and landed 300 men and two guns in the small port of Hemnesberget. The small garrison was overwhelmed. Two British ships sank the Nord Norge, but the Germans firmly held Hemnesberget. What's more, they could be resupplied by air and they threatened the Allied rear. The only solution lay in a counterattack by the 400 British and Norwegian soldiers holding the village of Finneidfjord, at the end of the Hemnessoy peninsula, some ten kilometers east of Hemnesberget.

Defender: Norwegian (5th Brigade)  

Errata (source)