Capture of Arendal
Capture of Arendal | |||||||||
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Part of the German invasion of Norway during the Second World War | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Germany | Norway | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Wilhelm-Nikolaus Freiherr von Lyncker (naval) Smith von Wesentahl (land) |
Thore Holthe | ||||||||
Units involved | |||||||||
| unknown | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
90 soldiers 10 signals troops 1 torpedo boat |
19 sailors 1 torpedo boat 1 seaplane | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
none | none |
The Capture of Arendal occurred on 9 April 1940 and saw the German torpedo boat Greif land a force of bicycle troops and seize an invasion beachhead at the Norwegian port town of Arendal. The main aim of the landing, part of the German invasion of Norway, was to sever the undersea telegraph cable between Arendal and the United Kingdom.
The German force landed unopposed, with the Norwegian torpedo boat based in the town choosing to evacuate rather than take up the fight against the surprising arrival of the Germans. The Norwegian naval commander cited concern for civilian casualties and a glum view of his chances as reasons for not resisting.
While the initial German occupation of Arendal took place without serious incident, panic broke out the following day and led to many civilians abandoning the town, following unfounded rumours of an incoming British bomber raid.
Five days after the German occupation of Arendal, the town saw the establishment of the first organized resistance group in Norway. The Arendal Group operated from 14 April 1940 until crushed by the Gestapo four months later.
Background
After the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Norway declared her neutrality in the conflict. During the following months Norwegian neutrality was repeatedly ignored and violated by both the Axis and the Allies. On the part of the Germans, the violations included U-boat attacks on both Allied and neutral shipping within Norwegian territorial waters. The Norwegian Armed Forces were ill-equipped, poorly trained, only partially mobilized, and unable to efficiently defend Norwegian territory against neutrality violations.[1]
On 16 February 1940, the British
Prelude
In the plans for an attack on Norway presented on 29 February 1940 to Hitler by General von Falkenhorst, Arendal was one of the Norwegian towns and cities to be captured in the initial invasion wave. Like the port town of Egersund, which was also to be seized, Arendal had a land station for one of the two undersea telegraph cables between Norway and the United Kingdom. The Germans set out to cut the cable to the United Kingdom, as well as securing the telegraph cables to Denmark and Cuxhaven in Germany. Arendal was also important as a telegraph junction for the southern parts of Norway, with German personnel tasked to listen in on Norwegian communications. Isolating Norway from the outside world was an important part of the German effort at pacifying the Norwegian population and discouraging resistance to the occupation.[3][4][5]
The task of seizing Arendal fell on Gruppe 4 of the German invasion fleet. The primary objective of Gruppe 4 was the capture of the main port in
In Arendal there was much tension due to the sinking of the German transport ship Rio de Janeiro off the nearby port of Lillesand that day. Rio de Janeiro, a covert troopship en route to Bergen with 313 Luftwaffe personnel and anti-aircraft guns, had been intercepted and torpedoed off Lillesand by the Polish submarine Orzeł. Some of the German survivors told Norwegian police officers that they had been on their way to Bergen to "help the Norwegian government protect the country's neutrality". Twelve wounded Germans were admitted for treatment at Arendal and Aust-Agder Hospital in Arendal. The regional newspaper Agderposten, based in Arendal, ran an extra edition on the Rio de Janeiro sinking and reports of German fleet movements off Southern Norway.[8]
Opposing forces
German
The German force tasked with the capture and occupation of Arendal was the 90-strong 234th Bicycle Squadron of the
Transporting the landing force to Arendal, and providing support in case of Norwegian resistance, was the Raubvogel class torpedo boat Greif, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm-Nikolaus Freiherr von Lyncker and carrying torpedo boat flotilla commander Korvettenkapitän Wolf Henne. Once the army troops were on shore and in control of the town, Greif was to sail off and rejoin the rest of Gruppe 4 at Kristiansand. The Germans did not expect resistance at Arendal, the town being unfortified and without a garrison.[4][7][9]
Norwegian
The sole Norwegian military unit in Arendal was the 75-ton
In accordance with Norwegian mobilization plans a company of infantry was supposed to be set up to defend Arendal. However, no mobilization orders had been issued prior to the German attack, so the town lay undefended on the landward side.[11]
Landing
As Greif made her way towards Arendal, the torpedo boat encountered thick fog, forcing Kapitänleutnant von Lyncker to decrease the vessel's speed, delaying the arrival at Arendal. According to the operational plans for the invasion, all the German landing groups were to arrive at their targets simultaneously at 04:15. Greif arrived at Arendal at 08:20. At 01:00, still more than seven hours from their objective, the Germans had received radio reports of fighting taking place in the Oslofjord.[4][12][13] All the lighthouses along the southern Norwegian coast, from Marstein Lighthouse in the west to the Swedish border in the east had been turned off the previous evening, on the orders of Commanding Admiral Henry Diesen of the Royal Norwegian Navy.[14] Although spotted by customs personnel as she made her way through the narrows leading to the town, the reports of the intruding warship did not reach Lieutenant Holthe on board Jo.[15]
As Greif entered the harbour in Arendal at 08:30, she was spotted from Jo. At the time, Jo had been about to set off for
Greif reached the quay without encountering any resistance other than a few rifle rounds fired by a customs officer and his son. The 100-strong landing force quickly disembarked and occupied the town. By 09:00, Greif set off for Kristiansand. During the short time Greif spent in Arendal, Lieutenant Holthe on Jo considered carrying out an attack, but avoided engaging due to the fire power of the German warship, and the numerous civilian onlookers crowding the quay area.[13][16][17] As Greif was about to depart Arendal, a Norwegian Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.11 seaplane (F.328) landed in the harbour next to the German torpedo boat. The Norwegian seaplane was one of four that had escaped from Kristiansand before the German attack on that city. Before the Germans reacted to the M.F.11, the Norwegian aircrew realised that Arendal had been captured, and took off. Chased by anti-aircraft fire, the M.F.11 flew south to the nearby unoccupied village of Fevik.[18][19]
The
Aftermath
After Greif had left Arendal, Lieutenant Holthe took Jo out of the harbour and set up an ambush east of the town in case the German warship came back in that direction. Some time later on 9 April, Jo steamed to Lyngør where she met up with Grib and Ravn. The three torpedo boats spent the next eight days trying to support the Norwegian land forces being mobilized in Telemark county, surviving several air attacks during the time. After considering evacuating the torpedo boats to the United Kingdom, and dismissing the idea as infeasible, Lieutenant Holthe and the other commanders scuttled their vessels off Lyngør on 17 April. The crews went home and the ship commanders tried to join Norwegian forces in Western Norway.[13][Note 1]
Although the population of Arendal had reacted calmly to the German invasion, rumours soon began to circulate about a supposed Allied bombing raid scheduled for 12:00 on 10 April. Most of Arendal's population fled the town in panic in the early hours of 10 April. It took several days before the majority of the evacuees had returned.[23] The German landing force were housed in a school building, and Rittmeister von Wesentahl arranged meetings with the local Norwegian authorities to ensure their cooperation in accordance with the rules of occupation. Arendal's mayor agreed to help maintain calm in the town.[14]
On 14 April, five days after the German invasion of Norway and the bloodless conquest of their town, a number of Arendal's citizens founded the Arendal Group.
See also
- List of Norwegian military equipment of World War II
- List of German military equipment of World War II
References
Notes
- Norwegian Armed Forces in exile.[22]
Citations
- ^ Haarr 2009, pp. 15–23, 27
- ^ Haarr 2009, pp. 3–8
- ^ Haarr 2009, pp. 10–11, 215
- ^ a b c Frøstrup 1998, p. 30
- ^ Bjørnsen 1990, p. 39
- ^ Haarr 2009, pp. 81, 101, 215
- ^ a b Frøstrup 1998, p. 28
- ^ Frøstrup 1998, pp. 24–27
- ^ a b c Haarr 2009, p. 215
- ^ Derry 1952, p. 27
- ^ a b Bjørnsen 1990, p. 162
- ^ Bjørnsen 1990, p. 382
- ^ a b c d e f Haarr 2009, pp. 216–217
- ^ a b Dannevig 1973, p. 183
- ^ Frøstrup 1998, p. 35
- ^ a b Frøstrup 1998, pp. 36–40
- ^ Kindell, Don (7 April 2013). "Naval Events, 8–14 April 1940". Naval-History.net. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
- ^ Frøstrup 1998, p. 42
- ^ Hafsten et al. 2005, pp. 66–67
- ^ Taraldsen 1999, p. 133
- ^ Frøstrup 1998, p. 43
- ^ Haarr 2009, p. 442
- ^ Frøstrup 1998, pp. 48–49
- ^ a b Taraldsen 1999, pp. 135–136
- ^ Taraldsen 1999, pp. 136–139
Bibliography
- Abelsen, Frank (1986). Norwegian naval ships 1939–1945 (in Norwegian and English). Oslo: Sem & Stenersen AS. ISBN 82-7046-050-8.
- ISBN 82-05-19075-5.
- Dannevig, Birger (1973). Arendal gjennom skiftende tider: 1528-1723-1973 (in Norwegian). Arendal: Arendal Municipality.
- Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
- Frøstrup, Johan Christian (1998). Krigsår: Arendal under okkupasjonen 1940-1945 (in Norwegian). Arendal: Friluftsforl. ISBN 8291495068.
- Haarr, Geirr H. (2009). The German invasion of Norway – April 1940. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-032-1.
- Hafsten, Bjørn; Ulf Larsstuvold; Bjørn Olsen; Sten Stenersen (2005). Flyalarm – luftkrigen over Norge 1939–1945 (in Norwegian) (2nd, revised ed.). Oslo: Sem og Stenersen AS. ISBN 82-7046-074-5.
- Taraldsen, Kristen (1999). Arendals sjømandsforening 1849-1999: 150 år (in Norwegian). Arendal: Arendals sjømandsforening. ISBN 8299489202.
- Thomassen, Marius (1995). 90 år under rent norsk orlogsflagg (in Norwegian). Bergen: Eide Forlag. ISBN 82-514-0483-5.