Norwegian armed forces in exile
The Norwegian armed forces in exile (
Background
Norway was
Norwegian
On 10 June,
Exiled forces
Army
Unlike the navy and air force, the army was not able to easily escape, and almost all remained in Norway after the German invasion. Some of these men would form part of the Norwegian resistance forces during the rest of the war until Norway regained freedom in May 1945.
Norwegian soldiers in the United Kingdom formed units including the
The navy was the largest of the three Norwegian armed services that had evacuated to Britain. A new naval headquarters was established in London in June 1940, and with the approval and support of the British government and navy, the Norwegian navy set to work repairing and re-equipping their ships, with the goal of remaining an effective force of resistance against Germany.[7]
Rebuilding and early action
Of the thirteen ships that escaped to Britain, only one was a modern combat ship: HNoMS Sleipner. Another ship was a much older and nearly obsolete destroyer, HNoMS Draug, launched in 1908. Sleipner was incorporated into the Royal Navy, and assigned to the protection of coastal shipping convoys, a task she performed until 1944. Draug stayed in British coastal waters, serving variously as a guard ship, convoy escort, and depot ship. The other 11 ships consisted of smaller patrol and fishery-protection ships, which were mainly converted into minesweepers and put into service along coastal convoy routes[7]
The first combatant ships commissioned for the navy in exile were two motor torpedo boats (MTBs), simply named "5" and "6." These were deployed with the British 11th MTB Flotilla, and performed defensive operations in the English channel. Five more MTBs were commissioned and put into service, but were found to be not very seaworthy, and were retired by mid-summer 1942. They were replaced by eight Fairmile D MTBs, which were organized into the 30th MTB Flotilla. This unit worked to disrupt German shipping along the Norwegian coast.[7]
The Norwegian navy requisitioned many fishing and whaling ships from its merchant fleet for conversion into minesweepers, patrol ships, escort vessels, and various other naval auxiliary ships. From among these ships, the Norwegian Naval Independent Unit - which earned the nickname "Shetland bus" for its operations between Shetland and occupied Norway - was formed.[7]
Operations in the Atlantic and North Sea
Norway had at one point five destroyers, four corvettes, and three patrol/escort vessels deployed with the Liverpool Escort Forces and Western Local Escort Force, to engage in the Battle of the Atlantic. These included five Town-class destroyers operated by the Royal Navy which had been transferred to the Norwegians. One of these, HNoMS Bath, was struck by a German torpedo in August 1941 while escorting a convoy to Gibraltar and sunk, killing 89 of her crew. The Norwegian navy had commissioned five new Flower-class corvettes, which also saw action in the Atlantic. One was torpedoed in November 1942, resulting in the loss of 47 of her crew. Another sank in 1944 after colliding with a destroyer. One Castle-class corvette, HNoMS Tunsberg Castle, struck a mine off the coast of Finnmark in 1944 and was sunk.[7]
Two Hunt-class destroyers built by the Royal navy were transferred to the Norwegian navy, as HNoMS Eskdale and HNoMS Glaisdale . They served alongside four other British Hunt-class destroyers in the 1st Destroyer Flotilla, conducting offensive operations along the coast of France, and providing defensive support for shipping convoys and minesweeping/minelaying operations. On 14 April 1943, a convoy was attacked by several German E-boats, and Eskdale was hit by two torpedoes and sunk, resulting in the loss of 25 of her crew. Throughout this period, Norwegian minesweeper boats continued working to clear mines from convoy routes and planned offensive channels.[7]
The Norwegian navy acquired a British U-class submarine named HNoMS Uredd in December 1941. Uredd joined the 9th Submarine Flotilla, and participated in operations in the North Sea. She was sunk during her 8th mission, in February 1943; it was only later determined that she had struck a mine, south of the town of Bodø. Another U-class submarine, HNoMS Ula, was acquired in November 1944, and was in service until the end of the war.[7]
The destroyer HNoMS Stord played an integral role in the sinking of the German battleship Scharnhorst in the Battle of the North Cape. Shortly after Scharnhorst's engagement with HMS Duke of York, Stord and three other S-class destroyers were ordered to position themselves for a torpedo strike on the battleship. Along with HMS Scorpion, Stord fired eight torpedoes, four of which hit, incapacitating Scharnhorst and allowing the rest of the Allied fleet to catch up and sink it.[8] After the battle, the commanding officer of Duke of York said "... the Norwegian destroyer Stord carried out the most daring attack of the whole action..."[7]
By the start of 1943, the Norwegian navy had grown to 58 ships and more than 5000 officers and sailors.[7]
Operation Overlord and the end of the war
On
On 26 June HNoMS Glaisdale was badly damaged when she struck a mine off the coast of Normandy. She was towed to port, where she remained out of commission for the rest of the war. The captain of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla spoke well of Glaisdale and her crew, for their 2 years of service in the unit: "...I take the opportunity of expressing my high appreciation of the work done by [HNoMS] Glaisdale while serving with the First Destroyer Flotilla. She has always been a happy and efficient ship..."[7]
By the end of the war, the Norwegian navy had 52 combatant ships and 7,500 men in service. During the fleet-in-exile period, the navy lost 27 ships, and around 25% of all men on ship crews lost their lives.[7]
Air Force
Norway retained separate air forces for the navy and the army until the establishment of the Royal Norwegian Air Force in 1944.
Some aircraft that were ordered prior to hostilities were delivered but few were ready for combat. After the flight to the United Kingdom a training base was established in Canada and many of the pilots joined the RAF in both bomber and fighter commands. Most notable are the two Spitfire squadrons, 331 and 332.[10][11]
On 1 November 1944 these squadrons were incorporated into the new Royal Norwegian Air Force and were renamed as such along with new squadrons:
Police troops in Sweden
Norwegian police troops, known as Rikspoliti, were recruited from refugees in Sweden during the war. They were funded by the
See also
- Bamse, heroic St. Bernard dog and mascot for Free Norwegian forces
- 99th Infantry Battalion (United States)
- Norwegian resistance movement
- Operation Doomsday
References
- ^ ISBN 9781783400607.
- ^ ISBN 9781932033922.
- ^ World War II. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved November 18, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/648813/World-War-II
- ISBN 9780786474707.
- ^ THE SECOND WORLD WAR EXPERIENCE CENTRE - The 1940 Norway Campaign
- ^ Giancarlo Rinaldi (4 November 2010). "Dumfries remembers role as home to Norwegian army". BBC Scotland. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Svensholt, Hans K. "The Norwegian Navy in the Second World War". RESDAL. Red de Seguridad y Defensa de America Latina. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-87021-101-0.
- ISBN 82-993545-2-8.
- ^ "331 Squadron". raf.mod.uk. 2010. Archived from the original on 2017-08-13. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
- ^ "332 Squadron". raf.mod.uk. 2010.
- ^ "330 Squadron". raf.mod.uk. 2010. Archived from the original on 2015-12-10. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
- ^ "333 Squadron". raf.mod.uk. 2010. Archived from the original on 2013-11-13. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
- ^ "334 Squadron". raf.mod.uk. 2010.
- ^ Söderman 1946 pp.9-18
- ^ Simon Orchard, "THE EVACUATION OF FINNMARK & THE RE-ENTRY OF NORWEGIAN FORCES INTO NORWAY, OCT 1944-MAY 1945." [1]
Further reading
- Mann, Christopher (2001). "The Norwegian Armed Forces in Britain". In Conway, Martin; Gotovitch, José (eds.). Europe in exile : European exile communities in Britain, 1940-1945. Oxford: Berghahn. pp. 153–166. ISBN 978-1-57181-759-4.
- Mann, Christopher (2005). "The Norwegian Army in Exile". In Bennett, Matthew; Latawski, Paul (eds.). Exile Armies. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 42–54. ISBN 978-0-230-52245-9.
- Olsen, Malik Christoffer (2020). The Forgotten Army: The Norwegian Army-in-exile 1940-1945 (PDF). University of Oslo: Department of Archeology, Conservation and History.