Crippling Hitler's Navy - The Battle that Knocked out 50% of the Kriegsmarine's Destroyers
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- Опубліковано 24 гру 2022
- Frustrated by Norway's neutrality at the start of World War 2 and its unwillingness to allow Allied troops to cross the country to aid Finland during the Soviet invasion of 1939, France and Britain concocted Plan R 4, a major military operation to occupy Norway.
Upon learning of the plan, Hitler decided to beat the Allies to the punch by seizing Norway before they did. The full might of the Kriegsmarine then dashed to Norwegian ports posing as friends but demanding the local Navy in the strategic town of Narvik to hand over all their warships.
Still, by rushing to Narvik, the Kriegsmarine had exposed itself, and the Royal Navy would not waste the chance to cripple the German Navy in one swift but decisive move…
Minor correction. The Blucher was not sunk by gunfire from the old cannons. The defenders on the island basically amounted to a Norwegian Officer and what could best be described as a handful of boyscouts. Young trainees. The officer realized that the ships coming up the fjord were an invasion. Famously saying "If I'm wrong I'll be court martialed". But they didn't have enough manpower to reload the guns. So they fired the preparred shots. But the island also had 2 batteries of ancient 19th century torpedoes. Pre-sighted to fire on the avenues of approach past the island. And they worked masterfully. The Blucher was a brand new state of the art Admiral Hipper class Heavy Cruiser. One of the most powerful and modern ships in the Kriegsmarine. She never saw or expected the torpedoes.
Yah I remember watching a documentary on that
"Either I will be a hero or I will be court martialed!"
Thank you, I was going to mention that but you did it much better.
The Americans couldn't get their brand new torpedoes to work and the Norweigans are over here sinking ships with torpedoes from the previous century.
They always get stuff wrong. But they always talk about cool stuff.
My Grandfather was a sailor on the german destroyer Z 12 "Erich Giese". His ship was sunk during this operation, he managed to swim to the shore and even to rescue a comrade. He received a medal for it. He had no possibility to report his whereabouts to his superiors, so he was reported as KIA, and my grandmother received this devastating message. Weeks later, this was corrected. I can't even remotely imagine what they both went through. I know that my grandfather was part of an evil force, but still I have respect for him. He was a simple worker before the war, and deeply regretted his service after the war.
You have respect for a nazi?
They had to live through their times same as we must live through our own. You can always be proud of your grandfathers courage and fortitude
My Grandfather fought with him as he was there with the Gebirgsjager
The German Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen were good hearted people believing they were fighting for their country. By no means was your Grandfather part of an evil force, he sounds like he was a great man fighting valiantly and with just morals. At the end of the day, only a tiny fraction of the German forces were truly evil as most had no idea just what was happening behind closed doors, and were betrayed by the high command, flooded with propaganda and stood no chance of knowing what side they were on.
The fact your Grandfather regretted his service is evidence enough of this alone. He sounds like a good man doing what he believed to be right based on the information available to him like many of his brothers in arms. He fought for Germany- not for the Nazis. Always be proud of that.
I'm a Brit, and there are many stories of truly honourable members of the German forces. I hope your Grandfather is well and knows that he in himself was not wrong. The blame is not a burden he should have to bear.
The regulars were just solders fighting for their home and what they were told was a righteous cause. The only evil force were the SS.
Major correction. The Swedish iron mine industri was essential to Germany and the lifeline of the German arms industry
Six million tons of Swedish iron ore were shipped from Narvik's ice-free port every year. The recipient was Germany's arms industry, which was completely dependent on the ore. In the summer, the Swedes themselves sailed over three million tons to Germany, but when the Gulf of Bothnia froze to ice, the ore had to be loaded onto freight wagons and taken by train to Narvik, Norway.
As a young man, even before joining the USN I first learned the name of a legendary British battleship while reading of this battle. "After repelling the British destroyers the German destroyer crews heard their approaching doom in the thunder of the guns of the Warspite" - Paraphrased.
@Anne Frank Vape Pen 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@Anne Frank Vape Pen Bullshit. The USA won't join the international patent scheme, as the majority of US patents would then be invalid.
@Anne Frank Vape Pen The US number one export is Americanisms.
Warspite was a legendary ship which didnt deserve to be scrapped, even resisted and beached itself enroute to the breakers. She was one of the most decorated ships to serve during WW2, right up there with the likes of New Jersey and Enterprise.
A very good friend of mine in Tollesbury Essex served as a " Carpenter " on the Prince of Wales " changing ships & survived the war ,he told me the noise below deck during a battle was deafening as those huge guns fired & sunk a German cruiser .No one in our modern navy will ever experience that, all computerised!
Can't wait for part 2 where Warspite gets involved and does Warspite things like become the first Battleship to sink a submarine with a plane and sail straight up a fjord to point-blank range because who needs room to manoeuvre a battleship anyway? The sound of those 15 inch guns reverberating off the mountains must have been terrifying, like Valhalla had come to town.
Heard a story from the men who sunk the tirpitz and he said he heard this whistling sound and saw these slow moving objects flying towards them. Then he realized she was firing her main 15 inch guns at them.
Often wondered how cool that must have looked.
Heard someone say that you couldn't be close to the guns in the Yamato class battleship either as it would severely injure or kill you. Idk how true that is but seeing those guns in action would've been impressive.
Also must have been an incredible sight to be one of the pilots who found and sunk the Yamato or Musashi. So many events that would be so interesting to see.
First ship of any kind to sink a sub with a ship-launched plane.
@@marshallney8386 There is a part in the series 'Band of Brothers' where the paratroopers hear the naval bombardment, the shells passing over their heads, impressive.
@@marshallney8386 I dont think the Tirpitz came under 15 inch Guns All the attacks that I have read were Bombs etc
@@jacktattis I believe he is saying that the Tirpitz fired its 15in guns at them.
Your videos are usually excellent but there are several factual inaccuracies in this. The mines were Swedish for one. Despite claims of neutrality, the Swedes played both sides off for most of the war. Selling steel & timber to the Nazis and passing intelligence to the allies.
All of his videos are entertaining but you should just take them just as stories with hints of truth in them
@@j24130 very true. They typically just seem to use Wikipedia and that’s it’s. You get a understanding on what happens.
your comment made me not wanna watch this vid anymore💀 just screw off bro
Mark felton on you tube is the only one with war Facts
The way I look at it is these videos are to get people interested in a topic so they can do more research on their own
The mines shipping ore out of Narvik was in Kiruna - Sweden. The railroad from Kiruna to Narvik is still operating.
Blucher was sunk by ancient torpedoes the nazis did not know about at Oscarsborg fortress - not the cannons who were operated by mostly conscripts. After firing their initial salvo they did not fire again due to the conscripts not being trained in their service.
The initiation of hostilities at Narvik could also have been mentioned with the 50 year old armoured ships "Norge" and "Eidsvoll" both sunk by torpedoes with great loss of life.
Thanks, for pointing that out, I was surprised by the error.
not entirely correct. while the main guns weren't fired more than once, this wasn't merely due to the soldiers being conscripts, but time it would take to reload such old guns period. also the smaller calibre batteries on the other side of the fjord also contributed heavily to the sinking.
@@Agarwaen With a trained crew running the guns, they could have fired more salvos. My source for this is directly from one of the soldiers manning one of the guns, who afterwards was sent directly into the underground bunkers for protection - by orders. And who told about his experience to his son and me - and did so only once becouse the experience of what followed with german sailors screaming while burning to death or drowning was terrible.
While the supporting batteries for Oscarsborg fortress did fire on Blucher, the two hits from the 28cm guns on Oscarsborg did most damage - until she was finally disabled and holed by the torpedo battery.
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket Maybe keep on topic instead of going off on a tangent.
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket have you ever considered that the fall of Russia France's past ally into totalitarian communism changed the balance and the disaster of WW1 made populations averse to further war.
The USA failed to take part in the League of Nations, so it's rather hypocritical to tell other peoples to trigger a decision they weren't prepared for and could not expect any help from powers in more secure positions.
The 20's securities bubble caused the crash and the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act plunged the world into the great depression, yet you're thinking other democracies would rush to rearm.
There was a real concern about communist expansion, so the fear of alliance with Stalin's USSR vs Nazis/Fascists was how would Soviet troops in central Europe be removed.
The cynical Soviet-Nazi collaboration pact was Stalin's move to gain security and then profit after the Nazis & France/UK fought.
As for post Cold war, everyone took a peace dividend and I haven't seen democratic populations wanting to take a stand until 2022.
Democracies don't like military commitments and building large forces, the US isolationist impulse is part of that.
Like it or not mutual cooperation and help is the way forward, the large strategic nukes of the RF will only be reduced due to economic necessity
Another minor correction.
The iron mines were not in Norway. They were in Sweden. Narvik was merely the distribution point.
NO the iron ore came from Kiruna in Sweden -it was transhipped through the norwegian port of Narvik because the gulf of Bothina freezes over in winter whereas Narvik doesnt-these are easily checked facts-there are no iron ore mines in Norway
There are several iron ore mines in Norway. But non comparable to the ones in Kiruna whom shipped their ore out of Narvik.
Thank you for the info. - I thought this was the case.
The Warspite went everywhere and did everything. What a ship...
German destroyer leader: No battleship captain would be crazy enough to chase destroyers into a fjiord!
RN battleship captain : Hold my tea, chap, and watch this.
One day when it all ends...I just imagine both of them in a peaceful place, all surrounded by calm seas. Seated at a table with a pot of tea, and reliving all this. The German would be saying something like, "I did not expect that at all! You totally got me there!"
And the Royal Navy battleship captain be like, "Well, had to do what I had to do"
And they both then shared a hearty laugh
even better, the battleship they sent in was none other than Warspite. Famous for drifting around in circles during the battle of Jutland, she had a gremlin of a steering problem, and she went into a Fjord.
The destruction of so many destroyers at Narvik was essentially the death nell of operation sealion.
Sorry but no even without the loss of the destroyers Operation sealion was not going to happen because the death nell was infact the failure of the Luftwaffe during the battle of Britain. It did however disrupt the plans of Operation Rheinübung.
@@edwardhuggins84 I don’t think Sealion would have ever happened, really, as the Wehrmacht would eventually have probably worked out it was suicide. Maybe not. Shame as it would have shorten the war as it would have been such a disaster for the nazis.
@Geordiedog I can remember reading a while ago that they had done a war game at a university (can't remember which one) using all that was known about sealion and if the RAF lost the battle of Britain. They had to after the first 2 days start the war game if they had successfully completed the landings as the Germans couldn't even get a beachhead and even with that the Germans lost each time.
@@edwardhuggins84 I can believe that.
The Wehrmacht essentially saw the whole thing as a ‘river crossing’ on a slightly larger scale. Given the example of both Dieppe and Normandy and how they faired the British would have just had to sit and watch the whole thing go pear shaped. I mean, if one Hunt class got into the German landing zone it would be all over. Even if they did get a bridge head it would have just meant a German Dunkirk only without the little ships and most of the German army in captivity. Makes for very interesting alternative history speculation. But I don’t think there’s anyone who believes it would have been anything other than a total failure. I did a debate during lock down on the role of the RAF and ‘volunteered’ to do the part of the ‘they were rubbish’ side ( always read your emails - half hour before kick off and I realised I’d prepared my argument for the wrong side!). I argued that the only thing they got right was fighter interceptor planes and even then the just extended the war by four years.
Look up paddy Griffith sealion wargame,
Had people who.would have been involved in the real.thing as players and umpires
I had to look this up, because I don't know enough naval history. HMS Warspite was a 32,500 (-ish) ton battleship first commissioned in 1915, but completely modernised in the mid-1930s. Her main armament was four twin mounts of 15-inch guns. And she had more 6-inch guns than you could shake a stick at.
If you would like to learn more I recommend you look up "Battlefield: Scandinavia, the forgotten front" here on youtube. The first hour is about the winter war (I really cant understate the similarities to Ukraine.) The second hour is about the battle of Norway.
HMS Warspite was the most decorated battleship to serve in the Royal navy. A veteran of every naval theatre in WW2 and the largest dreadnought fleet action ever at Jutland
@@navyreviewer Drachinifel also has a video (or maybe a series) on this battle.
@@13jhow I'll admit I havent watched a lot of his videos, maybe a dozen (?), but they seem really good.
@@navyreviewer I'm a fan. He's got several different formats if you like short vids, long vids, Q&A, etc.
Also worth touching on were the loss of light cruisers Konigsberg (Skua Dive Bombers) and Karlsruhe (Submarine Torpedoes). All together losses that the diminutive German Surface Fleet could ill Fjord. 😂
"ill Fjord" lol I see what you did there! : )
The surface fleet even without the losses was simply too small to challenge the RN in open seas, those losses didnt change anything,
I also find it kinda amusing how everyone glorifies the RN despite failing to stop the invasion of Norway, the fat is the Germans secured their vital supply of iron ore for the rest of the war in front of RN noses...and ofc stuff like the sinking of aircraft carrier HMS Glorious is never mentioned, as it doesnt present a one sided story.
You should be severely punished 🥲
@@DD-qw4fz Look, it's time you face facts - the Germans didn't have HMS Warspite. They were never gonna win.
@@DD-qw4fz ... I noticed you didn't mention the sinking of the Kreigsmarine battleships Tirpitz and Scharnhorst in Norwegian waters by the RAF and Royal Navy.
Small correction: the iron mines were not Norwegian, but Swedish.
The biggest iron ore mine in Europe was and still is, Swedish Kiruna mine. However, this Swedish iron ore, was at that time, transported and sold to the world through a Norwegian port city of Narvik through railway link.
The "neutral" Sweden was selling the iron ore to Nazi Germans/Austrian from the beginning till the end of the WW2. Basically every Brit, Russian, Jew, Pole or any other nationality was killed with a tank, submarine, warship, cannon produced from Swedish iron.
Yes, and I am a Swede that tries to get in peoples head that Sweden was run by socialists that had close connection with the Nazis during the war. All Swedish material from that time was destroyed by the socialists when the war turned. Luckily the US have the information and now it is coming out. Never say that Sweden where neutral, we helped the nazis and we are also responsible for the "J" inte all judes passport. That was something our socialist government wanted so they could arrest fleeing judes.
That party is still alive today and is the one that have totally destroyed Sweden.
Adding to Taylor's chat, the iron ore supply came from the Swedish mine in Kiruna owned by LKAB, not Norwegian mines. There weren't any. All the iron ore was shipped on the purpose built rail link to Narvik and the supply was essential for the Wermacht
Blucher’s death knell was sounded by the 100 year old secret battery of Torpedo tubes that came as a complete surprise to Krmiegsmarine
No tubes in the Oscarsborg torpedo battery.Torpedoes was lowered into a pool and fired through a underwater tunnel connected to the fjord outside. Torpedo battery is completely invisible from outside.
@@torhalle1926 Thank you for clearing that up, my sources only referenced it a torpedo battery, but not how the torpedos were fired.
This action, the willingness for a small force to bash into a superior enemy sums up the British Navies aggressiveness, these were the battles that prevented Sealion, the Royal Navy saved Britain from invasion, the RAF showed why Britain would eventually win the war... grit in adversity!
That's a point people who think that The Battle of Britain prevented a German invasion miss, Germany lacked the sea power to counter Home Fleet.
The RN did a tremendous amount of damage to the German fleet during the invasion of Norway. More than half of the new 1936 Zerstorers were sunk in Narvik alone in both the 1st and 2nd battle of Narvik. Even though Germany didn't have a large surface fleet, I think you are correct in your assumption that after the invasion of Norway, Germany could never hope to rule the channel for the weeks it would take to operate Operation Sealion.
The story of HMS Glowworm a small G-class destroyer (1880 tons) sighting and attacking without hesitation the Admiral Hipper a heavy cruiser of 18,500 tons is worth a read too.
@@seagriffon1016 They did that a lot The R/N was famous for one sided battles There was a R/N gunboat in Shanghai Harbour 1941 one 3 inch gun not working only rifles. a Japanese group came on board to demand surrender The Kiwi Captain turned up and turfed them off the boat a 6 inch IJN cruiser opened up and the crew fired their rifles and were forced to jump for it. The Captain and some crew spent the war as POWs.
The USN boat nearby surrendered without a shot being fired Goes to show the psyche of various countries servicemen when serving in exotic locales
Germany took Norway because Raeder and Donitz wanted ports for U Boats. The allies talked about a mission, but it was understood it was too far to go to Finland.
In the period from 1935 - 1945 the Royal Navy was one of the biggest and strongest navies in the world. Hitler was more familiar with war on land than at sea, and had failed to realise the strength of the Royal Navy. It wasn't just the RAF which kept Britian from German invasion during the Batle of Britain, but British naval strength. The moral of the story (at that time,at least) was 'Dont mess with the Royal Navy.'
Aprox %50 of UK spending was on the RAF
@@patttrick It needed to be - the pre-war RAF was a mess. Fortunately there were some with sufficient foresight to do what needed to be done - Royce, Mitchell, Dowding, Watson-Watt, Beaverbrook, Park and D'Erlanger.
@@kumasenlac5504 I would argue the army was a mess. The Army could have stopped the Germans.14 Divs instead of 7 1939
At the outbreak of WW2, the Royal Navy was the largest and most combat capable navy in the world.
The Imperial Japanese Navy made a big effort to claim that title, but it was actually the US Navy which exceeded all other nations by the end of the war. And to this day, is still the dominant power on the seas (by a considerable margin).
@@richardwinstanley8219 The Royal Navy was the Largest from 1805 until 1943
You don't know what your talking about. The mines was in (neutral) Sweden, but the iron was shipped from Narvik.
Every episode has a couple errors in order to spur comments and increase the UA-cam exposure
There were mines in Norway as well. The big mines were in Sweden.
@@HubertofLiege ah, that makes sense. Cause it's every video. All the dark channels.
“Destroying Hitler’s ships in Norwegian fjords”
The iron ore was at Kiruna in Sweden. It was exported through Narvik.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone
Swordfish used as DIVE BOMBERS!? Indeed. Great planes.
Your video series are fantastic!!! Great series keeping history alive
Always informative and interesting, made better with the historic footage. Thank you.
Hitlers iron was not from norwegian mines, but from swedish. It was shipped out of norwigian port Narvik
the Norwegian coastal defence ships were the Eidsvold and Norge - two pre-dreadnoughts with 4 eight inch guns between them. having been built before torpedoes were really a thing, both ships were literally obliterated by Kreigsmarine torpedoes at the cost of some 290 lives. just thought i'd mention that.
Germany AND the Soviet Russia invaded Poland, not just Mr H!tler. Amazes me how many people don't know this.
A nice, concise primer to introduce the battle of Narvik.
I love your videos! Thank you!! I do understand some point out minor inaccuracies, and I notice a ship or plane that doesn’t match the time period, but I DONT CARE. I would much rather watch 99% accurate videos of your quality often than wait for a doctoral thesis once every four years assuring 100%!
Please keep going!! Awesome, much better than anything on the H channel back when they tried. You and Dr Felton, awesome.
Thanks, and God Bless!!
I want to do a slight correction. Sweeden has the iron mines, its just shipped through norway, due to the baltic sea freezes during winter.
Merry Christmas Dark Seas
It was erroneously stated that iron or came from Norwegian mines. There were no mines in this part of Norway. Narvik was a shipping point for ore coming by rail from mines in Sweden.
When you take the train from Narvik over to Sweden (it's the same railway that's still used for exporting iron ore via Narvik), you can look down into the fjord and see one of the German destroyers at the bottom.
Not Norwegian mines. The mines were in northern Sweden. Shipped out via Narvik in Norway and Luleå in Sweden.
Well done Video as always. This one is especially good. Thanks for the great work.
The battle of Narvic was the turning point in the war when after it, Germany had 10 destroyers left, Britain had something like 156 , plus many more mothballed at Scapa Flow. The Royal Navy saved Gt Britain without a doubt.
What was also interesting about this was that Finland was initially allied to Britain while Germany and the Soviet Union were subject to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
Of course the British prioritized the Navy in terms of military resources. As an Island, mercantile trading nation, Britain had no choice.
Indeed. Whilst the RAF's noble efforts in the Battle of Britain are rightly acknowledged, the brave matelots of the Royal Navy 's exploits in emulating Hitler 's destroyers effectively scuppered Operation SeaLion.
How is that the batlle of Narvic a turning point of the war? Even by your numbers, it made no difference in the Atlantic batlle.
@@samuelgordino
Because the action at Narvik deprived the German Navy of resources for any attempt at Sea Lion.
"The MIGHTY HMS Warspite" Well said, sir!
All these videos with the footage and info are incredible
I’d also love an “operations room” animated thing on that battle
My dad server on HM S Penelope at Narvik. I still have the wound badge he liberated from a German supply ship captured during the action. A luger that he also obtained was confiscated by an officer. Penelope subsequently struck an uncharted rock and was repaired by timbers provided by a local enterprising vessel. She eventually limped home to Blighty. I read somewhere that a young Ian Fleming once admfitted misplacing charts of the area behind a filing cabinet whilst serving at the Admiralty and I wonder whether in doing so he bore some responsibility for the event.
Amazing. 'HMS Pepperpot' is best known for her service (and constantly-inflicted damage) when based at Malta, but it's good to hear of her service in the Norwegian campaign too.
The iron did not come from Norwegian mines - it was shipped by rail from the mines in Kiruna, Sweden.
I thought I knew a lot about the Norway campaign as a Brit but this filled in many missing gaps in my knowledge .
Thank you .
The most I knew I learned from Winston; I read his books.
If Naval history interests you check out Drachinifel here on YT. He's covered this particular battle and many more in a far more in depth(and accurate) way but tbf his videos can be much longer. He does also do smaller videos on the ships themselves. The story of HMS Warspite is one of them. Dark Seas tends to try to keep them down to 10min(ish) bite size videos
Just be aware this information is extremely condensed and simplified, even misleading. To wit; the Krupp cannons at Oskarsborg didn’t “rain hell on the German fleet.” It fired two shots which struck the lead Cruiser of the Oslo attack group, and finished her off with antiquated torpedoes. The group retreated and no other element of that Kriegsmarine attack group was struck. (This action *was* a crucial reason why the Norwegian Royal family and government ministers were able to escape to England and direct Norway’s participation on the Allied side). I’m partial to Norwegians’ efforts, and it impresses me the Norwegians lasted the longest of any country the Nazis occupied; 2 months. France capitulated in 6 weeks.
@@65SATisfaction
Do you think that maybe the German boys didn't like playing outside in the snow?
@@theallseeingmaster .. you sound flippant. The Germans excelled at winter combat and won the battle for Narvik based on those fighting skills, their superb leadership, and air superiority.
Thankyou ! All the brave British seamen !🙉🙈🙊👍
From your vid.
Upon learnijng of the plan, Hitler,..."
My info has it that the British and Germans happened to be planning to occupy Norway at the same time and neither knew the other was trying to do so.
The British originally had no desire to "occupy Norway" but instead wanted to stop Swedish iron ore exports to Germany though the Northern Norwegian ports. When they realised that Germany was going to "secure the ports" for their own usage, the allies then had to fumble a plan at short notice to prevent it from happening.
Wonder if the norwegian movie Battle of Narvik will show any of these described scenes.
There is a german shipwreck from that time in one of the fjords. It got beached and lays upside down and reachable from shore. Large part of the bow sticks up from the ocean.
I Might be wrong, but what I know the iron ore came from Sweden send to Norway by train and then by boat to Germany.
You seems to have made a big error in this film Dark Seas.
There were mines in Norway as well. The larger mines were Swedish.
The Kiruna ore mines are in Sweden. In Narvik, Norway, the ore was only loaded.
The bravest of our forces , nowhere to retreat ,only the cold sea! I often wonder how much it would cost today to build a large cruiser today ! Trillions £ .My late dad was in the M.N as a humble cook / steward & survived & here in Spain 🇪🇸 have a pile of his memoirs & rare fotos & medals:- The Atlantic convoy , the North Africa campaign , service on Italy, The Dunkirk evacuation & D day .The thing that got him in the end despite having a healthy life was a fatal stroke. When I was young he had one of the rare Douglas Dragonflies , Miss him so much !
If you take the train from Narvik over to Sweden and look down, you can see a German destroyer deep under the clear waters of the fjord. This railway line is what the conflict was about. It was the way Swedish iron ore was exported via Narvik from the Swedish mines in Kiruna and Gällivare during the winter, when the Swedish ports were iced in (nowadays there are icebreakers powerful enough to keep ports like Luleå and Skellefteå open, but there weren’t then). The other problem the Germans had with the transport of Swedish iron ore down the Gulf of Bothnia was Soviet submarines, which sank a number of the ships transporting the ore.
The hydroelectric power station in Porjus in Sweden used to use a mule for general transportation after the war. This poor animal had been shipped from Algeria by the French Foreign Legion. A unit had fled over the mountains to Sweden with their mule. The soldiers had been repatriated, but the mule spent the rest of its days in Arctic Sweden. When I heard this story from one of the Samer who worked at the power station, I wondered how it coped with the transition from the desert to the snow!
Thanks for sharing another fantastic video 👍🏻🏴
You have forgotten to mention that the Red Armee also invaded Poland!!
Like everyone says, iron ore mines are in Kiruna, Sweden but the ore was (and still is) shipped out via the the Norwegian port of Narvik in the winter. Also, the graphic of the Soviet attack on Finland is highly inaccurate. The attack from the north was a small affair while the main attacks were just north and south of Lake Ladoga in the south east of what was then Finland. Too the Red Navy attempted an amphibious landing on the south coast of Finland.
I spent a week roughly in this post while serving in the Canadian navy onboard this proctectuer picking up armoured equipment from a NATO training. First time that I saw the northern lights and what a show we saw coming over the top of the mountains
Hi have you posted Part 2, 2nd battle of Narvick ?
The mines were in Sweden, but the ore had to go through Narvik to get to Germany, as the Baltic was frozen over in the winter.
The Norway problem? excuse me, we just wanted to stay out of it all and mind our own business as we have since the viking days😂 we been there done that, and we discovered we got enough to hassle with at home
(great video, though😄)
I have fond memories of a visit to Narvik and environs in the 1990s.
Must correct you. The worlds first offensive paratrooper attack was in Aalborg 9. April 1940. A few hours later Norway had the honors of a paratropper attack.
A lot of people complain about the technicalities. I know if you’re going to make a documentary at least be 100% factual. But we should give these creators a bit of a break man they’re only UA-cam videos nobody’s perfect and besides they’re running several channels. Not just this one
All DARK videos are awesome 👏🏼
Fair play to you for pointing out that it was the Allies who were going to invade and occupy a neutral country first.
Neither the French nor the British were at all punctilious about invading non-aggressive countries when it suited them to do so.
They did the same thing to the Icelandics.
Had Iceland not been taken by Britain, it would have fallen to Germany, with disastrous implications. My father did a stint there in the RAF, early on, until the Yanks arrived.
True, yet their occupations didn't exactly involve the Gestapo, or carting off millions of their citizens off to gas Chambers...
Before II WW several international treaties were signed; in most cases everyone tried to cheat the others. Ribbentrop - Molotov pact signed on 23 August 1939 was quite different and very significant as it decided the fate of so called "buffer states": Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania. Poland and Romania. Hitler and Stalin decided who will control all these countries.
On 28 August 1939 ( on this day Warsaw surrendered ) next, second Ribbentrop - Molotov pact was signed in Moscow. It was officially named "Treaty on borders and FRIENDSHIP between III Reich and Soviet Union". Polish Lublin voivodeship and eastern part of Mazovia were ceded to Germans in exchange for control of Lithuania. This treaty had huge impact on future of all states involved. Baltic states became part of USSR and it took almost half of century for the three tiny but proud nations to emerge as fully independent.
On 19 August 1939 huge trade agreement was signed. Soviet Union was obliged to deliver grain, oil, iron ore and other minerals worth 180 million reichsmark every year while III Reich was to export industrial and military equipment valued 120 million RM and provide 200 million RM loan for 7 years. Various changes followed but in general Germans demanded much more and were pressing to extend this agreement to billions RM.
In the end of 1939 and beginning of 1940 four friendly meetings Gestapo - NKVD took place in occupied Poland ( Brzesc, Przemysl, Zakopane and finally Krakow ). Polish resistance was to be brutally crushed and preliminary plans to exterminate Poles were outlined. For details I do recommend fine book "Stalin: Breaker of Nations" by professor Robert Conquest ( publ. 1991, Penguin Random House ).
Best regards
Happy holidays to you and yours
I can't wait for part 2
Thanks for your hard work
Peace to you and yours
as dramatic and compelling as these stories are, they also need to serve as a stark warning about just how bad things can easily get.
Major innaccuracy: The Iron ore comes from mines in Sweden, NOT Norway. The ore was (and still is) however shipped out of the Norwegian port of Narvik. Please correct this asap.
The mines were in Sweden, but the ore transited by Narvik port.
Another Wilson adventure that went director others.
Sweden had (has) the mines, but Norway had the export harbor in Narvik.
The iron ore was from Swedish mines, but the important issue was that it was exported via Narvik as the border was very close.
Also, the Blucher was critically damaged by shore-launched torpedoes.
shore launched? didn't even consider those existed in ww2. makes sense though. thanks!
@@coppulor6500 The torpedo batteries in the Oscarsborg Fortress went back a lot longer than WW II. They were actually installed in 1898-1901. Its existence was unknown to German intelligence, possibly because they were hidden and designed to launch their torpedoes underwater, unlike those installed at the Kvarven Fort, which is on the channel approaching Bergen.
@@TheEulerID fascinating stuff!
I don't believe the "Norwegian Mines" is correct. Germany's iron was coming from Sweden, being transported out through the Norwegian port at Narvik. Germany needed to protect that export from being blocked. as always, i enjoyed the video.
Iron ore was sourced from Sweden , not Norway and shipped from Norwegian ports .
Anyone knows what's the song (or songs) that plays during the "Seizing the opportunity" section of the video? (especially the one near the end of it)
IIRC the iron ore was Swedish. Transported too Narvik for shipment by sea.
What is the name of the video of the second half of this Naval battle?
I wonder if you can see those sunken ships in the ports today.
Frau Bluker!!! Put..ze Candle...BACK!
- G. Wylder
MERRY XMAS! !
I find it funny that the Norwegian government sought refuge in a country that threatened to do the same but was beaten to the punch
The Iron came from Sweden via Narvik, the ore itself did not come from Norway.
When you drive into Narvik you can still see the keel and some of the hull of these ships on the shore line at low tide.
My Father was there on Warspite! Cheers.🇬🇧🏴
That was great when is the 2snd battle going to show up?😂
@8:52 is taken from here roughly [68.42766706567747, 17.42167445170603] looking south west. Focal length is very different I think but the contours of the hills are spot on. distance feels much larger on Street view than on the picture.
Im not totally sure if that iron ore came from norwegian mines. Iron ore is shipped from Narvik but that iron come from Kiruna in Sweden. Anyway, the iron ore was the main reason fro Hitlers invation, and in turn why they invaded Denmark.
The first successful paratroop landings were at the Lillebælt Bridge and Aalborg airfield in Denmark.
Another great one. Look forward to the 2nd one.
Next time when rattling off cities @ 5:10 how about showing us a map so that we also can see the names, since you haven't printed the names, I've no idea what your talking about
Unfortunately this video really is riddled with errors, especially concerning the background to the Narvik battle. Not up to normal standards.
They always have some errors in all of their videos on all of their channels. Someone said it's to increase comments.
@@senorpepper3405, lol, that was me. I've never minded the background (What I theorized as to be the comment generator), but the info has been slipping as of late.
Great history lesson. Thank You.
1:07 Nazi-German and the Soviet Union booth invaded Poland. They spilt the booty. 3:34 Furnebu was not the first time, parachuters came in action in war. It was in Aalborg, Denmark a few hours earlier.
Can you do a video about Laffey(Benson class destroyer)
Woah photos are great, i wish i was there in fight in Norway!!!
Yes... it was for the small Kriegsmarine a desaster to loss so much Destroyers but for the War it was much more important, that Germany gets Norway and the iron ore and raw Materials. So germany won the much more important battle for narvik. The surface units played only a subordinate role for Germany anyway. The submarine fleet was important to the Navy.
The Norwegian campaign was the first time British commandos were used on the Loftan islands and Vagso
Swedish iron ore mines not Norwegian. Summer was baltic transport. Winter via rail to Norway then sea.
I thought the iron mines were swedish. The mines were connected by Norwegian railroads to Norwegian ports that were ice free in winter ❄️. This allowed transport of iron ore in winter since Swedish ports were iced over in winter. Invading Norway by Germany protected that raw materials transportation from the British.
The French supplied iron ore to Nazi Germany between the wars? Well, that was stupid. 🤣
Follow the money - as the French do. No doubt supplied a lot more after 1940 . . .
Oh no, a cliffhanger!
The Luftwaffe sunk two German destroyers as mistake in 1939 and the Norwagian invasion coused the Kriegmarines was too weak for Seelöve plan. When the RAF won the Battle of Britain the Seelöve was over totally!
Part two coming soon, l hope.
When is part 2 coming?👌