NORWAY

April 1940

(Fought using Rapid Fire Rules with local adaptations)

 

Briefings

From the early hours of April 9th the German attack on Norway has ben generally successful with most objectives seized. Fortunately their capture of Narvik, although initially successful, was short lived and they have since been forced out of the town and pushed back into the mountains by Norwegian troops supported by British, French & Polish allies.

The German mission was to recapture Narvik with all dispatch via the inland route alongside Roinbak Fjord. Units had been amalgamated at short notice to act as a flying column to Blitzkrieg the way to the relief of German forces left on the outskirts of the port. To assist him the German commander had a detachment of Brandenbergers, landed by seaplane, tasked to capture and hold the vital Stromnes road bridge. He also had a number of small, remnant ski units scattered throughout the area.                           

The Battleground

A standard 9 foot x 5 foot table tennis table acted as the battlefield with a smaller table alongside to represent the fjord. The table was covered with a white sheet to represent snow for most of its length aprt from a grass strip running along one edge, adjacent to the blue fjord. The main road ran the length of the table alongside the fjord, over the Stromnes bridge where it split into two, one continuing 

alongside the fjord whilst the other curved towards Narvik and running alongside the railway.The railway itself initially ran alongside the road before swinging inland to cross via its own bridge before rejoining the road.As you might have gathered both road and rail had to cross a river which lead inland from the fjord this was approximately in the middle of the battlefield. Near the river bridges were two canning factories and the railway station. The Elvegards Hotel was positioned close to the German road entry. Small sheds, a chapel and a pier completed the buildings on table. The terrain was completed with small hills and trees to break up lines of sight.

 

                                                             

The Battle

A small Norwegian forward blocking force at the Elvegards Hotel was quickly reinforced by an even smaller force of British prior to the German column reaching the road block. These reinforcements allowed a heroic defence to take place which stalled the German advance for a good number of turns before finally the horse drawn artillery arrived and battered a way through. During this defence a Boys anti-tank rifle, recrewed a number of times, gave as good a it got against a number of Panzer Mk1 & 2 tanks. This heroic Norwegian and British defence bought enough time for the remaining allied troops to reach the Stromnes road bridge from the other end of the Roinbak Fjord.

 

Meanwhile the Brandenbergers were successfully landed by two Dornier 18 flying boats alongside the pier at Stromnes canning factory. They then attempted to storm the road bridge. Bold as this unit was it was unable to achieve its aim, due in part to intransigent Norwegians dug in around the bridge as well as the increasing numbers of allied reinforcements arriving.

 

German ski troops made good progress for a time, even managing to reach the rail bridge and take up positions in the canning factories. Unfortunately they were too few in number to hold these positions. Their presence had also been detected by Norwegian ski troops and a number of running battles ensued with heavy losses on each side.

 

Increasing numbers of allied forces managed to reach Stromnes and take up positions around its factories and road bridge. By the time the German column finally arrived it found itself with another battle to fight rather than the free passage it had expected. This pitched battle meant that the German relief column was held up for a second time, lost a number of its transports and also had the last of its Panzer Mk 2s knocked out. It was also experiencing great difficulty in trying to force its way over the bridge due mainly to the presence of a Renault 35 tank.

At this point reality called a halt to the proceedings, heavy snow falling outside the clubhouse forced an early end to the evening to allow members to get home. So a draw in favour of the Norwegian & Allied forces was declared although it seemed that in time the German relief column would have eventually broken through. However it would likely have reached Narvik as a spent force incapable of providing any relief to the German troops around the port.

For more photos click here