Might Makes Right

The German operation codenamed “Wildente” used surprise to catch the Anglo-Norwegian units off-guard by barring their way south of Ranfjord. A steamer sailed up the fjord and landed 300 men and two guns in the small port of Hemnesberget. They could be resupplied by air and they threatened …

1940-05-11

J040

The German operation codenamed “Wildente” used surprise to catch the Anglo-Norwegian units off-guard by barring their way south of Ranfjord. A steamer sailed up the fjord and landed 300 men and two guns in the small port of Hemnesberget. They could be resupplied by air and they threatened the Allied rear. Panicked by the boldness of the enemy landing, British High Command decided to evacuate by sea its units south of Ranfjord. The Norwegians were on their own. The only solution was a counterattack. With a few machine guns as their sole support and led by a spirited Danish officer, Captain Ellinger, they reached the first few houses of Hemnesberget.

Finneid, Norway

The Actions in Nordland were part of the 1940 Norwegian Campaign of World War II. They were a subsidiary part of the Allied attempt to recapture Narvik. When the Germans achieved victory in the Campaigns in Central Norway, they began advancing north through Nordland to relieve the German forces isolated in Narvik. To prevent the Germans either relieving Narvik or capturing airfields within easy range, some small British and French units were deployed to the southern part of Nordland county early in May. A more powerful force (mainly British, but with some local Norwegian units) was detached from the expeditionary force besieging Narvik to northern and central Nordland in the middle of May. This force's arrival was disrupted by German air attacks on the ships carrying its units. German mountain troops forced the Allies back to within a few miles of their base at Bodø. The Allies had already decided to evacuate Norway at this point, and the force at Bodø was withdrawn without incident, with the last units departing by 1 June 1940.

German

Norwegian

Scenario Type = Standard