Some troops crossed the Jutland border into Denmark, others emerged from hiding in German merchant ships in Copenhagen harbor, and paratroops landed at key points around the country. The rapid Danish capitulation resulted in the uniquely-lenient occupation of Denmark, particularly until the summer of 1943, and in postponing the arrest and deportation of Danish Jews until nearly all of them were warned and on their way to refuge in neutral Sweden. The attack was a prelude to the main attack against Norway (German: Weserbung Nord). In 1629, the peace of Lubeck gave Denmark fourteen years of breathing time. Curious civilians walk along the street past German soldiers and sentries posted at the hotel entrance. [9][pageneeded] Despite Danish anti-aircraft fire, the German fighters destroyed ten Danish aircraft and seriously damaged another fourteen, thereby wiping out half of the entire Army Air Service. On 18 June 1940, an agreement was reached. When they returned, it would be their turn to be insulted, booed, and jeered parading through Copenhagen. Three companies of paratroopers would be used to seize airfields. Meanwhile, Denmark has been involved in a war with Norway. Lasting approximately six hours . Some Danes fought as volunteers in the Waffen SS on the Eastern Front, and one single bloody day, June 2, 1942, Danish SS casualties exceeded those incurred resisting the invasion of their own country by 21 dead and 58 wounded. One walked along Copenhagens bustling Langelinie (Long Canal) in the citys center, then made his way to the Kastellet, the 16th-century fortress, and in a different era, Denmarks Pentagon. That made him become even more strongly committed to the invasion.[6]. . There were two additional career casualties: Rechnitzer, scorned by his officers, and Foreign Minister Munch, who was to resign within weeks, his reputation equally in ruins. [citation needed] By holding Norway, the Danish straits and most of the shores of the Baltic Sea, the Third Reich encircled Sweden from the north, the west and the south. The Danes were too surprised to take a third prisoner. Though later implemented, Operation Wilfred was initially rejected by Neville Chamberlain and Lord Halifax for fear of an adverse reaction among neutral nations like the United States. More Danes were fated to die but, ironically, some would die while in German uniform. Here is a short summary of the German occupation of Denmark: DENMARK IS OCCUPIED On the morning of 9 April 1940 Denmark was attacked by Germany. The purpose was mainly to secure . Operation Weserbung (German: Unternehmen Weserbung [vezyb], transl. By the time they were having breakfast, they found themselves in the middle of it, and Denmarks resistance, as little as it was, was already over. In just a few hours, the German Army had overwhelmed Denmark's army and navy, and . Roaring over the Danish capital, they did not fail to make their impression, Himer would note smugly. Soldiers were to travel unarmed and not be part of unit movements. It was a last-minute addition to the invasion because of the report of those unknown white Italians. Though all he had for intelligence were a brochure and a postcard taken during a tourist visit, Giercke assured them that there would be no problem. When SS troops arrived to round up Danish Jews for deportation to the death camps, the Danes rescued their fellow citizens, ferrying most to safety in Sweden. The German invasion of Denmark and Norway began on 9 April 1940. After recent negotiations with the people of Denmark to join the Kingdom of Sweden have failed, the Kingdom of Sweden has launched an invasion of the country in order to create a economically and politically stronger Scandinavian kingdom. Most of them were linked by skillfully constructed bridges, including the key two-mile Storstrom, connecting Masnedo Island with Sjaelland, and on it, the capital city of Copenhagen. Feature image (on top) Invasion of Denmark 1940 (Photo Bundesarchiv Jutland), German Invasion of Denmark, written by Tor Kjolberg. However, the government in Copenhagen decided that the German military superiority was too great to justify further resistance. General Kurt Himer, who had been directing events from his hotel telephone until the Danish postal authorities finally cut him off, was soon back in touch with his forces in Denmark and headquarters in Hamburg when a truck transported from the Hansestadt Danzig arrived with radio equipment. Operation Wilfred was over, but later that day, the destroyer HMSGlowworm, which detached on 7 April to search for a man lost overboard, was lost in action to the German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and two destroyers belonging to the German invasion fleet. Denmark at least shared a common border with Germany. Outside, German Heinkel bombers escorted by Messerschmitt fighters were overhead, requested by Himer to drop leaflets. The entire operation would be supported by the X Air Corps, which consisted of some 1,000 aircraft of various types. (proclamation). Surprised at the unexpected resistance, the Germans scurried off to prepare for a stronger assault, but it never took place. Prior phoned to put Denmarks air force, only 48 planes, into action. It was the Storstrom. Everything was ready to go, he wrote of the preparations. In their final humiliation, with no local radio on the air yet, the Danes had to resort to using the Germans own radio equipment at the Kastellet with a Danish wavelength to broadcast the cease-fire order to their soldiers and sailors. At that moment, the German 170th and 198th Infantry Divisions and the 11th Motorized Rifle Brigade, 40,000 troops in all, were pouring over the bottleneck border with Jutland, eventually driving 25 miles north. The troops have not fought at all! Prior angrily answered, unaware of the scattered resistance across Jutland. The towns Nybergsund, Elverum, ndalsnes, Molde, Kristiansund N, Steinkjer, Namsos, Bod, and Narvik were devastated by German bombing; some of them were tactically bombed, others terror-bombed. Inside the palace, the shooting had reduced the cabinet to pure panic. The attack on Denmark was planned as a part of the German Operation Weserbung Sd - the German plan for an invasion of Norway. The Danes had abandoned the fort some time earlier. By the summer of 1943, in the midst of World War II, Denmark had been occupied for more than three years. The Free Corps Denmark (Danish: Frikorps Danmark) was a Danish volunteer free corps created by the Danish Nazi Party (DNSAP) in cooperation with Nazi Germany, to fight . He and the equally depressed and desperate foreign minister, Peter Munch, had to pin their hopesand Denmarks fateon a non-aggression pact with Germany. Lasting approximately six hours, the German ground campaign against Denmark was the briefest operation of the Second World War. Fed up, the Germans handed the government an ultimatum with a seven-hour deadline. Churchill again proposed his mining scheme but once again was denied. The men listened attentively to their commander: The Fhrer has decided to attack Denmark and Norway in order to protect the Reich. The mine fields were laid in the Vestfjorden in the early morning of 8 April. It is in our interest that Norway remains neutral, General Franz Halder, chief of the German general staff, recorded in his diary on New Years Day, 1940. The Danes vowed, Aldrig mere 9 April (Never Again an April 9) and abandoned neutrality to help found NATO in 1949. The Germans, under what they called their model protectorate, allowed the Danish courts and government to function, even leaving the schools and press alone. The invasions had not come as a complete surprise, for Germany had been at war with Great Britain and France since the . . The Germans split into three columns, two headed for the Kastellet, the last for Amalienborg Palace. LEFT: Prior to the German invasion in the spring of 1940, Danish King Christian X rides his horse through the streets of the capital city of Copenhagen. The start of the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland in November 1939 changed the strategic situation. The Germans had been considering establishing naval bases in Norway since October 1939, just a . The main striking force was to land at Narvik and advance along the railroad to its eastern terminus at Lulea, occupying Kiruna and Gallivare along the way. The Royal Army of Poland marches to Denmark to conquer it from the Scandinavian Empire. The main German land campaign advanced northward from Oslo with superior equipment; Norwegian soldiers with turn-of-the-century weapons, along with some British and French troops, stop invaders for a time before yielding; this was the first land combat between the British Army and the Wehrmacht in World War II. The first German ships set sail for the invasion on 3 April. Introduction to the Holocaust. The German Army in northwestern Europe surrendered to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomerys forces inMay 1945, and the German troops in Denmark simply walked out. If the demands were not met, the Luftwaffe would bomb the capital, Copenhagen. They broke the first Danish positions.. A new government was expected to jump at Hitlers whim, but it refused to sanction death sentences on members of and made arrangements to smuggle Denmarks endangered Jews to safety in Sweden. The mock government is based off the US Government. The tourists took note, gathered intelligence, and reported the military mystery to Berlin, with comic consequences to come. Denmark didn't resist for too long, just under six hours, but the soldiers of Denmark were willing to do their duty against the Germans. Have the troops fought for long enough? he helplessly asked General Prior. 13744. With the crisis looming, Rechnitzer had sent some of his best commanders on sudden leave the day before. The British and French staffs agreed that the latter half of March would be the best time for going into Norway. . The Altmark rescued British prisoners-of-war, which also violated Norwegian neutrality since she was obliged to release them as soon as she entered neutral territory. In Prague, they spat at us. Slowly, imperceptibly, the night gave way to the dawn, which brought a sense of relief to the captain of the transport squadron. From this narrative it is clear that as early as October, 1939, the question of invading Norway was under consideration. If nothing else, the Royal Life Guards at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen prevented the Germans from capturing King Kristian X just long enough for him to order a surrender. A day earlier, German airborne commander Walter Giercke had his own meeting in a local headquarters in Hamburg housed in a requisitioned hotel following an emergency summons to fly immediately from his base in Stendahl. Norway now has a rulership situation similar to Denmark: the . ID Cards. Not smart in appearance, perhaps, but they are tough and crack shots, a German colonel conceded about these determined, scrappy Danes. The country was a useful base of operations for the fight against Norway. The aircraft continued descending, and we saw land again, the island of Masnedo. Denmark will be occupied next week.. Captain Walter Giercke was being handed the first airborne operation in history! A second airdrop 45 minutes after Gierckes captured a more critical target, the airfield at Allborg on Jutlands northern tip. Major Hans Lunding ran a spy ring in northern Germany, which sent him reports of troop concentrations, increases in military traffic, and the stockpiling of supplies. Title: "1940 " Title: "Invasion of Denmark and Norway, 9 April 1940" LSs of battleships, Nazi flag flying, men on deck. Operation Weser Exercise, 9 April - 10 June 1940) was Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign.. [17] Raeder had begun by asking questions such as "Can bases be gained by military force against Norway's will, if it is impossible to carry this out without fighting? Their state of mind would improve when King Christian finally appeared. He found himself in a room full of nervous generals, facing a major with a map covering the wall behind him. My mood is quite black, and I feel extremely dejected and heartbroken, Admiral Rechnitzer wrote. The 70-year-old King appeared inwardly shattered, Himer recalled. The sergeant major gathered the company. The ground forces would be the XXI Army Corps, including the 3rd Mountain Division and five infantry divisions;none of the latter had yet been tested in battle. German General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst (left) planned and led the German invasions of Denmark and Norway. At the time Ambassador Renthe-Fink and Foreign Minister Munch were facing each other, a German passenger ship turned troop transport, the Hansestadt Danzig, was sliding unimpeded through Copenhagen Harbor. It came from the naval headquarters, requesting authorization to start firing. His whole body trembled. April 9, 1940. However, "the mines were not laid until the morning of 8 April, by which time the German ships were advancing up the Norwegian coast". Join historians and history buffs alike with our Unlimited Digital Access pass to every military history article ever published (over 3,000 articles) in Sovereigns military history magazines. The availability of tanks and armored cars was the greatest importance, one German officer said. When the two men met 20 minutes later, Renthe-Fink declared that German troops were at that moment moving in to occupy Denmark to protect the country from Franco-British attack. Search All 1 Records in Our Collections. You can look anyone in the face, with your heads erect, knowing you have done your duty, General Prior said in a message to his soldiers, but in the streets of Copenhagen, they were spat on. But it was also begun by a cruel display of diplomatic deceit. Now he, in effect, put the whole Danish Navy on leave. First The Royal Army will head to Jutland. 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