How Germany conquered Norway in 62 days: Operation Weserübung, 1940

Operation Weserübung began in the early hours of 9 April 1940. Denmark was forced to give in under the threat of Copenhagen being bombed and capitulated the same day. In Norway, German troops landed at eight places at once – Oslo, Kristiansand, Arendal, Egersund, Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik. According to the German Federal Archives, the Reich wanted bases for the naval war against Britain and to secure Swedish iron ore for its arms industry; Berlin also feared that Britain and France might get there first.

In the Oslofjord the attack met unexpected resistance. At 4.21am Oscarsborg Fortress near Drøbak, commanded by Colonel Birger Eriksen, opened fire on the heavy cruiser Blücher; two shells and two torpedoes struck, and the ship sank at around 7.30am. The delay gave King Haakon VII and the government time to escape the capital – Oslo was only taken later, via Fornebu airport. At Narvik the German navy lost all ten destroyers it had sent in two naval battles on 10 and 13 April. British, French and Polish troops landed at Namsos, Åndalsnes and Harstad from mid-April; Hegra Fortress, held by around 250 volunteers, resisted from 15 April to 5 May.

On 28 May Norwegian and Allied troops retook Narvik – but after the German breakthrough in the West the British and French withdrew, the last of them leaving northern Norway on 8 June. The king and government went into exile in London, and on 10 June Norway's forces capitulated. The animated documentary follows the attack on Denmark and the first day in Norway hour by hour, then the whole campaign day by day on the map – from Drøbak via Dombås and Hegra to Narvik. The video is in German.