The British Norway Campaign

In April 1942 Adolf Hitler stated that only the Battle of Moscow and the Norwegian campaign had been ”absolutely decisive” actions. Why then has, until recently, the Norwegian campaign attracted so few British or American authors? Several reasons can be stated, e.g, that it was a military failure for the Allies, but I so far have found no utterly convincing reply to this question.

What I mainly have gained from the book Churchill and The Norway Campaign (2008) by Graham Rhys-Jones is a more full realization of the Pyrrhic nature of the German victory in Norway. To quote from the book it ”sparked the upheaval which removed Chamberlain´s hesitant and divided ministry and opened the way for an implacable and uncompromising opponent, determined to see the war through to its better end.” That the Norwegian campaign sealed Chamberlain´s fate was certainly not news to me, but it was Churchill and The Norway Campaign that first made me consider the German victory in Norway more of a minus than a plus for the Germans.

The author is not uncritical of Chamberlain´s successor, Churchill. In fact, he writes such things as: ”Behind that benign even homely image, the uplifting rhetoric and the inspiring presence lay a ruthlessness (even sometimes a vindictiveness) worthy of Al Capone.”

The book examines both the strategy behind the tactical actions and many of the more significant events in the fjords and mountains of Norway.

The poor performance of the British Army in Norway seems to have largely been the result of First World War thinking, according to the author. The author confirmed something I have long suspected, that Spaniards formed the largest national group in the Foreign Legion detachment at Narvik. I am impressed with the details regarding the French troops provided by the author.

I also find it commendable that the author describes the almost totally forgotten ”Mowinckel Plan”, an idea not adopted but a great what-if scanario that in a nutshell meant that Swedish forces were to intervene and take over the Narvik area from both the Germans and Allied forces.

The author of Churchill and The Norway Campaign, Graham Rhys-Jones, is also the author of The Loss of the Bismarck (1999) and has a background in the Royal Navy where he commanded a frigate. In more recent years he has taught strategy at the US Naval War College (USNWC) and on leaving the navy he returned to the USNWC as a research fellow.

My main negative remark would be the strong expectation created by the book´s cover. It portrays in colour Winston Churchill flanked by the German generals Eduard Dietl and Nikolaus von Falkenhorst. Considering that the author devotes little space to Dietl and sursprisingly little to Falkenhorst, the overall commander of the invasion of Norway, the cover is rather misleading. That having been said I will not deny that the cover is a very attractive one!

Rhys-Jones has found some excellent photographs for his book, one only wishes he had included some more. The seven maps provide the essential geographical features and names, but not more.

If you are looking for a recent and reliable overview of the battle for Norway in 1940 I would recommend another book: Hitler´s Pre-emptive War by Henrik O. Lunde. If you, however, are mainly interested in the British aspects of this campaign, Churchill and The Norway Campaign is an excellent choice.

Spanish Civil War & Narvik

One of the about 200 Norwegians who fought in Spain 1936-39.

The Swedish cover photo of the unknown Norwegian member of the International Brigades in Spain is one of several links between Sweden and the about 200 Norwegians in the Spanish Civil War. But this book also is a good reminder about Narvik.

The title of the book Tusen dager. Norge og den spanske borgerkrigen (“A thousand days. Norway and the Spanish Civil War”) is explained by the fact that the war lasted 989 days. I like the poetic title, and I am very impressed by all the history and photographs that the authors have dug up. The book´s authors Jo Stein Moen and Rolf Saether tell the story of how the Spanish Civil War affected Norway, and recount the experiences of the about 200 Norwegian volunteers - of which most were on the side of the republic. As is the case with the about 550 Swedish volunteers in Spain, only a small number fought on Franco´s side. In Norway´s case it was seven men. Although few, they too are covered in the book, not least the later SS-volunteer Per Imerslund.

The authors estimate that about 50 Norwegians died for the republic, slightly more than previously thought. In other words, every fourth Norwegian died. On this very day, the tenth of October, in the year 2000, the last surviving Norwegian veteran passed away.

Gladly, not just the International Brigades are covered, but also the joint Swedish-Norwegian hospital on the republican side. Not that many years ago I was talking to its last surviving member.

The book also describes what happened afterwards and I especially appreciate the part about the Spanish Civil War veterans who fought at Narvik 1940. In the war cemetery there rest 118 members of the French Foreign Legion - 16 of them are Spanish.

There is a website about the book, with a section in English - here is the link to that section.

I hereby would like to tell the authors how sorry I am it took so very long until I could review your fine book.

Joining the Legion

Nope, I have not joined the Foreign Legion and at my age I do not think I would be accepted either.

But have a good April 1st!

And... if you are interested in Swedes (and some Norwegians too) that actually were in the French Foreign Legion - then click the tag below these words that reads "Foreign Legion" and you will then see all my blog posts about the subject.

Foreign Legion Viking Record

Henrik Angell from Norway joined the French Foreign Legion and fought against the WWI German Army and early Red Army.

Thanks to Henrik L, a fellow Swedish armoured troops cadet in 1989, I recently became aware of a very special Norwegian colonel who volunteered for France in WWI and served her as a 1st lieutenant (was that also his last French rank?).

His name was Henrik Angell and he survived fighting the WWI German Army but not the combat in the Arctic during the Russian Civil War. The above photo of Angell in a 1918 Swedish weekly paper was found by Henrik and states that Angell is on his way to the Murman-front, i.e. Murmansk.

I reckon Agnell must be the oldest Scandinavian volunteer in the French Foreign legion. He was 63 when he joined!

Narvik Helmet Saved in Luleå

This French helmet from Norway, probably Narvik, was about to be melted down in Luleå, Sweden.

I visited the owner of this helmet during the weekend. It was about to be melted down in the steel plant in Luleå some year after the war but was saved by my friend.

It had no insignia when he saved it from the fire. The Foreign Legion badge he added after a trip to Paris. I wonder, might it as well originally have had the "RF" insignia? But I suppose there is no doubt it really belonged to a legionnaire if the chasseurs alpins wore no helmets while in Norway. Does someone out there know?

Foreign Legion Swede Highlighted

Foreign legionnaire Elow Nilson is highlighted in the French edition of Swedish author Peter Englund's "The Beauty and the Sorrow".

Life is good. The author who has inspired me more than any other has sent me his latest book with a dedication as a thank you for some information I provided.

Hardly anyone expected a Swedish book about WWI to get such fine reviews from a global audience. The Beauty and the Sorrow: An Intimate History of the First World War was published first in Peter Englund's own language in 2009 and has since been published in English, German and now also French as La beauté et la douleur des combats.

I have no part in the Swedish edition but played a tiny part in the French edition by providing Peter Englund with some information about the Foreign Legionnaire Elow Nilson, a Swedish volunteer that I wrote about in Swedes at War (first published in 2004) and then Lina Sturfelt wrote more about in her book Eldens återsken ("Reflections of Fire", published in 2008).

Elow Nilson is not part of the Swedish, English and German editions of The Beauty and the Sorrow but only the French edition. Lina Sturfelt's part in restoring Nilson to our collective memory is larger than mine but I am nevertheless proud to have done something for him.

The impact of Peter Englund's book Poltava, available in English as The Battle That Shook Europe: Poltava and the Birth of the Russian Empire is hard to overstate. The book was released the same year I began my military service, 1988, and affected me in many ways. It inspired me to pursue a career not in the army but in military history. But not least it also made me think how odd it is that of the nine Gyllenhaals who were officers under king Charles XII (who lost at Poltava) only one died in battle. How and why did my namesake and direct forefather survive those most extreme years in Sweden's history?

It can be noted that Peter Englund dedicated The Beauty and the Sorrow to the memory of private Carl Englund, who was killed in action outside Amiens on September 13, 1918. He was wearing a uniform of the Australian army, being a member of the 3rd Australian division. He had participated in and survived Passchendaele...

Battle of Narvik Tour

One of my favourite finds during the 2010 hikes around Narvik, a Norwegian soldiers´s collapsible spade, a moment after it was spotted by a British friend. It should still be there, on the mountain of Kuberget.

The March 2011 issue of Armchair General magazine is on its way to subscribers and newsstands. It features an article by yours truly, entitled "Dietl, Hero of Narvik".

As a Web Extra complementing my article, there is this new Self Guided Tour of the Narvik area that I made. Since I wrote it, a new book has appeared that you should get before venturing out on a battlefield hike. The book is in Norwegian but has many photos and above all GPS maps of the southern Narvik battlefields. It is simply a must-have for exploring the southern area. The title is Slaget om Narvik: Sydfronten, the author is local WWII historian Oyvind Johnsen.

In addition, this Narvik Luger story of mine has also been published online by Armchair General.

Foreign Legion Swedes Remembered

I knew that in Paris, in the Swedish Church, there is a large memorial with the names of the Swedes in the French Foreign Legion who died for France in WWI. But thanks to a reader of Swedes at War I now know there is one more, in the town of Craonne in Picardy.

This is the plaque that Tommie Andersson, a Swedish resident of France, discovered in Craonne:

This is how I read the message: "Sweden, in memory of its sons fallen in the service of France in the Craonne area contributed to this city hall of the heroic municipality of Craonne". PHOTO: Tommie Andersson

Tommie Andersson explains that Craonne was totally destroyed during WWI. The new Craonne was built in 1921-27 beside the ruins of the old town, partly using materials from the ruins. The Franco-Swedish Friendship Society, the Amitié Franco-Suédois, donated a sum for a new city hall, which is where the above plaque is located.

More information about the plaque and the Swedish links to Craonne would be most welcome.

Foreign Legion Vikings

The about forty Swedes in the French Foreign Legion during WWI are a rather elusive bunch, but I just found a new photograph of one of them, together with a Norwegian volunteer.

Readers of Swedes at War will recognize the name Elow Nilson, the Swede in the French Foreign Legion during WWI that was the most well-known at the time. Well, here is a photo of him I have not seen before:


Elow Nilson and the Norwegian H. von Krogh, an engineer from Trondheim, most probably also serving in the Foreign Legion. From the Swedish weekly Vecko-Journalen, April 18, 1915.

Who knows more about von Krogh and how many Norwegians served France in WWI?

UPDATE 1: A friend in Norway just asked me if I had seen this American website with Elow Nilson´s death certificate. Nope, I had not! Thanks, Roger!