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Chapter XV: Another Vote
25 April, 1938-2 May, 1938
The debate in the first reading of the Neutrality Bill mirrored the recruiting attempts of the MP’s. Germany wouldn’t invade Norway, and the armed forces already had plenty of money vs. Germany was becoming expansionist and Norway needed to make sure it could continue to protect its neutrality. Voices were raised, and the atmosphere during the vote was heated.
The vote after 50 votes was 20-30 against the bill. After 100, it was 42-48. After every single member had voted, the bill was passed, 76-74. At least three days later, it had to be passed a second time to go to King Haakvon VII and the Prime Minister. Johan slept well that night after the busy day. He would have to work very hard to make sure that the votes to pass the bill were there in the second hearing. Before he retired, he wrote a now famous letter to Churchill, detailing just how frustrated he was with the people who thought that Hitler wasn’t a threat. Perhaps his most famous quote is this: “If we aren’t willing to take steps to protect our Democracy, we nullify it by inviting those who don’t believe in it to destroy it!” He would use a very similar line in the debate during the second reading on 2 May, 1938.
On Monday, 2 May, 1938, a debate exceeding the first in both loudness of voices and heatedness of arguments took place, and it was clear that the bill was now a Partisan bill, with Labour against and Conservative for it. Though the Conservative Party held a slight edge over the Labour Party in terms of seats, the vote had a 50-50 chance. Johan Nilsen lost his voice less than an hour into the debate. Many MP’s abstained. Only 95 voted this time. The bill passed, 48-47. However, it was clear that, without further provocative moves from Germany, passing any further rearmament bill would be extremely difficult, something that Johan recognized for the time being. The additions to the military would be:
Two submarines would be built in Horten shipyard. Based off the Estonian Kalev class, they were to have four 53.3cm torpedo tubes, 20 mines, and a Bofors 4cm L/60 gun. The subs would be laid down in July, 1938, and completed in March, 1940. They would be named D1 and D2.
The fishery protection vessel Fridtjof Nansen would have a 4cm L/60 gun mounted for anti-aircraft defense. She would be fitted with storage and rails for 60 mines, and would land her seaplane and two 3-pounders.
The two Nordkapp class would have a pair of 12.7mm machine guns fitted for AA, but instead of minelaying gear, these small vessels would retain their sweeps.
The fortresses in Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, Narvik, Trondheim, and Kristiansand would each receive a battery of two 4cm L/60 guns to improve their AA capabilities.
Four minesweepers, the lead ship to be named Otra, would be completed by February of 1940. Armed with two 4cm AA guns and capable of just 13.5 knots, they wouldn’t be of much value in a ship to ship battle, but could shoot back at aircraft and effectively sweep mines, as well as being relatively cheap.
The freighter Navarra, completed in 1921, was requisitioned and fitted to carry four MTB’s, as Snar was also doing. With 40(soon to be 48) MTB’s, it was felt that another carrier would be needed to carry the fragile boats from fjord to fjord. The ship was armed with a high-angle 3-pounder on the bow and stern.
The merchantmen Start and Kvernaas were requisitioned and fitted with minelaying equipment, a low-angle 6-pounder, and two 12.7mm machine guns. They could both carry up to 60 mines.
The 8 new MTB’s each displaced 60 tons, three times as much as the old MTB’s, and their capabilities showed it. Each was armed with a 2cm Oerlikon and four 45cm torpedo tubes, plus six full sized depth charges. These boats were much more seaworthy than the older vessels, and faster. Rumors have it that Norway’s intelligence services obtained plans for German S-Boats, and these new vessels were based on them, but no conclusive evidence has confirmed the story.
The army was given the funding to add two new regiments to its order of battle, so it wouldn’t be spread thinly throughout Norway.
The purchase of two squadrons of modern fighters by the Royal Norwegian Army Air Service took a bit. The Hawker Hurricane, Curtiss Hawk 75, and Fokker D.XXI were all world class fighters, and it took a bit to decide which aircraft type to purchase. The Hawk 75, armed with two machine guns, was thought to not have enough firepower, while the Hurricane, though well armed and probably the highest performing aircraft, would take longer due to the British buying most of them. The D.XXI was underpowered. An idea was proposed to fit Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp engines from America into the D.XX1 airframe, which would be shipped from the Netherlands in crates and mated with the engines at the Royal Norwegian Army Air Service factory in Kjeller. This would standardize engines with the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service’s floatplanes, which also used the Twin Wasp engine. The plan was adopted, and an agreement reached with Fokker and Pratt & Whitney. All 24 fighters were expected to be fully operational in July, 1940, though the first squadron would probably be ready in mid-March.
This was the scope of the expansion of the Norwegian Armed Forces prior to the Second World War, which began on 1 September, 1939, when Germany, which had annexed the Sudetenland and later Czechoslovakia in late 1938 and early 1939, respectively, invaded Poland. The British and French finally decided enough was enough, and declared war on Germany two days later. Norway began a policy of Armed Neutrality, hoping to stay out of this war, just as it had two decades before.
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Tensions are clearly rising for sure!