Ramp-Rat
Monthly Donor
Can the British without American assistance successfully invade Northern Norway during the summer of 1942, via Narvik, and subsequently hold onto the territory as far south as possible, while clearing the Germans out of all the territory up to the Soviet border. To which the simple answer is yes, admittedly at some considerable cost, mostly in resources that might be better used elsewhere. Can they then go on to capture Southern Norway, and remove the Germans from Norway entirely, given the resources available at this time, highly doubtful and extremely costly. So what advantages would the British gain by conducting such an invasion in the short term and long term. In the short term they will have opened another front in the war, that requires significant German participation, and convincing Stalin that they are deadicated to the fight against Hitler and the Nazis. And strangely it will provide the Swedes with a route to the rest of the world that isn’t under German control, which relives some of their problems with accessing strategic materials such as oil and rubber, especially ITTL were the British are still in control of Malaya and Burma. Come the winter the Swedes will not be able to export their high grade iron ore to Germany, or their ball bearings, but can and will export these to the British in exchange of resources that they do not possess.
In addition the possession of Northern Norway by the British, will make the sailing of convoys to the Soviet Union much easier, as with a sheltered half way port at Narvik where some escorts can swap places. And the possibility of building a number of airfields which can accommodate both long range maritime patrol aircraft and long range fighter aircraft. This will enable convoys to run all year round, and in much greater safety than is the case presently, thus reducing the need for escorts. And with Northern Norway in British hands, the remaining German capital ships will be constantly exposed to attacks from the air and sea, as heavy bombers that do not have the range, can now fly one way missions starting in Scotland and ending in Norway, before returning to Scotland either directly or via targets in Norway or Germany. While smaller naval vessels including submarines can use Narvik as a starting point, for their missions against the German capital ships. Eventually the majority of the ground forces will be Norwegian, as will a major percentage of the naval and aerial forces. Far more than IOTL, an invasion of Northern Norway makes sense ITTL, whether it makes enough sense so as to be seriously considered is a question that our author has to decide on. As does the question that if it makes sense, do the advantages of such an invasion, outweigh the numerous disadvantages.
RR.
In addition the possession of Northern Norway by the British, will make the sailing of convoys to the Soviet Union much easier, as with a sheltered half way port at Narvik where some escorts can swap places. And the possibility of building a number of airfields which can accommodate both long range maritime patrol aircraft and long range fighter aircraft. This will enable convoys to run all year round, and in much greater safety than is the case presently, thus reducing the need for escorts. And with Northern Norway in British hands, the remaining German capital ships will be constantly exposed to attacks from the air and sea, as heavy bombers that do not have the range, can now fly one way missions starting in Scotland and ending in Norway, before returning to Scotland either directly or via targets in Norway or Germany. While smaller naval vessels including submarines can use Narvik as a starting point, for their missions against the German capital ships. Eventually the majority of the ground forces will be Norwegian, as will a major percentage of the naval and aerial forces. Far more than IOTL, an invasion of Northern Norway makes sense ITTL, whether it makes enough sense so as to be seriously considered is a question that our author has to decide on. As does the question that if it makes sense, do the advantages of such an invasion, outweigh the numerous disadvantages.
RR.