April 1940
The German invasion of Norway involved some seven divisions, as well as airborne troops and some attached armour and artillery, although the initial forces were much lower due to the low capacity of the Kriegsmarine to transport and land troops. Most of these forces weren't also allocated to Fall Gelb, but the Luftwaffe, especially the Junkers troop transports, was needed for support, and the air landing capability was an integral part of the plan to invade Holland.
The defeat and occupation of Denmark had proceeded as planned; the small Danish Army had offered little resistance to the overwhelming German attack, as had been predicted.
The situation in Norway and the surrounding seas was far more fluid and confused. After initial success at landing troops by ship, aided by terrible weather and some miscalculations by the Royal Navy, the Kriegsmarine had suffered reverses and considerable losses at the hands of Allied ships, submarines and aircraft. Despite these, there were sufficient forces in Norway to take over the pivotal south of the country, and pursue the remaining Norwegian forces northwards. The situation had been made worse for the Allies by the limited action of Norwegian forces; due to the lack of urgency in their mobilisation many of their units had been unable to act with any effect.
Further north the Allies were in a much better position, with the exception of Narvik which was still held by German troops. A number of landings had taken place, and the situation is perhaps best described as confused.
A major problem for the Army is the provision of units for the operations. While the Navy has ample ships available, there are few good ports in the northern area capable of landing substantial forces. This is not helped by the nature and area of the terrain making it difficult to assemble and use larger formations. As a result it is intended to send four infantry brigades plus their support.
The first formation to arrive is the Guards Brigade. This had originally been intended for the intervention planned by the Allies, and was landed in the Narvik area on the 15th. Following them was the 146th Brigade, at Namsos on the 16th, and the 148th Brigade at Aandalsenes on the 18th. The piecemeal nature of the reinforcements is not helped by the lack of a unified command structure. Another problem occurs when the decision of a fourt division is considered. The initial idea is to pull the 15th Brigade out of 5th Infantry Division in France, but after all the issues over the Dyle plan eralier in the year, there are political implications. While the French are also supplying a force for Norway, this isn't being drawn from units facing the German threat.
The solution reached is to use a brigade from the 1st Canadian Division, This is an infantry formation currently forming in the UK, and it was expected to be able to deploy it to France in about three months. The Division is short of some of its support troops and artillery, and hasn't had any real training as a division. However it is practical to form one fully equipped infantry brigade. The issues are more political than logistical - Canada has insisted that its formation fight as much as possible as complete units, and under their own commanders. Of course the British Army would have been happy to use the full division if it had been ready. As it wasn't, after some discussions the Canadian government agreed to its use provided that when the rest of the division was ready it would be withdrawn and the 1st Canadian Division would be deployed as a unit. This was quite acceptable to the British, as this was their long term aim anyway. It was also seen as a way of getting the Canadians valuable combat experience, and it was felt that they would be well suited to the conditions in Norway.
No decision was made initially about the deployment of tanks, The french were intending to send a unit of Hotchkiss H-39 tanks, although these would have to wait until adequate port facilities were under Allied control. There was consideration of sending a force of Infantry tanks, but currently the knowledge of the logistics and ports in Norway was insufficient to know how practical this would be. However once this problem had been solved, a battalion of tanks would be sent over.
15th April 1940
The 42nd (East Lancashire) Division is now part of the BEF. This is the last combat division expected until June, although three untrained divisions are being used as line of communication and engineering troops. As a result the BEF is reorganised into four Corps under Lord Gort.
I Corps - LTG Sir John Dill
1 Div (MG Alexander)
2 Div (MG Lloyd)
48 Div (MG Thorpe)
II Corps - LTG Sir A Brooke
3 Div (MG Montgomery)
4 Div (MG Johnson)
50 Div (MG Martel)
III Corps - LTG Sir A Adam
51(highland) Div (GHQ reserve) (MG Fortune)
42 Div (MG Holmes)
44 Div (MG Osborne)
IV Corps - LTG Lindsay
5 Div (MG Franklyn)
1st Armoured Div (MG Evans)
(IV Corps is seconded to French 7th Army as part of the reserve)
1st Army Tank Brigade (assigned to GHQ reserve)
In addition to the normal artillery and supporting troops, the BEF has one cavalry regiment per division, with an extra regiment for 1st Armoured Division, and two regiments retained in GHQ reserve (The Cavalry regiments re equipped with a mix of light and heavy armoured cars).
Additional divisions are being formed in Britain, and it is intended to bring them over in groups of three, each time forming a new Corps. At this point consideration will be given to splitting the BEF into two Armies.
In addition to the fighting formations, three divisions - the 12th, 23rd and 46th - would be sent over. These second-line divisions would be used for pioneer duties, building airfields, depots and other infrastructure to be used by the growing BEF. Only the infantry and engineers were sent, with a skeletal HQ organisation and minimal service units.
There was no intention of using these formed but untrained units in combat. While every man did have a rifle, barely half had even fired one, and they had only 1/3 of their complement of LMG's, and no mortars or carriers. The officers were not even generally issued with pistols or compasses. The divisions arrived in the second half of April, with the stipulation that one battalion in each Brigade would train while the other two worked.
