Hitler’s Arctic War, The German Campaigns in Norway, Finland and the USSR 1940-1945

This book reviews what is almost a forgotten army. Norway was 
vitally important to the German war effort because it was a 
source of key raw materials. It was also an important front 
against the USSR. A very valuable addition to available knowledge 
about campaigns which have been under reviewed, highly recommended.

NAME: Hitler's Arctic War, The German Campaigns in Norway, Finland 
and the USSR 1940-1945
FILE: R2410
AUTHOR:  Chris Mann, Christer Jorgensen
PUBLISHER: Pen & Sword
BINDING: soft back 
PAGES:  224
PRICE: £14.99
GENRE: Non Fiction
SUBJECT: WWII, World War 1I, World War Two, Second World War, German 
Army, winter warfare, mountain warfare, Scandinavia, raw materials, 
Alpine Troops, tanks, guns, survival
ISBN: 1-47385-456-X
IMAGE: B2410.jpg
BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/zdu563s
LINKS: Current Discount Offers http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/sale 
DESCRIPTION: This book reviews what is almost a forgotten army. 
Norway was vitally important to the German war effort because it was 
a source of key raw materials. It was also an important front against 
the USSR. A very valuable addition to available knowledge about 
campaigns which have been under reviewed, highly recommended.

The Germans had never spent any real effort considering warfare in 
Scandinavia and above the Arctic Circle, and neither had anyone else 
outside Scandinavia. Then in 1940, Germany was given no option but to 
invade Norway and then conduct operations in support of Finland and 
against the USSR.

Norway was important to Germany as a source of important materials. 
When the Winter saw the Baltic freeze, high grade iron ore could only 
be brought out of Sweden by sending it by rail to Norway where the 
ports were still open. There was a general trade in food stuffs and 
other materials, but of critical importance to the German nuclear 
program was the heavy water produced by hydro-electric plants in Norway.

Unlike the other campaigns German forces were involved in, the Arctic 
War was a war of small self-supporting units. Even the initial invasion 
had only required 20,000 men and the population of Norway was only three 
million. The Germans tried different tactics with the Norwegian population 
and attempted to use Quisling to head a puppet government. However, this 
was frustrated and a relatively large Norwegian underground was rapidly 
formed, with a regular 'taxi' service between Norway and the Shetlands, 
ferrying people in and out of Norway and supplying arms and equipment to 
the resistance. As this developed, aircraft were used to drop supplies to 
the Norwegians and both glider and paratroop insertion was employed to 
deliver commando units.

Given the Norwegian will to resist, Norway became a disproportionate 
drain on German resources in return for remarkably little. Heavy German 
naval units used the Norwegian Fjords to hide from the Royal Navy and RAF 
with dubious success. They did pose a threat to the Allies that kept RN 
warships tied up ready to strike at any German warships that came out to 
threaten convoys, but the RN targeted these threats and sunk both the Tirpitz 
and the Scharnhorst. Before those losses, the Germans also had to tie up 
forces to guard the ships from sea and air attack. The most profitable 
operation in the Arctic was probably the Luftwaffe aircraft and U-boats that 
were able to use Norwegian bases to maintain continuous attacks on the 
important Russian convoys bringing supplies to the USSR and returning for a 
fresh cargo.

The co-authors have produced a unique review of the Arctic Campaigns that 
deals with them comprehensively, adding much to the available knowledge of 
WWII.