Plan R 4
The term Plan R 4 refers to an Allied plan to invade the neutral state of Norway during World War II . The plan provided for the invasion of Norway in the event of a German attack, which was planned by the Allies in response to Operation Wilfred . This Operation Wilfred envisaged the mining of Norwegian coastal waters to provoke a German intervention because the German Reich had to rely on the smooth sea transport in these waters.
Previous planning
The British and French had already prepared similar plans during the Finnish-Soviet winter war ( Operation Stratford ). The aim of these plans was to support Finland, for example by deploying British naval forces in Swedish and Norwegian waters. As a further consequence, the German Reich would be cut off from the essential war supply of iron ore from Kiruna, Sweden . The occupation of the Norwegian port of Narvik , the end point and loading port of the Swedish ore railway , was strategically important for this. The occupation of Norway would also have made it possible for the British to block access to the northern North Sea as well as an operational base for air strikes against Germany. Preparations for the German occupation of Denmark and Norway was the strategic reaction of the German Reich to these plans, of which the German side was aware due to the interpretation of the diplomatic processes between the Allied and Scandinavian countries, the results of the aerial reconnaissance and tapped radio communications.
execution
After the German planning was initially interrupted on March 13, 1940 under the impression of the peace treaty of Moscow , the German high command resumed preparations for the occupation of Norway and Denmark as part of the Weser Exercise enterprise towards the end of the month. Adolf Hitler made the decision to start this venture on April 1, after he had been informed in a situation lecture that the weather situation - especially the ice drift in the Baltic Sea - would allow the naval forces to leave and the air forces to deploy. He determined April 9th, 5:15 am as the starting time for the Weser exercise . The first supply ships left on April 3rd, followed by larger units that left the ports on April 6th. While the first German ships were already at sea, the Allied side also agreed to trigger the previously postponed Operation Wilfred and Plan R 4 . First of all, the operations in connection with Operation Royal Marine - the mining of the Rhine - should be carried out together, which was given up again at the insistence of France. When the first mines were laid on April 8, the Weser exercise was already in full swing, the German invasion groups sometimes encountered armed forces from the Allied mine-laying operation, which led to the sinking of the British destroyer HMS Glowworm . Under the impression of the now changed situation, the mining operations were canceled and Plan R 4 was abandoned. On April 9, Denmark surrendered after a few hours.
literature
- Earl F. Ziemke: Chapter 2, The German Decision to Invade Norway and Denmark. (1959)
- Winston Churchill : The Second World War. Fischer (Tb.), Frankfurt 2003; Edition: 4, ISBN 978-3-596-16113-3 .
Individual evidence
- ^ The German Decision to Invade Norway and Denmark . In: Command Decisions, p. 69 . United States Army Center of Military History , 2000, CMH Pub 70-7.