April 14th, 1940 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
RAF Bomber Command: 2 Group. 107 Sqn moves to Scotland (Lossiemouth) with the help of Bombay transport. Aim is to attack Stavanger with up to 12 aircraft daily. All 250 pounders have to be manhandled as the bomb trolleys are still on a train making the long journey from Cambridgeshire.NORWEGIAN CAMPAIGN: The German advances north from Oslo in the Glamma Valley near Lake Mjösa are delayed by skilful action of the Norwegian forces.
The British and French are still pondering their options for strategies at Trondheim and Narvik.
Submarine HMS tarpon on patrol off southern Norway is sunk by German minesweeper M6.
The advance party of the Allied Expeditionary Force lands at Namsos and Harstad. Despite being told that the Germans had fled Narvik, Maj. Gen. P.J. Macksey, a cautious officer, lands his 3 infantry battalions at Harstad, 35 miles north of Narvik but still in the hands of the Norwegians.
RAF Bomber Command raids Stavanger aerodrome twice. At dawn 3 Wellingtons bomb the two runways from 450 feet; several He-111’s and a hangar are damaged and air gunners fire at machine gun nests on the ground. The crews saw about 20 seaplanes and flying boats at moorings. Four aircraft go out in the evening, timed to reach Stavanger just after dusk. Two failed to find the objective. The remainder drop HE and incendiary bombs, damaging a hangar and put out a searchlight through machine-gun fire. One aircraft FTR.
The 14th again saw the Fleet Air Arm Squadrons at Hatston RNAS again strike at naval targets in Bergen, sent by Acting Captain C. L. Howe. This time a total of 15 Skuas were dispatched in two waves. The first consisting of six 800 Squadron aircraft led by Capt. R. T. Partridge, RM departed at 0500. The second consisting of nine 803 Squadron aircraft led by Lt. Lucy, departed at 0550. Each aircraft was armed with a single 500 pound SAP bomb.
800 Squadron crossed the Norwegian Coast at 0700, and attacked at 0712, dive bombing two vessels tied up at the jetty, and strafing two U-Boats, U-60 and U-7, and two schnellbootes, S-23 and S-25 in the harbour. After the first wave departed, the weather over Bergen deteriorated significantly. Of 803 Squadron, only Lt. Lucy's sub-flight was able to locate the target and make a low altitude glide-bombing attack. Lucy's bomb exploded alongside SS Barenfels (7,569 BRT) between her and the jetty, causing severe damage that ultimately caused the ship to sink stern first to the harbour bottom, carrying her valuable cargo of anti-aircraft guns to the bottom with her. One aircraft, Skua A8G, (serial unknown) was shot down in flames over the harbour. The crew, Capt. Eric Donald McIver, RM (p) (Mentioned in Dispatches), and LA Albert Alexander Barnard, RN being killed. The others strafed a German flying Boat on the water on their way home. (Mark Horan)
During the night 28 aircraft are sent to lay mines in the Great and Little Belts, only 9 succeed due to bad weather.
General von Falkenhorst signs an order providing for taking as hostages 20 of the most distinguished citizens of Oslo including Bishop Berggrav and Paal Berg, who in the words of Minister Brauer, ‘were to be shot in the event of continued resistance of attempted sabotage.’
British Military Attaché, Lieut. Colonel E.J.C. King-Salter reaches Maj. Gen. Ruge’s HQ at Rena to liaise with the Allied Expeditionary Force. Ruge now has 12,000 troops, but no armour and no anti-tank weaponry. Ruge’s plan was to make his stand in the mountainous country 160 miles south of Trondheim where the Norwegian’s could use the terrain to their advantage while relying on the Allies to capture the city of Trondheim. Strategically placed with an excellent deep harbour and at the head of two valleys - the Gudbrandsal and the Osterdal - that lead south through the mountains to Oslo, it also lay on the only road and rail link with northern Norway, and currently it is only lightly defended with 1,700 mountain troops.
Off NORWAY:
Flight operations on board HMS Furious were limited due mainly to the poor weather. At 1220, two Swordfish were dispatched on an uneventful armed reconnaissance flight to Tromsø . (Mark Horan)
DENMARK: Copenhagen: The occupation of Denmark is proving embarrassing for the Germans. As the Danes did not resist they have not been defeated.. Germany is obliged to keep to its word that German troops went in to protect Scandinavia from the Allies. Thus it is faced with king, a constitution and recognised democratic government.
Outside Denmark, the Danes are flocking to the Allies, 5,000 Danish seamen bringing in 90% of Denmark's tonnage into friendly ports. Inside Denmark, Danes continue to live as if the Germans did not exist, ignoring them, as King Christian ignores the salutes of the German sentries.
For Germany to disband the government and rule directly would be great blow to its prestige among neutrals. But to continue is exasperating. These Nordic people, who should be welcoming Germans, are responding with a policy once favoured by Irish peasantry: the Boycott.
GERMANY: Despite his success in Norway and Denmark, General Jodl notes that the Fuhrer is suffering a ‘nervous crisis’ and ‘terrible excitement’, after he receives news of the naval losses at Narvik.
U.S.S.R.: Today there starts at Moscow a conference of the highest Soviet military leadership to ponder the lessons of the Winter War. The conference lasts until the 17th of April, and it initiates a series of reforms in the Red Army.
GIBRALTAR: Vice-Admiral Aircraft Carriers Lionel V. Wells, CB, DSO, RN shifts his flag to HMS Glorious, which then departs Gibraltar at 2130 in company with the destroyers HMAS Stuart (local escort only), HMS Velox, and HMS Watchman bound for the Clyde. HMS Ark Royal remains at Gibraltar.
U.S.A.: New York: 'Lights Out in Europe', a film directed by Herbert Kline and narrated by Frederic March, showing how war broke out, opens.