April 19th, 1940 (FRIDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM:
RNAS Hatston: poor weather results in no missions today.
NORWAY:
The country becomes a Reichskommisariat, led by Joseph Terboven under the control of the
German Foreign Office.
Lofoten Islands: A force of British and French troops have landed at the Lofoten Islands,
off Narvik. The aim of the Lofoten Islands force is to take Narvik. Maj. Gen. Macksy's
force includes the French 5th Demi-Briage of Chasseurs Alpins - specialists in mountain
warfare. However, the French have been dogged by trouble. Their convoy had been bombed by
the Luftwaffe, one escorting destroyer was so badly damaged that it had to put back to
France. When they reached port and began unloading cargo they discovered that their skis
were useless - they had been shipped without bindings.
The British 148th Brigade at Åndalsnes under Brig. Gen. Harold de Riemer Morgan loads his
troops onto trains to carry them the 60 miles inland to Dombas. From Dombas he intends to
turn north to Trondheim, as he had been instructed to do. But General Ruge, who was
eagerly awaiting their arrival, had a more pressing need for the British. "My men are
near exhaustion," he told Morgan, and he warned that the Norwegian positions to the
south were in danger of imminent collapse unless the British general rushed troops to
their assistance.
The appeal seemed logical. If the British advanced northward and the Norwegian positions
fell, the Germans could readily cut the only supply line from Åndalsnes to Dombas. The
British would be stranded in unfamiliar terrain, wedged between the German garrison at
Trondheim and the advancing spearheads of the German troops from Oslo. Morgan orders to
his men south 80 miles to Lillehammer, and take up positions to the south of the city.
The British 146th Brigade retreats from Steinker towards Namsos.
(Mark Horan adds):
Off NORWAY:
HMS Furious had expected to finally get fully refuelled from the newly arrived tanker War Pindari (5,559 BRT), but the need to get underway in the face of two air attacks left little doubt that Tromsø was no longer a safe haven. Abandoning further efforts, she put to sea at her best speed on three shafts, 20 knots. That afternoon, having received word (errantly) that five German destroyers were at sea, a single Swordfish was send off on an armed reconnaissance mission ahead of the ship. The aircraft, 818 Squadron's U3K, became entangled in a snowstorm and was unable to return home. The crew navigated to Skogsfjord where they force-landed in a snowy field. The aircraft was recovered by Norwegian Navy personnel and taken to Skattoia, while the flight crew, Lieutenant(A) S. Keane, RN (P), Lieutenant A. S. Marshall, RN (O), and Naval Airman F. Clark, RN (AG) eventually reached friendly forces.
ATLANTIC OCEAN/The Clyde: HMS Ark Royal in company with the destroyers HMS Westcott and HMS Bulldog are en-route to the Clyde. HMS Glorious docks at Greenock and begins loading stores and equipment for 263 Squadron, RAF.
GERMANY:
Berlin: Jodl notes in his diary - 'Renewed crisis. Political action has failed. Envoy
Brauer (the German minister in Oslo) is recalled. According to the Fuhrer, force has to be
used...' The conference at the Chancellery becomes so embittered, with the heads of the
three services blaming each other for the delays, that even the lackey Keitel stalked out
of the room. 'Chaos of leadership is again threatening,' Jodl noted.
U.S.A.: The Japanese government advises the US that it has no aggressive intentions against the Netherlands East Indies.