German coastal shipping becomes another target opened by an Allied Norway. Aircraft flying south from Norwegian bases could use Denmark as an obvious navigational guide to the Kiel Canal. Fast Mosquito sorties could lay mines repeatedly, potentially faster than German forces could clear them. Closing or repeatedly disrupting the canal would obstruct merchant traffic and naval movement between the Baltic and North Sea. Norwegian basing turns a local victory into sustained pressure on Germany's internal maritime communications.
Notable Point · 3:00:18-3:01:42
Mining the Kiel Canal from Norwegian bases
Norway gives British aircraft a short, easy-to-navigate route for repeated mine-laying against Germany's Baltic-North Sea maritime link.