Namsos & the Central Norway Campaign (Norway 80)

The often-overlooked Central Norway campaign may have offered a way to cut off a large part of the German advance if the Allies supplied the force at Namsos properly.

A book excerpt explains how Tribal-class destroyers surveyed landing sites, helped establish the base, escorted troopships, and ferried troops ashore at Namsos.

Carton de Wiart used HMS Afridi and HMS Somali as headquarters, exploiting the ships' working space and ability to operate farther up the fjords than cruisers.

Carton de Wiart recalled the Royal Navy's seemingly impossible promise to evacuate his whole force. The extraction foreshadowed Dunkirk, and HMS Afridi was lost during the campaign.

Royal Navy destroyers supplied fire support and air defence to British and French troops that lacked sufficient artillery and air support.

Destroyer fire support remained practical because the navy could replenish ammunition through its support and depot ships, while army artillery supply lagged behind.

Carton de Wiart kept his headquarters aboard destroyers partly to use naval radio-direction-finding reports to estimate German positions.

The force at Namsos aimed to take Trondheim and exploit central Norway's geography, but supplies sent elsewhere left the advance without the support it needed.

Concentrating support at Namsos might have let the Allies block off part of Norway and build up reinforcements despite competing demands on their resources.

The overlooked central campaign may have offered the Norwegian intervention's best chance of success, though this judgment comes from a destroyer-focused line of research.