1940 King Haakon VII of Norway appeals to all Norwegians to fight. The first British troop’s sets sail for Norway, although they have been mistakenly embarked without much of their heavy equipment. Royal Navy submarine Spearfish puts pocket battleship Lutzow out of action for a year. 1941 Rommel makes an attempt to capture Tobruk off […]

1940 Denmark surrenders to the Germans. Bitter fighting as Germans advance north from Oslo. Six British destroyers surprise ten German Destroyers in Narvik Fiord, in what becomes known as the 1st Battle of Narvik. Two German and two British Destroyers are sunk and the British Flotilla commander, Captain Warburton-Lee is killed. He is later awarded

1940 German troops invade Denmark and Norway simultaneously. There is very little opposition by the surprised Danes, with Copenhagen being captured within 12 hours. The Germans make sea-borne landings in Norway at Oslo, Kristiansand, Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik. An airborne landing is also made against the airfield at Stavanger. Norwegian defenders move inland. Major Quisling

1939 Italy invades Albania. 1940 British submarines torpedo three German ships. Destroyer Glowworm is sunk after reporting German fleet movements and ramming cruiser Hipper. British minelayers arrive off Norway and are surprised by German navy preparing to invade Norway. In heavy fighting, the destroyer HMS Glowworm is sunk while ramming German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper.

1940 The RAF spots units of the Kriegsmarine steaming North towards Narvik and Trondheim loaded with troops and equipment. 1941 British war budget raises income tax. Germans break towards Salonika. Great Britain severs diplomatic relations with Hungary. German troops capture Skopje in Macedonia forcing the Yugoslav forces to withdraw in the south of the country,