Owing to the speed and surprise achieved by the German forces, the Norwegian army was only able to partially mobilize. Unit strengths were only a fraction of their paper establishments. Unlike the armies of most other nations, the Norwegian "division" was more of an administrative and mobilization unit, rather than a fighting formation. The most important tactical unit of the Norwegian army was the regiment. When mobilized, each regiment was supposed to muster two battalions of infantry of the line, and one battalion of
landvern. Some of the Norwegian forces were
ad hoc battalions. The commander of the
Norwegian Army at the time of the invasion was General
Kristian Laake. He was replaced by Colonel
Otto Ruge on 11 April. Each Regiment had 3,750 soldiers, with 60,000 being the total number of soldiers by 1940. Every battalion had around 1,250 soldiers. However, only 55,000 soldiers were well prepared.
Norwegian Army • The
Royal Guards battalion – based in
Oslo and
Elverum, the only unit in Southern Norway that received proper training during the inter-war years. •
1st Division – This division had its headquarters in
Halden, and was commanded by Major-General
Carl Johan Erichsen. • 1st Infantry Regiment (based in
Fredrikstad) • 2nd Infantry Regiment (based in
Oslo) • 3rd Infantry Regiment (based in
Kongsberg) •
2nd Division – This division had its headquarters in
Oslo, and was commanded by Major-General
Jacob Hvinden Haug. • 4th Infantry Regiment (based in
Trandum) • 5th Infantry Regiment (based in
Elverum) • 6th Infantry Regiment (based in
Hønefoss) •
3rd Division – This division had its headquarters in
Kristiansand, and was commanded by Major-General
Einar Liljedahl. • 7th Infantry Regiment (based in
Kristiansand) • 8th Infantry Regiment (based in
Stavanger) •
4th Division – This division had its headquarters in
Bergen, and was commanded by Major-General
William Steffens. • 9th Infantry Regiment (based in
Bergen) • 10th Infantry Regiment (based in
Voss) •
5th Division – This division had its headquarters in
Trondheim, and was commanded by Major-General
Jacob Ager Laurantzon. • 11th Infantry Regiment (based in
Åndalsnes) • 12th Infantry Regiment (based in
Trondheim) • 13th Infantry Regiment (based in
Steinkjer) •
6th Division – This division had its headquarters in
Harstad, and was commanded by Major-General
Carl Gustav Fleischer. The division was better prepared for war than any other unit of the Norwegian Army as it had been mobilised and kept on duty during the
Finnish Winter War. • 14th Infantry Regiment (based in
Mosjøen) • 15th Infantry Regiment (based at
Elvegårdsmoen) • 16th Infantry Regiment (based in
Tromsø and
Bardufoss) :During the campaign, the 6th Division formed two light infantry brigades. The
6th Brigade was initially commanded by Colonel
Kristian Løken, and from 9 May by Lieutenant Colonel
Ole Berg, and the
7th Brigade, commanded by Colonel
Wilhelm Faye. • Additional units – These were additional units not organised into divisions. • 1st Dragoon Regiment (based at
Gardermoen, including
Norway's only tank) • 2nd Dragoon Regiment (based in
Hamar) • 3rd Dragoon Regiment (based in
Rindleiret,
Verdal) • 1st Artillery Regiment (based in
Ski) • 2nd Artillery Regiment (based at Gardermoen) • 3rd Artillery Regiment (based in Trondheim/
Stjørdal) • 1st Mountain Artillery Battalion (based in
Evje) • 2nd Mountain Artillery Battalion (based in
Voss) • 3rd Mountain Artillery Battalion (based in
Bardufoss) •
Alta Battalion (based at
Altagård in
Alta) •
Varanger Battalion (based in
Kirkenes, with training grounds at
Nyborgmoen near
Varangerbotn) At the time of the German invasion, the Norwegian Army was only partially mobilized, and thus only the following land units were immediately available to the Norwegians; • The Oslo battalion of the Royal Guards • 4 regiments of the
1st and
2nd Divisions • 3 battalions of the
3rd Division • 5 battalion for the
4th Division • Only about 2 battalions and a company of
5th Division • The
6th Division • Three
landvern companies at
Horten,
Haugesund and on various fortresses in the Oslofjord. • One artillery battalion at
Fredrikstad, and another one in the extreme north. • One artillery battery at Gardermoen, and two more in the extreme north. • One mountain artillery battery at
Evjemoen • One engineer company near
Madla • Partially mobilised elements of the 3rd Dragoon Regiment at the outskirts of Trondheim • A company of volunteers at
Hegra Fortress • The Alta and Varanger Battalions
Norwegian Army Air Service At the outbreak of the German invasion, the
Norwegian Army Air Service consisted of: • 11
Gloster Gladiator biplane fighters (7 operational) • 3
Armstrong Whitworth Scimitar biplane fighters (none operational, undergoing maintenance) • 4
Caproni Ca.310 monoplane reconnaissance/bombers (3 operational) • 25
Fokker C.V-D reconnaissance/bomber biplanes (24 operational) • 16 Fokker C.V-E reconnaissance/bomber biplanes (16 operational) • 29
de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane trainers (26 operational) • 3
de Havilland DH.60 Moth biplane trainers (none operational, undergoing maintenance) • 6
Curtiss P-36 Hawk monoplane fighters (none operational, still under final assembly) Of the Norwegian Army Air Service's aircraft, all were shot down, destroyed or captured by the Germans during the campaign, except two Fokker C.Vs and one Tiger Moth that were flown to Finland on 8 June 1940. The three biplanes were intended to form a Norwegian Army Air Service training unit in Finland under the command of Captain
Ole Reistad, but were eventually taken over by the
Finnish Air Force.
Royal Norwegian Navy The
Royal Norwegian Navy during the campaign consisted of: • 2 s: • (sunk 9 April), (sunk 9 April) • 7 destroyers: • Three : (captured 18 May), (sunk 26 April) and (evacuated to the United Kingdom 9 April). • Four : (sunk 9 April), (evacuated to the United Kingdom 25 April), and (both captured 9 April) • Two incomplete
Sleipner-class destroyers: (scuttled 9 April) and (captured 9 April) • 11 minelayers: • Five : (captured 13 May), (captured 9 April, sunk by Norwegian forces 1 May), (captured 9 April), (captured 14 April), (captured 14 April) • Two : (captured 13 May), (captured 20 April), • Two : (captured 14 April), (captured 14 April), • Two unique vessels: (scuttled 13 April), (captured 9 April) • 8 minesweepers: • Two
Otra-class: (captured 10 April) and (captured 9 April) • Six rebuilt
2. class torpedo boats: (scuttled 2 May), (scuttled 2 May), (captured 11 April), (captured 12 April), (captured 12 April), (captured 9 April) • 9 submarines: • Three
A class: (damaged and run aground 9 April), (scuttled 16 April), (scuttled 16 April) • Six
B class: (evacuated to the United Kingdom 8 June), (captured 11 April), (scuttled 10 June), (captured 10 April), (captured 9 April), (captured 18 May) • 17
torpedo boats: • Three : (sunk 25 April), (captured 5 May), (sunk 20 April) • Six
1. class: (captured 9 April), (captured 13 April), (sunk 18 April), (wrecked 12/13 April), (scuttled 5 May), (scuttled 8 May) • Eight
2. class: (scuttled 17 April), (scuttled 17 April), (captured 11 April), (captured 9 April), (scuttled 17 April), (captured 9 April), (scuttled 14 April), (captured 9 April) • 58 patrol boats, including: • (evacuated to the United Kingdom 8 June), (evacuated to the United Kingdom 8 June), (captured from the Germans 13 April, evacuated to the United Kingdom 7 June), (evacuated to the United Kingdom 8 June), (captured 22 May), (captured 14 April), (evacuated to the United Kingdom 8 June)
Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service The
Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service consisted of: • 6
Heinkel He 115 seaplane reconnaissance torpedo bombers (all operational) • 1
Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.12 biplane trainer aircraft (not operational, undergoing repairs) • 1
Junkers Ju 52 seaplane bomber (not operational, undergoing maintenance) • 20
Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.11 biplane reconnaissance seaplane (17 operational, 3 undergoing maintenance) • 3
Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.10 biplane trainer seaplane (two operational, one undergoing maintenance) • 5
Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.8 biplane trainer seaplane (two operational, three undergoing maintenance) • 6
Douglas DT2B/C torpedo bomber biplanes (two operational, one undergoing maintenance and three not mobilized) • 4
Breda Ba.25 biplane trainer aircraft (none operational, all undergoing maintenance) Of the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service's fleet of aircraft, four Heinkel He 115s were evacuated to the United Kingdom at the end of the campaign, while one He 115 and three Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.11s were flown to Finland and taken over by the Finnish Air Force. ==Allied==