Åndalsnes landings in the context of Norwegian Army

⭐ Core Definition: Åndalsnes landings

The Åndalsnes landings were a British military operation in 1940, during the Norwegian Campaign of World War II. Following the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, a British Army expeditionary force was landed at Åndalsnes, in Romsdal, to support Norwegian Army units defending the city of Trondheim. British forces were also landed at Namsos, north of Åndalsnes, in a complementary pincer movement. The British landings were unsuccessful and the Allies suffered a significant defeat at Åndalsnes.

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Åndalsnes landings in the context of Norwegian Campaign

The Norwegian campaign (8 April – 10 June 1940) involved the attempt by Allied forces to defend northern Norway coupled with the Norwegian military's resistance to the country's invasion by Nazi Germany in World War II.

Planned as Operation Wilfred and Plan R 4, while the German attack was feared but had not yet happened, the battlecruiser HMS Renown set out from Scapa Flow for Vestfjorden with twelve destroyers on 4 April. The Royal Navy and the Kriegsmarine met at the first and second naval battles of Narvik on 10 and 13 April, and British forces conducted the Åndalsnes landings on 13 April. The main strategic reason for Germany to invade Norway was to seize the port of Narvik and guarantee the delivery of iron ore needed for German steel production.

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