Bassett, Richard - Hitler's Spy Chief by Bassett Richard

Author:Bassett, Richard [Bassett, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-06-26T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

KEEPING THE EMPIRE AFLOAT

I would rather have three or four teeth extracted than go through that again.

HITLER 1

On 19 September 1939, Churchill had recommended to the cabinet that British forces mine Norwegian waters and examine ways of cutting off Narvik harbour, with its supplies of vital raw materials for the Germans, and occupying the area with troops. Within hours, the Abwehr was assessing these statements which, of course, infringed Norway’s neutral status. Canaris immediately saw the significance of Churchill’s suggestion and, most unusually, gave a lecture to the naval staff on the intelligence: something which gave it added weight in Admiral Raeder’s eyes.2

Hitler, however, was most reluctant to think of invading Norway. The general staff had never contemplated Norway as a target. The search for military intelligence material on Norway produced only a dusty 1907 guide to Norway’s armed forces. Preoccupied with the plans for an offensive in the West, Hitler remained lukewarm on the idea, telling the leader of the Norwegian Fascists, Vidkun Quisling, that all he wanted was for Norway to remain neutral.3 But Quisling gave convincing news that the British were planning to take Narvik and this, together with the successes of the Royal Navy in tracking down German pocket raiders, may have given Hitler pause for thought.

In any event, by 10 October 1939 Hitler began talking of invading Norway. With the successful conclusion of the Polish campaign, the need to secure the northern territories began to figure in Hitler’s calculations. Russia was clearly preparing to invade Finland. The possibility of British aid to Finland through Narvik, even if it did not exist at that precise moment, was only a question of time. More importantly, Narvik lay astride the key routes whereby iron reached the German Reich from the iron-ore fields of Kiruna-Gallivare in Sweden. The German navy was also keen to pre-empt the Royal Navy by seizing the Norwegian bases. By 14 December, Hitler had decided to initiate the offensive, to be called Operation Weserübung, and had earmarked eight divisions for it.

‘It was a terribly weighty decision to occupy Norway,’ Jodl would write. ‘It meant gambling with the entire German fleet.’4 According to Jodl, the decision to finalise the invasion plans was taken on 2 April on the basis of ‘Canaris’ reports that British troops and transports were lying in a state of readiness on the north-east coast of England.’ The British cabinet’s decision on 12 March to revive plans previously discussed for the occupation of Narvik and the sealing off of Germany’s northern approaches were, like the discussions earlier in September, swiftly known to the Abwehr.

It has been said that Canaris was hoping for a German setback in the Skagerrak which would make Hitler vulnerable to a renewed coup. There is no doubt that the generals reckoned with the possibility of exploiting a blow to Hitler’s prestige, but there is no evidence to suggest that Canaris actively betrayed details of the Narvik operation to the British.5 Canaris wanted to avoid further hostilities. What he had seen in Poland had sickened him.

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