Battles of Narvik 1940
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 9 April 1940 – 8 June 1940 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1940 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Norway | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Norwegian Campaign | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Nazi Germany, Norway, United Kingdom | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 68.4206, 17.5600 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April to 8 June 1940, as a naval battle in Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian town of Narvik, as part of the Norwegian campaign of the Second World War.
The two naval battles in Ofotfjord on 10 April and 13 April were fought between the British Royal Navy together with the Polish Navy (under British supreme command) and the German Kriegsmarine, while the two-month land campaign was fought by Norwegian, French, British, and Polish troops against German mountain troops, shipwrecked Kriegsmarine sailors, and German paratroopers (Fallschirmjäger) from the 7th Air Division. Although defeated at sea off Narvik, losing control of the town of Narvik and being pushed back towards the Swedish border, the Germans eventually prevailed because of the Allied evacuation from Norway in June 1940 following the Battle of France.
Narvik provided an ice-free harbour in the North Atlantic for iron ore transported by rail from Kiruna in Sweden. Both sides in the war had an interest in securing this iron supply for themselves and denying it to the enemy, thereby setting the stage for one of the largest battles since the Invasion of Poland.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battles of Narvik (revision 1374837813), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Capitulation of Kalix · 374 km
- Battle of Piteå 1809 · 396 km
Other battles of the Norwegian Campaign
All 4 battles of the Norwegian Campaign →
Browse more: battles in Norway · Europe · World War II era battles