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Narvik: And the Norwegian Campaign of 1940
The epic story of the brutal battle for Norway in 1940.
The perfect book for fans of Ian Toll, Max Hastings, and Alex Kershaw.
In this brief, untidy campaign that lasted just six weeks, all branches of the Allied military service united against the lightning-fast invasion that the Nazis had surprised them with. On an almost hourly basis, air battles, amphibious landings by troops, and monumental naval engagements took place.
Donald Macintyre, the renowned military historian and escort commander, takes the reader to the heart of the battle, providing not just an overview but also provides fascinating details of the attack that left six German destroyers damaged within Narvik’s harbour, the sacrifice made by the damaged HMS Glowworm as it rammed the heavy-cruiser Admiral Hipper, the heroism displayed by one naval officer who worked tirelessly to evacuate the shore bases near Trondheim, and the final tragic loss of the carrier HMS Glorious.
The Norwegian campaign that took place in the spring of 1940 is often overshadowed by later successful Allied operations in the European North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and France. Yet, although German forces surprised and ultimately held off the Allied counterattack, Captain Macintyre demonstrates why this is such an important campaign and how the Allies had to learn difficult lessons here before they were able to march on to victory.
Narvik should be essential reading for anyone interested in the oft-overlooked campaign that took place during what was known as the ‘Phoney War’, proved a brutally eye-opening to the Allies, but taught them much about how to fight in the battles to come.
‘Really first rate.’ Kirkus Reviews
‘A book to set the blood tingling’ Evening News
‘fascinating reading’ U.S. Naval Institute
The perfect book for fans of Ian Toll, Max Hastings, and Alex Kershaw.
In this brief, untidy campaign that lasted just six weeks, all branches of the Allied military service united against the lightning-fast invasion that the Nazis had surprised them with. On an almost hourly basis, air battles, amphibious landings by troops, and monumental naval engagements took place.
Donald Macintyre, the renowned military historian and escort commander, takes the reader to the heart of the battle, providing not just an overview but also provides fascinating details of the attack that left six German destroyers damaged within Narvik’s harbour, the sacrifice made by the damaged HMS Glowworm as it rammed the heavy-cruiser Admiral Hipper, the heroism displayed by one naval officer who worked tirelessly to evacuate the shore bases near Trondheim, and the final tragic loss of the carrier HMS Glorious.
The Norwegian campaign that took place in the spring of 1940 is often overshadowed by later successful Allied operations in the European North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and France. Yet, although German forces surprised and ultimately held off the Allied counterattack, Captain Macintyre demonstrates why this is such an important campaign and how the Allies had to learn difficult lessons here before they were able to march on to victory.
Narvik should be essential reading for anyone interested in the oft-overlooked campaign that took place during what was known as the ‘Phoney War’, proved a brutally eye-opening to the Allies, but taught them much about how to fight in the battles to come.
‘Really first rate.’ Kirkus Reviews
‘A book to set the blood tingling’ Evening News
‘fascinating reading’ U.S. Naval Institute
266 pages, Paperback
Published December 16, 2024
About the author
Donald Macintyre
68 books14 followersCommander Donald George Frederick Wyville Macintyre DSO & DSC was a Royal Navy officer during the Second World War and a successful convoy escort commander. As Commander of HMS Hesperus Macintyre was involved in the Battle of Narvik during the Norway campaign and the Battle of the Atlantic. Following the war, he published his memoirs U-Boat Killer and authored numerous books on British naval history.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 13, 2025
Great Book
Donald Macintyre is on the best writers on WW2 Naval History. The best writer of British Naval history. The book fills in the blanks of Norway Campaign's Naval history and he did a great job of analyzing the political situation and military situation that happened that caused the campaign to fail and the repercussions, the British military learned how to fight WW2, the British learned military learned skills such as raiding, providing air support to naval and army forces and finally invading the enemies territories under a supreme commander, it was a tough lessons such as Crete and Malta. Awesome work!!
Donald Macintyre is on the best writers on WW2 Naval History. The best writer of British Naval history. The book fills in the blanks of Norway Campaign's Naval history and he did a great job of analyzing the political situation and military situation that happened that caused the campaign to fail and the repercussions, the British military learned how to fight WW2, the British learned military learned skills such as raiding, providing air support to naval and army forces and finally invading the enemies territories under a supreme commander, it was a tough lessons such as Crete and Malta. Awesome work!!
March 19, 2025
Excellent history of this campaign.
An excellent and honest account of this lesser known campaign. With clearer leadership and determination this period of history could have been so different. I wish the history I had been taught could have been as balanced and objective.
The book is very well written and hard to put down. Highly recommended. I shall certainly seek out more of this authors publications.
An excellent and honest account of this lesser known campaign. With clearer leadership and determination this period of history could have been so different. I wish the history I had been taught could have been as balanced and objective.
The book is very well written and hard to put down. Highly recommended. I shall certainly seek out more of this authors publications.
July 28, 2026
A well-told story of Britain’s efforts to deprive Germany of the western route for Swedish iron ore, necessary because of the freezing of the Gulf of Bothnia, and Germany’s occupation of Norway, in part to secure it. The German operation was better planned, and poor British decisions and delay in making good ones so that they became poor gave them early success, except on the naval front (upon which this book concentrates) where half their destroyer fleet (in fjiords by Narvik itself) was neutralised and more widely several capital ships damaged.
The book does not go into so much depth concerning the political angle with regards Norway’s relation to Germany, though it does right chastising them for the peaceful slumber of their own mobilisation when the wolves were at the door. Not much either on the extent to which the inevitable British withdrawal – the capture of Narvik here a sideshow during a overall retreat – was a betrayal of Norwegian solders
The actual assault on the town of Narvik did not appear to use British troops, although they were deployed in the area, and further south (and were seriously unprepared for the conditions), rather Polish, French, Norwegian, soldiers, and of course their German foe (also, at least from the forces moving up from the south, specially trained Alpinists. The French were also Alp trained. It was a success because of the use of fighters from an aerodrome nearby, targeted naval bombardment, and troops who could thus land initially without much resistance.
This was not the book to read to study the land battle for Narvik itself, which is what I am currently most interested in being in situ, it perhaps rightly focuses on the naval side, which made everything possible, and in which the British played a dominant role. And many lessons drawn here about their lack of preparedness for defence from ariel attack. Aided by the surprise of the mountains, the Stukas were a continuous harassment to ships (and often to troops on the ground). The destroyers had to work in self defence rather than a supporting role to the troops.
The big question which is always being asked implicitly but cannot be answered is if Narvik could have been captured earlier, which was certainly possible, could it have changed the outcome of the Norway campaign and thus the whole war? It is certainly interesting to think about. The two immediate negative responses are first that at the time the answer to the question of whether Britain was seriously in threat of invasion was not known. Second, was the strategic gain of controlling that coast worth more than the cost of maintaining a large body of troops in Scandinavia?
A couple of rejoinders lie in the fact that the results of the naval battle for Narvik reduced considerably the fighting capacity of the Kriegsmarine, to the extent that according to MacIntyre it effectively put an end to any planned invasion. Dietl’s forces were depleted and would not hold out. The established aerodrome could have been used as a base for fighters to help counter the air menace, also psychologically draining. And perhaps most importantly, the future convoys to Russia could have passed less molested from the air. As regards troops, the Allies actually accumulated a fair few of them, and they were largely unused up until 1942, save those in North Africa and beyond. It might have been a protracted fight in the mountains, but it is worth considering the difference that the possession of the coast would provide.
In sum, I think a bolder approach might have paid dividends.
Great book. I think it was the second time I read it but still a fascinating account.
The book does not go into so much depth concerning the political angle with regards Norway’s relation to Germany, though it does right chastising them for the peaceful slumber of their own mobilisation when the wolves were at the door. Not much either on the extent to which the inevitable British withdrawal – the capture of Narvik here a sideshow during a overall retreat – was a betrayal of Norwegian solders
The actual assault on the town of Narvik did not appear to use British troops, although they were deployed in the area, and further south (and were seriously unprepared for the conditions), rather Polish, French, Norwegian, soldiers, and of course their German foe (also, at least from the forces moving up from the south, specially trained Alpinists. The French were also Alp trained. It was a success because of the use of fighters from an aerodrome nearby, targeted naval bombardment, and troops who could thus land initially without much resistance.
This was not the book to read to study the land battle for Narvik itself, which is what I am currently most interested in being in situ, it perhaps rightly focuses on the naval side, which made everything possible, and in which the British played a dominant role. And many lessons drawn here about their lack of preparedness for defence from ariel attack. Aided by the surprise of the mountains, the Stukas were a continuous harassment to ships (and often to troops on the ground). The destroyers had to work in self defence rather than a supporting role to the troops.
The big question which is always being asked implicitly but cannot be answered is if Narvik could have been captured earlier, which was certainly possible, could it have changed the outcome of the Norway campaign and thus the whole war? It is certainly interesting to think about. The two immediate negative responses are first that at the time the answer to the question of whether Britain was seriously in threat of invasion was not known. Second, was the strategic gain of controlling that coast worth more than the cost of maintaining a large body of troops in Scandinavia?
A couple of rejoinders lie in the fact that the results of the naval battle for Narvik reduced considerably the fighting capacity of the Kriegsmarine, to the extent that according to MacIntyre it effectively put an end to any planned invasion. Dietl’s forces were depleted and would not hold out. The established aerodrome could have been used as a base for fighters to help counter the air menace, also psychologically draining. And perhaps most importantly, the future convoys to Russia could have passed less molested from the air. As regards troops, the Allies actually accumulated a fair few of them, and they were largely unused up until 1942, save those in North Africa and beyond. It might have been a protracted fight in the mountains, but it is worth considering the difference that the possession of the coast would provide.
In sum, I think a bolder approach might have paid dividends.
Great book. I think it was the second time I read it but still a fascinating account.
Read
December 9, 2025I have the paperback version published by Sapere Books. The author is a former RN officer and the language and terminology reflects his experience. Writing is clear and this reader was never confused about the events related. A large disappointment was the lack of charts/maps, even though the acknowledgement refers to seven maps included by permission of HM Stationary Office. In accounts of naval actions charts/maps are essential to situate vessels in their locations and this is probably the main problem with the book. In any event the reader understands much better the reasons for the failure of the British effort. A nice piece of overlooked history ranking with C. Barnett. Recommended.
October 1, 2025
A very detailed account of early WWII action in Norway
I enjoyed the detailed description of the first pitched battle between Britain, France and the Germans moving on Norway. To understand that Belgium, Holland and France were being overrun while these far flung battles were raging helps the reader understand why this battle was limited in resources from both sides. We can see the British army and Navy, and lack of an airforce have an enlightened baptism of fire in an insane arctic environment. Lessons were learned at the
cost of many brave men.
I enjoyed the detailed description of the first pitched battle between Britain, France and the Germans moving on Norway. To understand that Belgium, Holland and France were being overrun while these far flung battles were raging helps the reader understand why this battle was limited in resources from both sides. We can see the British army and Navy, and lack of an airforce have an enlightened baptism of fire in an insane arctic environment. Lessons were learned at the
cost of many brave men.
October 13, 2025
This is an excellent book which is readable and concise. However, I would add and not mentioned in the book is that it was a Pyrrhic victory and major strategic mistake by the German government of the time. The reason being that as a result of the perceived failure of the British intervention in the campaign Chamberlain lost the confidence of the House of Commons and was replaced by Churchill as Prime Minister. If Chamberlain had remained as Prime Minister during the ensuing occupation of France and Battle of Britain the outcome of the Second World War might have been very different. Also the losses of the German Navy during the Norwegian campaign strongly contributed to the successful evacuation from Dunkirk and subsequently acted as a major deterrent on the invasion of the British Mainland
June 27, 2025
A very interesting account of the less well known Norwegian campaign
July 16, 2025
Great detail about a rarely discussed campaign, but the book could do with more narrative as it often ends up reading like a roll call of ships, military units and commanders.
January 29, 2026
Fantastic account of a disastrous campaign, so many missed opportunities but so many lessons learned.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews