Naval Battle Of Narvik: Confusion (Part 2)

Summary

We Have Ways of Making You Talk
Naval Battle Of Narvik: Confusion (Part 2)
Hosts: Al Murray, James Holland
Date: June 15, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode delves into the confusion and drama of the early stages of the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, focusing on the naval clashes and the Allied response. Al and James dissect the chaos, failures, flashes of heroism, and operational blunders that defined the Battle of Narvik and associated sea battles. With characteristic humour and story-telling spirit, the hosts blend sharp military analysis with accounts of individual bravery—particularly the tale of HMS Glowworm. The overall theme is confusion: muddled intelligence, contradictory orders, and the often inexplicable decisions made at the highest levels of both British and German command.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

The Situation at Sea: Allies and Axis Set Out (02:58–08:50)

• Opening Eyewitness: Al reads from Ludovic Kennedy, evoking awe at the sight of "line upon line of destroyers" in the Royal Navy's grand mustering.

  "The scene when I came on watch… line upon line of destroyers, each keeping perfect station..." (Al Murray quoting Kennedy, 02:58)

• Parallel Moves: Both German and Allied naval operations begin almost in synchrony, oblivious to each other's precise intentions.

  "It's amazing that after so much Allied faffing around over Norway, both sides are beginning their offensives at the same moment." (James Holland, 04:39)

• Intelligence Tangles:

  • Allies receive more than enough warnings—sightings, Norwegian government reports—but discount them as "doubtful value."
  • Admiral Forbes' dilemma: act on imperfect info and risk Atlantic breakout, or wait and risk Norway falling.

  "What's the point of having an economic blockade and a superior navy if you're not bringing it to bear?" (James Holland, 08:06)

Missed Opportunities and Blunders (08:50–13:35)

• Cautious Command: Forbes holds back ships, uncertain whether German movements are real or a diversion. The focus is on defending the Atlantic lifeline rather than acting aggressively in Norway.
• Poor Weather as Double-Edged Sword: Both sides hampered by snow, wind, and low visibility, making coordinated attacks and reconnaissance difficult.

  "The weather holds everyone up. It doesn't just make things difficult for you, it makes things difficult for your opponent." (Al Murray, 10:53)

• Micromanagement from London: London second-guesses field commanders, countermanding orders and sowing confusion.

The Heroic Stand of HMS Glowworm (13:35–23:28)

• Surprise Contact: In dreadful conditions, HMS Glowworm, commanded by Lieut. Cmdr. Gerard Roope, unexpectedly encounters German destroyers and the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper while trying to catch up with its squadron.
• Immediate Action: Roope's aggression and instincts ("Nelson on his shoulder") lead Glowworm into battle against overwhelming odds.

  "He turns straight into them, takes them on… Doesn't hesitate, does he, just goes straight for it?" (James Holland, 14:27)

• Legendary Action:
  • Glowworm is heavily outgunned and battered, yet Roope orders a torpedo and smoke attack, then ultimately rams the Admiral Hipper.
  • Glowworm is destroyed, most of her crew lost. Survivors are rescued by Hipper’s captain, who acknowledges Roope's gallantry.

  "Roope turns to his helmsman on the battered bridge and kindly says, 'Ram her.'" (James Holland, 19:37)

  • Roope awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.
• Notable Quote:

  "If people quit the podcast as a result of a dead dog there, I'd understand. British public." (Al Murray, 19:18)

Aftermath: Realisation, Countermeasures & More Confusion (23:28–37:43)

• Admiralty Finally Reacts: Intelligence from Glowworm’s battle finally convinces London that Germany is attacking Norway.
• Shuffling Orders:
  • Forbes and Whitworth scramble ships, but poor weather and Admiralty interference continue to stymie attempts at coordinated action.
  • Troop landings at key points like Trondheim are aborted, missing slim opportunities for effective defense.

  "Allied action is characterized by dither as well… except for Lieutenant Commander Roope." (Al Murray, 36:33)

• Polish Submariners Strike First:
  • The Polish submarine Orzel sinks the Rio de Janeiro, exposing German troop movements; Allies and Norwegians still hesitate to mobilise.
  • British submarine doctrine is stifled by overly gentlemanly rules—only attack after warning and letting enemy crews abandon ship.

  "What restricted warfare means is, they've got a surface challenge, give warning, let the crew abandon ship, and then you fire and sink it." (James Holland, 30:08)

German Operations and Norwegian Defence (38:11–48:06)

• Daring German Penetration of Oslo Fjord:
  • Despite Norwegian plans, the well-positioned Oscarsborg Fortress defeats and destroys the new German cruiser Blücher.
  • Heroic Norwegian efforts delay the Germans, allowing the royal family and gold reserves to escape Oslo.

  "Four does open fire at point blank range with its 28-centimeter guns… hits the Blucher’s aircraft hangar starting an uncontrollable blaze." (James Holland, 42:02)

• German Ruses and Allied Frustrations:
  • Germans frequently use deception—false identities, misleading signals—to get past Norwegian defenses (e.g. posing as HMS Cairo or as 'proceeding to Bergen for a short visit').
  • Allied units are often tantalizingly close to intercepting German groups but miss out because of weather, fog, and command confusion.

  "How much skullduggery and swinehound behaviour!" (Al Murray, 50:01)

Final Thoughts & Set-Up For The Next Episode (51:46–52:45)

• Narvik Approaches:
  • The episode ends with anticipation for the next phase: Will the Royal Navy, now finally "using the fleet," confront German destroyers at Narvik?
  • Hosts tease the next 'fjord-hanger' episode, promising more dramatic confrontations.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It’s dash versus dither." (Al Murray, 05:44)
• "I think it’s a mistake." (James Holland, 09:50)
• “If you want us to refuel your submarine, play ball.” (Al Murray, 30:37)
• “The Germans are very lucky on that front. Because the fog helps them.” (Al Murray, 49:00)
• “If you need to be put out of your agony right now, go to the We Have Ways Patreon.” (Al Murray, 52:03)

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Key Timestamps

• 02:58 – Ludovic Kennedy’s Royal Navy reminiscence; episode theme set.
• 04:39–08:50 – Discussion about parallel Allied/German movements, intelligence failures.
• 13:35–23:28 – The story and fate of HMS Glowworm.
• 23:28–26:24 – Aftermath of Glowworm; emotional reactions.
• 26:58–30:08 – Polish and British submarines’ actions, rules of engagement debates.
• 38:11–45:11 – German assault on Oslo Fjord, the destruction of Blücher, Norwegian heroism.
• 47:03 – German deception enables success at Christiansand.
• 49:14–50:48 – German ruses at Bergen and Trondheim, Allied near-misses.
• 51:46–52:45 – Cliffhanger: the looming clash at Narvik.

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Tone & Style

• Humorous and irreverent, with frequent dry jokes (“Total Schwein hunt behavior!”).
• Deeply critical of British command indecision, yet respectful of acts of courage.
• Appreciative of small-unit heroics—both British and Norwegian—and always ready to elevate colourful characters and oddities from history.
• Conversational: Banter between hosts is lively but insightful.

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For Listeners: Key Takeaways

This episode paints a vivid portrait of a pivotal, confusing, and often frustrating period for the Royal Navy at the onset of Norway’s invasion. The heroic but doomed action of HMS Glowworm stands in contrast to the larger backdrop of muddled intelligence and operational indecision. The Germans use a mix of audacity and deception, while Allies struggle to process what is happening in time. The stage is set for the dramatic struggles at Narvik, with listeners left eagerly awaiting the next episode's resolution.

— End of summary —

Transcript

[Al Murray]

Thank you for listening to we have ways of making you talk. Sign up to our Patreon to receive bonus content, live streams and our weekly newsletter with money off books and museum visits as well. Plus early access to all live show tickets. That's patreon.com we haveways.

[Sponsor/Advertiser]

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[Al Murray]

Suddenly the duty signalman came in. Henry took the pad and I could tell by the way his brows puckered that the news was bad. It's from the cnc, he said. We prepare to leave immediately after oiling. Wonder what the flap is this time, said Number One and went up to the bridge to find out. We didn't have to wait long to hear what the flap was. That night, as we formed up in line ahead and steamed out of harbour, we learned that the Germans had invaded Norway and that a large part of their fleet was at sea. The scene when I came on watch the next morning was impressive. We had joined the rest of the fleet ahead and on either beam were destroyers, line upon line of destroyers, each keeping perfect station on its next ahead. Astern of us was the main body of the fleet, battleships, cruisers and an aircraft carrier. Flanking the fleet, on the other hand, but stationed six or seven miles away with the scouting cruisers ready to give warning of the approach of the enemy. That's Ludovic Kennedy writing in Sub Lieutenant of his experiences in the Royal Navy. I mean, the Royal Navy.

[Jim Holland]

It makes your chest swell.

[Al Murray]

Well, it makes line upon line of destroyers makes your chest swell. I mean, you've gone fully Navy this year.

[Sponsor/Advertiser]

I have.

[Jim Holland]

I'm all in.

[Al Murray]

And here's the Navy bounteous in its riches, carving its what was. Yeah, yeah. And what shall never be again. Anyway, welcome to we have ways of making music.

[Jim Holland]

Don't repress it. Repress it.

[Al Murray]

Oh, Jim, we just gotta live with the fact that we don't have a navy anymore.

[Jim Holland]

I can't. I just can't.

[Al Murray]

By the way, to all of our Royal Navy listeners out there, we just want you more toys to play with. That's all it is. That's all it is. Simple as that.

[Jim Holland]

Yep.

[Al Murray]

Anyway, welcome to we have ways of making you talk with me, Al Murray and James Holland. As you probably realised, this is a naval operational episode, part two of the

[Jim Holland]

naval battle for Norway, which we've tentatively called Confusion. Yes, and it is, I think, amazing that after so much Allied faffing around and vacillating over Norway, both sides are beginning their offensives at the same moment and both ignorant of the other's plans.

[Al Murray]

It's incredible, isn't it?

[Jim Holland]

Bonkers.

[Al Murray]

And that ill conceived dash, dash and diva versus Sort of very ponderous thought through dither have arrived in exactly the same place at the same time. It reminds me I once went sailing a very long time ago. We sailed to Alderney in my uncle's boat and my dad did the navigation by absolute slide rule, perfection charts and all that. Of course he did, because he been tonight school and he'd learned how to navigate properly and my uncle was very much like, well, that way a bit one of those. One of those people and. And sailed overnight over to Ordney and we ended up exactly halfway between where the two of them had plotted.

[Jim Holland]

Did you all have a good laugh about it?

[Al Murray]

We had a great laugh about it, yeah. At least my mum thought it was funny. But yes. So it's dash versus dither.

[Jim Holland]

But we should start off though, shouldn't we, by looking at the not very secret, secret operation.

[Al Murray]

Yes, which is what we've got here.

[Jim Holland]

So don't forget. Admiral Raider has insisted, I insist the only chance of success is secrecy.

[Al Murray]

Exactly. Although he also thinks it's gonna go badly. But.

[Jim Holland]

But really well.

[Al Murray]

But really well. But they've not managed, they've not been able to achieve that. There's lots of reports and intelligence reaching the Admiralty of the build up of German shipping. It's very hard to hide build up a shipping, isn't it?

[Jim Holland]

I mean, even a bomber going over with light leaflets can look down.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, exactly. And also you steam past a neutral country that you're going to get reports. There's no, no two ways about it.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah, of course.

[Al Murray]

But of course, if you've got lots of intelligence coming to you, one of the problems is what's real, what's fake, weighing it, what, what's important, what's less important.

[Jim Holland]

They can't be going to Narvik.

[Al Murray]

We're going to Narvik.

[Jim Holland]

We're going to Narvik. They can't be going to Narvik. Oh, be quiet.

[Al Murray]

I'm sure.

[Jim Holland]

Now if you were to say they're going to Tromso, well, that's a different matter.

[Al Murray]

But the report about Narvik is there's information from the Norwegian government that says the Germans are planning.

[Jim Holland]

Yes, there is. And there are also air reconnaissance missions going on the 4th, 4th of April, which has spotted Scharnhorst and Eisenhower at anchor in Wilhelmshaven. Yeah, I mean, you know, the report is about. Narvik is passed on to Admiral Sir Charles Forbes, who is the commander in chief of the home fleet, on 7 April. But accompanied by the comment all these reports are of doubtful value may well be only a further move in the war of nerves.

[Al Murray]

Well, there we are.

[Jim Holland]

Which is basically code for euphemism for I'd discount it if I were you.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jim Holland]

Isn't it? Take it with a pinch of salt.

[Al Murray]

It's of doubtful value. And, and if it is anything, it's. It's something we needn't worry about. So, I mean, they really are playing that down. They then get sightings of Mariner Gruppe's Ein und Zwei.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah.

[Al Murray]

Heading northwards up the coast of Norway on the next day, on the 7th. And of course, if, if the Admiralty had gone, right, okay, this is it,

[Jim Holland]

let's act with Nelsonian vigor.

[Al Murray]

They'd have caught them in the open.

[Jim Holland]

Yep.

[Al Murray]

And we'd be telling a different story. Probably. Yes. Because the, actually the Royal Naval Cruiser Squadron at Rosyth would have been at a dash across the North Sea in plenty of time.

[Jim Holland]

It is so frustrating because these, these first three Marine Groupen should have been blasted out of, you know, they should have been sunk, sent to the bottom in very quick order. Yeah, but they're not, they're not, you know, what's the point of having an economic blockade and having a superior navy if you're not bringing it to bear? It's. It is, it is terrible. And you know, isn't it better to kind of assume that they are real and be there ready, waiting for action, rather than to assume they're not and not be ready?

[Al Murray]

Look, Jim, I'm not going to argue. It's compelling logic. I'm not going to argue.

[Jim Holland]

It's quite frustrating.

[Al Murray]

It is quite frustrating, all of this. There's more mixed reports that German destroyers are heading south. And this means that Forbes brings the fleet to one hour notice, but then stands at the back.

[Jim Holland]

The big worry that his worry is that they're not all convinced about the invasion of Norway. What they really think is this might be a major force going out into, breaking out into the Atlantic and the whole thing is a ruse to get out and attack British shipping, which is obviously vital importance, particularly in the spring of 1940.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

So from Forbes point of view, he's been given a pretty hard steer by the Admiralty. And the danger is if you dash off over to the Norwegian coastline, then they're going to come around the back and break out into the Atlantic. That's the concern.

[Al Murray]

But that's always, that's always the concern, isn't it? If you're in charge of the Home Fleet, that is your number one. I don't want to be chasing on a wild goose chase. And they get round and out into the Atlantic.

[Jim Holland]

Yes, it is. And. And reports are going all the way up to kind of Trondheim and Narvik seem ridiculous because one Earth would the Germans be doing that? Because that's so far out of their comfort zone going that far north.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

Which is why they're disinclined to believe the kind of whole Narvik thing.

[Announcer/Promoter]

Right.

[Jim Holland]

Even so, it's still.

[Al Murray]

Come on, Jim, say it.

[Jim Holland]

I think it's a mistake.

[Al Murray]

It's a mistake. Oh, I thought we were gonna go in a bit harder than that. It's crap. And obviously what Forbes is thinking, if I can. If I can have a great big lovely fleet battle, I can wipe out the Kriegsmarine in one go.

[Jim Holland]

And then job done.

[Al Murray]

Job done for the rest of the war.

[Announcer/Promoter]

Yeah.

[Al Murray]

Then we can get on with our blockade. Yes. Royal Air Force, as you said, they are sending bombers over and they spot enemy ships sailing 70 miles north off Skagarak.

[Jim Holland]

Skagarak's right down the south.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. And this persuades Forbes to issue orders to sail at 5.27pm on 7 April. Although he doesn't know what the German's doing, so he's. He's right. Okay. There's some. There's some ships to go fight.

[Jim Holland]

It's also not helped by the weather, which is truly, truly dreadful.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

Even that spring.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, well, yeah. Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

I mean, but that does make that, that makes coordinated attacks very difficult because you're pitching and rolling and all the rest of it and, and you know, you can't see much and blah, blah, blah.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

You know, so.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. And it's, it's, it's wind, rain and snow flurries and this is.

[Jim Holland]

But this.

[Al Murray]

The thing is, is the weather holds everyone up. It doesn't just make things difficult for you, it makes things difficult for your opponent.

[Jim Holland]

Yes.

[Al Murray]

And the big problem for the Germans is their.

[Jim Holland]

Is their Trojan horse ruse.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

Of sending these supply ships early into. Ahead of the assault forces into these ports and harbors is coming awry. So at Narvik, we mentioned. Right. The very beginning of episode one when we had our drop color intro, only one of the three tankers has arrived, the Jan Velen, which is why they're taking such a long time to refuel these. These ships.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. Meanwhile, though, I mean, okay, for fans of, for fans of battleships of the Second World War, get your ears around this.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah.

[Al Murray]

Forbes is in the Rodney with the second battleship Valiant, the battlecruiser Repulse as the cruisers Sheffield and Penelope and 10 destroyers off Shetland standing to to block any breakout into the Atlantic. So that. There you go now. Now we're rolling. Second Cruiser Squadron with 11 destroyers is heading towards Stavanger. First Cruiser Squadron is still at resyth with troops aboard waiting for orders to sail to Stavingham Bergen. Also off the Shetlands is the 18th Cruiser Squadron in Manchester. Southampton had accompanied a convoy headed to Norway but they'd already been turned back. But what you've got here is a shitload of.

[Jim Holland]

Shitload of warships that can really cause some serious damage.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. And also Admiral Whitworth.

[Jim Holland]

Not forget Whitworth.

[Al Murray]

Whitworth in Renown who's now at the Leeds Minelaning. Mine laying.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah. And he's got a dozen destroyers because he's got. Got Warburton Lee's five and then he's got a further six at least I think around him he's got the fourth and the 20th.

[Al Murray]

Okay, but it's on one ship. We must focus.

[Jim Holland]

HMS Glowworm.

[Al Murray]

HMS Glowworm. I mean I.

[Jim Holland]

What a story this is.

[Al Murray]

Well, I'm, you know, first things first. I'd rather be on Hostile.

[Jim Holland]

You mean the same.

[Al Murray]

But Glowworm is one of Admiral Whitworth's force and interestingly they. They've been. They've been held up because they've been looking for a man who's been swept overboard. They don't. You know. Oh no. But it's that strange serendipity of that delay because of that fellow falling overboard that results in. On the dawn on the 8th of April. Glowworm is west of Trondheim heading north at speed to catch up with Whitworth's force. And first light comes. It's an empty storm tossed sea with a visibility only to a few miles. Right.

[Jim Holland]

Glowworm's crew, they're stood down from dawn action stations because no one's expecting anything at this point. It's filthy weather expecting empty seas. But no sooner in the lurching witness of mess decks when there's a cry from the lookout. Ships ahoy. And the dim shape of a destroyer looms in the squall and then disappears again. I mean it's all very. Master and commander isn't but identified in that brief glimpse as German.

[Al Murray]

It's Jerry, sir.

[Jim Holland]

I'm sorry sir, but I've just spotted Jerry Destroyer.

[Al Murray]

Then.

[Jim Holland]

Then another one, then another one and immediately. Because Glowworm has got the shadow of Nelson on his shoulder. What did he do? There's two. Two German destroyers which are bigger Than you. Because all German destroyers are bigger, because they're trying to overcompensate for something.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

And he turns straight into them, takes them on. And Glowworm is commanded by Lieutenant Commander Gerard Rupp, who's 35 years old, he's a veteran of the Royal Navy, he's a proper old sea dog and doesn't hesitate, does he just go straight for it?

[Al Murray]

No, but his nickname is ARD over because he has a habit of issuing quick and dramatic alterations. Of course.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah, of course he does, yeah. ARD Over. Go on.

[Al Murray]

So, as a result, Glow Worm, HMS Glowworm, which is not a good name, fires the first shots of the Norwegian campaign against.

[Jim Holland]

It's good that it's us.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, it is, of course. Of course it is. Hits her at least once.

[Jim Holland]

Get in there, Totter Rumser.

[Al Murray]

And then the German destroyer, of course, thinks, oh, shit, it's the Royal Navy, and does what it ought to do. Yes. Disappears into the mist. Y as the first two Salvo SOS from the 4.7 inch guns scream across the open sea. Yeah. Then the second destroyer appears again and Glowworm fires again.

[Jim Holland]

Of course he does. I love it. Striders rolling all over the place. It's incredibly high swell, but shots from Glowworm are accurate enough to make the German destroyers maneuver frantically at high speed. I mean, they've got, they've got troops on. Yeah, I don't want to be mucking around with this. So the second German destroyer is the Bernd von Arnim, much bigger, much more heavily armed, and it plunges and rolls so dramat so quickly that she nearly capsizes.

[Al Murray]

Bloody hell.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah, but that's what happens when you got shit crew, so. But clearly they just. They don't want to engage at all. They just want to get to their destination. But not far away is the heavy cruiser, the Admiral Hipper.

[Al Murray]

Oh, here we go.

[Jim Holland]

So Roop senses that the enemy is trying to lead them onto something more powerful. He doesn't have any idea that the Hipper is nearby, but he also knows that the Admiralty needs to know exactly what German units are there, so he's got to get eyes on them even if he's not going to take them on. I mean, he could have just disappeared into the sea, couldn't he?

[Al Murray]

Well, he could have done. He could extend up. Sorry, you're breaking up. He could have done all that.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah, he could have done all of that. Yeah. But no, he's got Nelson on his shoulder.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

And five miles away to the northwest, through the gloom spray and mist to Glowworm suddenly spots a huge shape. And this is the heavy cruiser the Hipper with her eight big guns and a very thick armor.

[Al Murray]

Yep.

[Jim Holland]

And normally you'd think that Root would just try and shadow the big German but these are not normal times of course. And he's got Nelson on his shoulder.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

Engage enemy more closely.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. So he decides what with the bad weather.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah.

[Al Murray]

The best thing to do is to fight.

[Jim Holland]

Fight one against three.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. It's very strong. And the Hippo is a heavy cruiser.

[Jim Holland]

It's a big boy.

[Al Murray]

Obviously they've lied about what she weighs. I used to tell herself his time.

[Jim Holland]

Isn't it 1612.

[Al Murray]

Honest

[Jim Holland]

breathing in and.

[Al Murray]

But she's 16000 tons. She's got eight. 8 inch guns. 1205 mil guns. 12 torpedo tubes. Interesting isn't it?

[Gary Lineker]

The.

[Al Murray]

The Germans, these ships have to sort of do everything. They've got two torpedo tubes as well

[Jim Holland]

and 32 anti aircraft guns.

[Al Murray]

Expecting trouble.

[Jim Holland]

She's bristling with weapons.

[Al Murray]

She's literally bristling, bristling with weaponry. And she's from marine gripper Zwei who's headed to Trondheim and she's got troops on board because the Germans have to double everything up. And so she opens fire on the Glowworm and hits her first go with an 8 inch shell.

[Jim Holland]

But does that put off the. Does that put off roop?

[Al Murray]

No, no, no.

[Jim Holland]

Little glow worm. If it's right I'm gonna. I'm gonna have you.

[Al Murray]

Okay. Lay smoke. Yes sir.

[Jim Holland]

All right sir. Laying smoke.

[Al Murray]

Laying smoke. Torpedoes. He decides to put in a torpedo attack.

[Jim Holland]

Carry on number one.

[Al Murray]

But that she keeps being hit. That the Hippos gunner is pretty good. And even to the point where there's a show.

[Jim Holland]

Annoyingly so.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. The shell that wipes out the ship's surgeon's sickbay party. Yeah. I mean and then. And this is like. This is again, this is like something from. This is a bit on the nose. The writing here is a bit on the nose. She's hit again and her radio antennas are smashed and the ship's steam siren is jammed on. So it's just screaming throughout the rest of the action. We're sorry to report the loss of the first dog of the world. Warp's a dog who was sitting between his legs on the bridge killed by shrapnel. But the captain is un. Untouched.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah, it's awful, isn't it?

[Al Murray]

Yeah, it's awful. It's too on the nose that though. I mean if people quit the podcast as a result of a dead dog There I'd understand. British public. Luckily, finally, the Admiralty draw the right conclusion that the Germans are going for Norway. It's on. And then, oh, God. You do this because it's too depressing.

[Jim Holland]

Yep. So Glenn has finished the vital work and now she's got a, you know, but she's, she's in the middle of it, you know, there's no escape, so she might as well make the best of it. So in two attacks on the, on the wild seas, all 10 of the destroyers, torpedoes missed. And I should hasten to add that this is no reflection on poor gunnery on the part of the crew of HMS Glowworm. It's just incredibly difficult when it's the swellers as high as you really want. You don't have to have flat seas, but it makes it very, very difficult. His little ship's hit again. There's a large fire raging in the engine room. And this is where he has Yoda Nelson speaking in his ear and saying, ram her. Ram her, God. And so, yeah, clearly Glowworm's fate is sealed. There's no escape from this. No, but he just thinks, right, I'm gonna ram it. So. Burning and ripped by 8 inch shells, the glowworm painfully alters course towards the Hipper. And Roop turns to his helmsman on the battered bridge and kindly says, ram her. And Roop's little ship was still capable of 20 knots, and he sent her straight into the side of the Hipper. And in the violent seas, the Germans helms. The German helmsman can't answer quickly enough to avoid the Glowworm's charge. And the collision jams Glowworm's prow deep into the cruiser's starboard flank, just behind her anchor, ripping away some 130ft of her armored side. Yes, and the big cruiser survives, but she's listing and has more than 500 tons of icy North Sea waters weighing her down on a massive hull. So Glowworm drifts away from the wounded enemy, listing badly, a massive pool of black smoke pouring from her guts. A torrent of German shells hammered the sinking destroyer. Glowworm begins to settle by the bow as a fire and her engine grows increasingly worse. And even with his ship sinking beneath him, Petty Officer WTW Scott commanding. The ship's last serviceable gun is still firing and still hitting the hipper. And Roope is calmly smoking a cigarette on his bridge, knowing that the time has come to save as many of his crew as possible. So he gives the order to abandon ship. All right, then, men abandon ship. And his crew begin to seek the dubious safety of the icy water.

[Al Murray]

Well, and then she explodes and capsizes in the there and then. I mean, and those of her 145 man crew who are not already dead or badly wounded, they, they do what they can in the cold water and obviously there's fuel oil on the, on the surface of the sea. And Roop is now on the ship's

[Jim Holland]

keel and he turns to the petty officer and he goes, wow, we're not going to be playing cricket again for a while.

[Gary Lineker]

I mean,

[Al Murray]

yeah.

[Jim Holland]

How marvelous.

[Al Murray]

Then Capitan Helmut Hire of the Hippo, he does, he does a decent and in fact the right thing, doesn't. He heaves to and he picks up as many of the survivors as he possibly can, even holding the ship downwind so that, so that he can get the job done. And Roop was one of those who pulled himself onto the ropes and he's awful. This isn't he. And he's obviously shattered. He's exhausted and he's halfway up and a raging wave sweeps up and plucks him off the ropes and he's gone. 31 of Glowworm's crew survive. One survivor says, Next thing I remember, I woke up in a bunker, the German sick bay, and there were a couple of German sailors rubbing me down with towels, getting all the oil off me. They congratulate us on a good fight. We must have injured a lot of them in battle. As I looked to another part of the sick bay which was full of German sailors.

[Jim Holland]

And Hayer later sends a message to the admiralty via the International Red Cross, singling out Roope's gallantry. And it takes a while, but Roope is given a posthumous VC in July 1945.

[Al Murray]

What an incredible story. Amazing. We'll take a break while you all

[Jim Holland]

digest the tragic story of HMS Globe, heroic story of HMS Glenwood.

[Al Murray]

Recalibrate yourselves emotionally and we'll see you in a ticket after these announcements.

[Gary Lineker]

Hi, this is Gary Lineker from Goal Hangers. The rest is football. This episode is brought to you by Wise. It's only when you start moving money between currencies that you really think about the exchange rate, the fee, and what might be hidden away in the small print. Whether you're living abroad, paying someone overseas, or just trying to manage your money across borders, you want a fair exchange rate, an easy transfer, and no surprises along the way. Wise keep keeps things simple. Wise is a smart way to move the currencies you need around the globe. It works in more than 160 countries and with over 40 currencies most transfers arrive instantly. Wise uses the mid market exchange rate like the one you see on Google with no markups or hidden fees. So when money needs to move, you can see the rate, know the fee and get on with it. Join millions saving billions on hidden fees by downloading the Wise app today. Be smart, get wise T's and C's apply.

[Sponsor/Advertiser]

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[Al Murray]

Well hello there, my liebelings. Important news Father's Day. That's right. FatherTag is coming up on the 21st of June, and the one thing we know unites dads all around the world is just how much they love the Second World War. World War II. I mean, come on. So this year, why not buy your dad. Yes, an annual membership to the we have Ways Club. Treat your dad this Father's Day Father's tag to early access to full series ad, free listening, bonus episodes, discounted merch, exclusive live streams with me and James Holland and much, much more. So just head to the we have ways of making you talk Patreon on Patreon. So head to we have ways of making you talk on Patreon and click on gift membership and that gift will land straight in your dad's inbox on the day. Yes, Father's tag. Do your bit. Fill your boots and sign your father up right now for World War II. Welcome back to we have ways to make you talk with me. I'm Mary and James Holland. I'm feeling very manful, Jim.

[Jim Holland]

Manful and moved.

[Al Murray]

Manful and moved. I've been moved in a manful way.

[Jim Holland]

It's an extra. I mean, that is insanely courageous, isn't it?

[Al Murray]

That's got literally everything in it you could possibly want. Why would you.

[Jim Holland]

Why would you ever make anything up

[Al Murray]

and why are you not interested in the second world War is, you know, look someone in the eye and tell them this story. Incredible. Anyway, so there's confusion is the title of this episode. So it is all the picture is unclear, but at least the most unclear. At least. At least Glowworm has Let the Admiralty

[Jim Holland]

know what is going on.

[Al Murray]

What seems to be going on.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah.

[Al Murray]

And although the hippos, she's not out of action, but she's sort of limping along.

[Jim Holland]

She's in big trouble. But, but, but she can still go.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. And at this point, the two Mariner Gruppe break up. Eins goes to Narvik, Zwei goes to Trondheim. And Admiral Forbes in the meantime has picked up glowworm signals and so sends off Repulse and Penelope cruisers and. And four destroyers to try and make contact with the enemy. While Whitworth takes the Renown south to join with Evans and the rest of the cruiser force. So, I mean, basically, he's, he's, he's doing what he can basically, to, to meet this German threat now.

[Jim Holland]

So the weather is still absolutely filthy and that is making any kind of offensive operations really, really difficult. And the Admiralty takes the unusual step of countermanding Forbes. This is Dudley Pound. Yeah, you know, this is not good. And ordering eight destroyers that have been minelaned to rejoin Renown. Also, Whitworth is told that the previous day's intelligence about Narvik might have been true after all.

[Al Murray]

Oh.

[Jim Holland]

So Whitworth then decides to break off his search and head back to Westfjord.

[Al Murray]

Okay. So Forbes is now absolutely convinced the German invasion of Norway is underway.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah, but you still got. What are you going to do?

[Al Murray]

I mean, this business of the Admiralty countermanding and issuing fresh orders.

[Jim Holland]

Well, from London.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

They're not there.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

It's quite strange anyway, but. But you know how no one ever mentions the polls?

[Al Murray]

No one ever mentions the polls.

[Jim Holland]

Never talk about.

[Al Murray]

They never get talked about.

[Jim Holland]

First blood is to them, though.

[Al Murray]

Oh. Oh, well, we're gonna have to talk about the polls then. You'll keep it brief, though, right?

[Jim Holland]

They get really, really close.

[Al Murray]

Right.

[Jim Holland]

And they shoot them because they've got visceral hatred. Yeah. So. Commander in Chief of the Submarine Services, Vice Admiral Max Horton.

[Sponsor/Advertiser]

Right.

[Jim Holland]

Later, Western approaches, of course, but this time he's a submarine man.

[Al Murray]

Am I right in thinking he's the only Jewish admiral in the ranks of the Royal Navy?

[Jim Holland]

You may well be. I don't know.

[Al Murray]

I think.

[Jim Holland]

I never thought about it. I think he is, maybe. Anyway, he's good egg.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

He is one who has absolutely anticipated the German invasion. So he's been waiting and ready because they've, you know, they're all out at sea. They're his subs and they're out in the North Sea and out in the narrows of Skagerrak. And all the rest of it. And he's got three subs in those narrows, which is a bit between, you know, Denmark straits to Denmark and Norway. And he's got a further six on order have been ordered to come and lie in wait at Oslo and Stavanger. But the Admiralty again has interfered and sent them to the Heligoland Bight. What are they doing? You know, this is micromanagement of a very, very bad order.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

And also the British submarines are still at this time held by restricted warfare on shipping. I mean, this is absolutely bonkers because the Germans aren't well and prove so on day one when they sunk the Athena.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, but we're the good guys. Yeah. That's what's going on here.

[Jim Holland]

So what restricted warfare means is they've got a surface challenge, give warning, let the crew abandon ship, and then you fire and sink it.

[Sponsor/Advertiser]

What?

[Al Murray]

Oh, well, we win in the end.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then we'll also drop leaflets. I mean, you know, come on, guys.

[Al Murray]

Into the sea from the submarine. So on the 8th of April, midday.

[Jim Holland]

Yep.

[Al Murray]

The Polish submarine Ortel surfaces near Skagarak to challenge a large steamer in the sky. I mean, it's amazing. They persuaded the polls that they need to do this as well.

[Jim Holland]

Yes, amazing, isn't it?

[Al Murray]

Isn't that incredible?

[Jim Holland]

You're on our side. It's our rules.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. If you want us to refuel your submarine, play ball. Yeah, play ball. It challenges a large steam in the Skagarak heading north. And this is identified as a German transport ship, the Rio de Janeiro.

[Jim Holland]

German, is it?

[Al Murray]

And Orzel orders it to evacuate the crew and passengers and then torpedoes and sinks it.

[Jim Holland]

Yep. Great night, Charlie.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. Norwegian fishing boats and the destroyer help rescue the crowded lifeboats which are on there, which are full of German troops who are on their way to protect Bergen. To protect Bergen. I think this is amazing as well. And this is announced by Reuters, but still the British and Norwegian governments don't take this for what it is. And the.

[Jim Holland]

I mean, you've got to say, what the heck?

[Al Murray]

I mean, you really do. You really, really do. Well, you could say. You could.

[Jim Holland]

You could say worse.

[Al Murray]

You could say worse, Jim, but we're not going to. This is a family podcast. There might be people with their children in a car right now. What the heck? So. But. So the German government don't alert their coastal defenses, nor do they signal mobilization.

[Jim Holland]

Why not? Well, I mean, I want to, you know, I just want to shout codename Cromwell at them.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

I mean, you know what the heck? I mean, what are they thinking?

[Al Murray]

Well, they're not, they're not thinking, are they? They don't want to believe it's true.

[Jim Holland]

It can't be true.

[Al Murray]

Can't be true. Around the same time HMS Trident is on patrol in the northern Skagerrak and intercepts a German tanker Posidonia with 8,000 tons of fuel on board. For U boats at Staminger they do the same thing. They challenge the ship, they let the crew get the lifeboat to the man ship and then they sink it.

[Jim Holland]

Bye bye.

[Al Murray]

So that's 8,000 tons of u boat fuel.

[Jim Holland]

But this Admiralty. Yeah, yeah. They're not going to get anywhere else. So the Admiralty micromanagement is, is, is really hard to justify, I think or excuse but. But the reason they are micromanaging is because of their paranoia about a breakout into the Atlantic.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

Because however important Norway is is not as important as their sea names going across the Atlantic. Yeah, it's the theory.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

So at this moment Forbes is still in, in the dark about the incident, about this, this.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

Attack when a patrol flying boat reports an enemy battle cruiser, two smaller cruisers and two destroyers briefly in a gap in the cloud around 2pm west northwest of Trondheim and steering out to sea. This is the Hipper force and it's obvious, just maneuvering at the time. So this is before. Yeah, the Glowworm itself. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And incredibly the news of the Rio de Janeiro sinking is not passed on to Forbes either. So he doesn't get that news until 10:55pm Zulu.

[Al Murray]

Zulu, yeah.

[Jim Holland]

So it's a massive opportunity for Forbes to head directly towards Trondheim is missed largely due to the slow processing of intelligence. Yeah, an Admiralty. The Admiralty stuck in their bunkers in London not drawing the right conclusions. And on the flimsy detail of a brief sighting of German warships by a Sunderland. I mean it's just not good enough, is it?

[Al Murray]

No. But the second, second Cruiser Squadron, I mean if they'd been dispatched at the right moment they'd have, they'd have got

[Jim Holland]

to intercept the force. Great. Ding dong. And, and just think out how, you know, the Germans would have been fighting with a hand behind their back. Because they're covered with troops.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jim Holland]

Because they're thinking, oh we can't kill all these troops so we have to kind of dodge all these shells, have to maneuver out of the way, which is then going to make them more vulnerable. Yeah, they'd be out. They would have been slaughtered, I'm sure.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Forbes is also he's not got any carriers because Courageous had been sunk the previous year. Art Royal and Glorious are both in the Med. The only one at all local is Furious, but she's in the Clyde and she's not. Not operational. Fully operational. And even with their walruses, their shag

[Jim Holland]

bats, well, they can't see much because it's.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

You know, it's 10:10 crowd.

[Al Murray]

The weather's too bad. And on the afternoon of the 8th. I mean, the 8th of April is a vastly consequential day, isn't it? Forbes is still steering northwest.

[Jim Holland]

So just, just, just to reiterate that is away from Norway.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, he's doing northwest. Yes. He's steering away from Norway. During the Bismarck chase, we had a lot of steering in the wrong direction, didn't we? Steaming. Steaming off that way. We're going this way now.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah.

[Al Murray]

And then in the afternoon, the Admiralty tells.

[Jim Holland]

Sort of just started to feel a bit habitual, isn't it?

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

Or you know, come on, boys, you're better than this.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, usual, isn't it? It's sort of usual. Anyway, the Admiralty gives Forbes a message, that plan R4. Tell him in the afternoon it's been abandoned.

[Jim Holland]

Well, I think that's sensible this stage.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. And that the 1st Cruiser Squadron is now disembarking all its truth troops at Rosyth.

[Jim Holland]

But obviously if it's disembarking troops, then it can't be out at sea.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And there's some, there's some argument about who's.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah. Traditionally in all the books it says that Churchill gave this order without consulting the Admiralty and just did it. Yeah. But, but actually it's not, it's not true at all.

[Al Murray]

Right.

[Jim Holland]

It was entirely pound right.

[Al Murray]

It was not me, it was him. And the, the, the troops, of course, if they got to Trondheim ahead of the Germans, they'd have been able to seize it.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah. Trondheim is one of the ones that's really north. So it's Narvik, then Trondheim, then.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

Bergen, then Stavanger, but in a kind of north to south axis.

[Al Murray]

That's a counterfactual we can't entertain. And Admiral. Admiral Evans takes down his flag from the Aurora and sails onto Scapa Flow.

[Jim Holland]

Not needed anymore.

[Al Murray]

Yep. So the whole of you can sit

[Jim Holland]

this one out, Teddy.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. The whole of that invasion fleet is then, Is then given to forbes, including the 18th Cruiser Squadron. Right. And Forbes is. Forbes is annoyed. He thinks that had they, had they set sail, had they gone, had they invaded, they'd have been successful. And they could have got to Trondheim and probably even Stavinger. And there's that as there's an airfield at staving it, which is the crucial bit for building. Building people up.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. So there's another. There's another missed chance here. So the Allied. Just as Allied plans were characterized by dither, Allied action is characterized by dither as well.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah.

[Al Murray]

Except for Lieutenant Commander Roop. Anyway, Forbes is also getting news that the knives are now all the Blucher plus some cruisers and destroyers have got into the Catacap, which is the channel leading into Bergen.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah.

[Al Murray]

So he thinks, right, okay. That's where the action is.

[Jim Holland]

Yep.

[Al Murray]

We'll head that way. And he turns south at 8. At 8pm but he's.

[Jim Holland]

Thank goodness.

[Al Murray]

I mean, it's just this old business. No go the wrong way. Wrong way, turn around, about turn. Yeah. And he knows that. He knows he needs to get everyone together to protect. To prevent successful landings on the west coast. But once again, I mean, it's just the Admiralty saying they intervene and all his orders.

[Jim Holland]

I think it's fair to say that Forbes and Pound do not see eye.

[Al Murray]

They don't see eye to eye, do they? Yeah. Although Pound seems to have seen eye to eye with nobody so far.

[Jim Holland]

No.

[Al Murray]

In the. In this. In this story. And so he's ordered to take the first second cruiser squadrons east to rendezvous with the rest of the home fleet 100 miles east of the coast at dawn on 9 April, rather than sweep between Bergen and Stavanger.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah. And again, you know, it means that Forbes has got a hand tied behind his back. I mean, Forbes actually is pretty good. Yeah. And he is not being allowed to handle his forces as commander in chief of the Home Fleet in the way that he thinks he should, which is, you know, it's unforgivable. It's really bad meddling. Yeah. It's not how you do things.

[Al Murray]

No.

[Jim Holland]

Anyway, by dawn on the 9th of April, the German assault forces are now, all six of them are now nearing their objectives and pretty much dead on time, you know, which is poor from the Royal Navy point of view.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

And at dawn, Admiral Whitworths, who's the mind leading in the leads, you know, he's doing the mining operation up near Narvik. His force of HMS Renown and the nine destroyers, they spot the Gneisenau and Scharnhorst and the destroyer force in the gales race and stormy seas off Narvik, off the Westfjord, and both sides immediately go into action. And the British destroyers are struggling to keep up. But the collective weight of the aggressive British fire persuades the Germans that they're facing a much stronger force than is actually the reality. And so they disengage and skulk off south. By this time, Gneisenau's fire support system has been destroyed by British shells, while the Scharnhorst has had both its forward turrets flooded by heavy seas. It's actually not really designed brilliantly for this kind of weather.

[Gary Lineker]

No.

[Jim Holland]

But further to the south, much further to south, the invasion is now underway. And this is the extraordinary story of the Bluca, which is another heavy cruiser.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

Like the Admiral Hipper, which is going. Heading up towards Oslo. And this is just extraordinary.

[Al Murray]

Yes, because the. They haven't mobilized the Norwegians. No, they haven't. They haven't authorized their navy to open fire and foreign warships either. However, fear not, there are some Norwegians who aren't gonna. Who aren't gonna wait to be told no. And the first of these is a fellow called Vilding Olsen, who's an officer in the Norwegian Navy Reserve, is the captain of a small patrol boat called the Pole 3, 214 tons. A whaler, basically, which is stationed at the entrance to Oslo Fjord. Now, he sees. I mean, this is so, so cool. He sees these enemy ships looming, the hulks of these gigantic enemy ships, around 11, 11 o' clock at night on the 8th of April. And he challenges them.

[Jim Holland]

Who goes there?

[Al Murray]

Gets no reply.

[Jim Holland]

Yep.

[Al Murray]

So goes into action with his lone gun. And the Germans fight back. Yeah, obviously. And Polter is overwhelmed very quickly. She's on fire. Olson is mortally wounded, but not before he too has rammed and badly damaged the German torpedo boat Albatross.

[Jim Holland]

Yes. Ramming speed. Well, he's run straight into. Into Marine Grouper 5.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

Commanded by Admiral Oscar Kummetz on the Blooker, and alongside a second heavy cruiser, the Lutzo, and the light cruiser Emden. And Kummetz, having got past Pole three, pushes on towards the shore defence islands of Vroy and Beaulain, where the defenders merely shine searchlights and fire warning shots, but otherwise let them pass. That's not good, is it?

[Al Murray]

No.

[Jim Holland]

A control minefield has been planned by the Norwegians just up ahead, but the Norwegians haven't got around to laying it.

[Al Murray]

So they just planned to lay a minefield?

[Jim Holland]

Yeah, we did. So Kummetz's force passes on through and then pauses to transfer assault troops into smaller craft to attack the Raw and Ballern from the rear. And others are also Detached to attack the undefended naval base at Horten. And only one Norwegian ship there, the minelayer the Olef Tryggvason, which opens fire and forces the torpedo boat Albatross to completely retire. Albatross is getting it in the neck and it's not enough really frankly. Anyway, then Kummetz's forces pushes on until they reach the. The critical drawback narrows which I've sailed through.

[Al Murray]

Right, excellent. And are they very narrow?

[Jim Holland]

They're pretty narrow.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, they're pretty narrow. 600 yards wide. So that's nothing.

[Jim Holland]

It's not very wide.

[Al Murray]

No. And there's two islands in the middle.

[Jim Holland]

Yes. Third of them, aren't it?

[Al Murray]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And there's a fortress on these islands. Oscarsborg island.

[Jim Holland]

Yes. And it's a big fort. You know, this is a major thing. And so basically got this island in the middle of it. You got to go one side. So then it's really, really narrow and these are the. You know, it is ridiculous that you would send a heavy cruiser through this because if it's manned and they're waiting, you're going to be toast.

[Al Murray]

You've had it.

[Jim Holland]

You've had it. Yeah, I mean I remember just sailing through this, just thinking what were they thinking? But what they're thinking is they haven't got any choice. No matter.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

It's been signed off by Adolf.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

Anyway, so the Germans are, you know, they are aware of the defenses here but. But they haven't. They just think, oh well, you know, what can we do? We just got. Just gotta go for it. But why would you have your brandest, newest, heaviest cruise there? Wouldn't you send, you know, a few smaller vessels there first?

[Al Murray]

Well, no, because you, you don't know what you're doing. You're the cruise marina.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah, but you'd, that's what you think, wouldn't you?

[Al Murray]

Yeah, you'd think you know anything that then you.

[Jim Holland]

Then you land people ashore and you attack it from, from shore first. So you don't risk your heavy cruisers anyway, you know, the Bluka is so new it hasn't raced full steam, hasn't been worked up. It's got a largely new crew who are untested and all the rest of it. And the four does open fire at point blank range with its 28 centimeter guns. And the first strikes hit the Bluchers aircraft hangar starting an uncontrollable blaze. Immediately another shell then damages the steering gear sending the ship towards the shore at Cahol. More shells hit it. So basically the ship's just gone. It's just sat there stuck, can't do anything. And the ship goes to a standstill, being absolutely pummeled. Then the fortress fires several torpedoes, which, because it's got torpedo tubes there on the fort, which also hit. I mean, they can't miss. They can't possibly miss. And of course, because it's not great big huge swell in the narrow confines of the fjord. That's right, the torpedoes is absolutely amazing because there's all these sort of elderly, you know, reservists in the Norwegian Navy and they've just spent the last 15 years polishing these. These torpedoes. So they kind of glide through the water. Polished brass, no problem at all. And they hit the main engines, starting to get more fires. And the Blucher is listing and burning. There's frantic efforts to save her, but. But to all to no avail. And then the more early hours of the 9th of April, it's. It's, you know, it's toast, basically. The blaze spreads through to a magazine for the 105 or the 10.5 centimeter guns, and at 6:30am, the magazine blaze up. What do you do?

[Al Murray]

Abandon ship, Jim.

[Jim Holland]

Yep. It's the only thing you can do. And soon after that, a Blucher capsizes and sinks at 7:23am with a loss of more than a thousand men.

[Al Murray]

Jeepers.

[Jim Holland]

Meanwhile, the Lutzo has also been hit at least 11 times, badly damaged. And with the Emden, they retreat back down the fjord. So the troops are then landed on the eastern side, still some way from Oslo. These then attack the fort, eventually forcing its surrender later that afternoon, after which Group five is then able to continue. But. But this action does help delay the assault on Oslo, which allows the royal family to escape along with the nation's gold reserves, which is a story we must do one of these days.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jim Holland]

It's absolutely incredible, that story.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

And in the meantime, the Oslo is captured by the Falcher around midday along with that crucial airfield at Fornibu. Now the Oslo International Airport. It's nuts, honestly. I remember sailing through these narrows, the Draybot narrows, looking at the fort and just thinking, this is absolutely insane to try and send a heavy cruiser up through here, you know, a couple of destroyers. Why can't you send a couple of destroyers out front and test the water?

[Al Murray]

It's. It's.

[Jim Holland]

Matt, it's absolutely insane.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. Meanwhile, Marine Gruppe Fear Group Four, not to be confused with Group four, Securitas no, was headed to Christiansand on the southwest of Norway. And they're led by the cruiser Karlsruhe. And group four is protected by thick floor fog. So they. They're able to sort of arrive by stealth.

[Jim Holland]

Yep.

[Al Murray]

They get to the edge of the fjord at quarter to four in the morning, but it's not until six that they dare risk coming in. See what they can do.

[Jim Holland]

Well, this is, you know, there's rocks sticking up and all the rest of it. You don't want to be doing that if you can't see anything.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. And they then receive extremely heavy, accurate fire from Norwegian shore batteries. So the. The Karlsruhe turns back.

[Jim Holland]

Yep.

[Al Murray]

Then the Luftwaffe are called in to bomb the batteries. That doesn't actually work.

[Jim Holland]

No.

[Al Murray]

So group four have to retreat a second time. I mean, this is all. This isn't going very well, is it? For the Germans? No, not at all. And Captain Riva on the Karlsruhe, he attempts to land troops to attack the batteries, but there's more fog. So it's not until 11 in the morning the fog actually disperses. And at this point, I mean, this is some skullduggery here.

[Jim Holland]

Oh, poorly.

[Al Murray]

The battery commander gets a message. British and French destroyers coming to your help. Do not force fire. He believes this and stands his men down. And of course, it's German ships. It's a ruse.

[Jim Holland]

It's a ruse.

[Al Murray]

It's absolute 100% Schwein Hunt behavior. That.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah, total.

[Al Murray]

Total Schwein hunt behavior.

[Jim Holland]

British people don't behave like that.

[Al Murray]

No, we absolutely would never do anything like that at Tall James. And by 5pm the town and its defenses have been overrun. But chiefly because of this absolutely ghastly, ungent, dastardly. Dastardly, ungentlemanly act.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah.

[Announcer/Promoter]

Point.

[Al Murray]

Then at Stavanger, the Norwegian destroyer, the Sleipner, had picked up a radio warning from the Pole three.

[Jim Holland]

Yep. Down in the also field.

[Al Murray]

That means that when the merchant ship approaches the port, the captain, the slip opens fire and sinks her. And this is one of these German. Yeah, could finally. This is one of these German Trojan horse ships, supply vessels. So that's a bandjaxed. Yep, that plan. That ship also had a load of flak guns on board.

[Jim Holland]

Not anymore.

[Al Murray]

Not anymore. For when they catch this airfield at Stavanger and the Germans do then seize the airfield, later in the day, Falchiomega come in and take it. But this is all unraveling, isn't it?

[Jim Holland]

Yeah.

[Al Murray]

The German naval component has to be said, it is.

[Jim Holland]

But they are getting all the men aboard on shore eventually, without too much interruption for the Royal Navy, unfortunately. I mean you have to say that this whole thing is, I mean, unbelievably high risk. Which of course is exactly what Raider's been worried about. But on the other hand, the Royal Navy can't be absolutely everywhere. And intelligence at the start of the war is really poor. And the flurry of signals and messages is just not being effectively processed or passed on. And so on one level it's not really surprising that Forbes is literally all at sea. And it's not being helped by the fact that there's basically two chiefs. There's Forbes at sea who's gone and achieve the Home Fleet and there's the Admiralty.

[Al Murray]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

And the Admiralty needs to kind of sort of back off. Yeah. Really. But anyway. And also of course the weather.

[Al Murray]

The weather's diabolical.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah, yeah.

[Al Murray]

That you've had. Well, you've had rough sea and fog. So the. In the open sea gunnery is very difficult in fog.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah. So Germans are very lucky on that front.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. Because the fog helps them. At Bergen with Marines Gripper 3. If it had been clear, they'd have been seen coming. But they're not. As they're clearing the southwest corner of Norway, they aren't seen.

[Jim Holland]

Yeah. You know, and you have to think, well, Vice Admiral Frederick Edward Collins's 2nd Cruiser Squadron is only 60 miles away at this point, which is, you know, not very far really. So 2 cruisers and 11 destroyers should have made easy work of group 3. Could have absolutely ravaged it again for that problem that they're, you know, Group three got lots and lots of troops on board.

[Announcer/Promoter]

Yeah.

[Jim Holland]

Makes it very difficult, you know, because those troop ships are under armed and slow and all the rest of it. But anyway. But they're not spotted. So the fog clears only well after darkness. And that enables Group 3 to approach the cause fjord. On the approach to Bergen at 2am yeah, they're lit up by searchlights and challenged. But the KMS cone. A light cruiser identifies herself as HMS Cairo. I mean how much skullduggery and swinehound behavior.

[Al Murray]

Full Schwein. These are absolutely. Jones are absolute rotten.

[Jim Holland]

And so he's allowed to pass. I mean it's oldest trick in the book, isn't it? Then it's challenged at 4:30am by a Norwegian destroyer. And the Germans reply, I am proceeding to Bergen for a short visit. And allowed to pass.

[Al Murray]

Oh, short visit. Come on in then he's just stopped for short visit. Jim, don't worry, we haven't been mobilized or ordered to fire anybody. And they, they stop at byfjord near the entrance to Bergen to disembark troops and they, they attack the shore battery at Kavarvan to the south of the town and then they press on and they reach Bergen. Although the guys at Carven before they're overpowered, they have fired three 8 inch shells at the cruiser Konigsberg. Smashed her up a bit.

[Jim Holland]

Yep, big boy.

[Al Murray]

But by, by 9:00 clock in the morning, Bergen has fallen.

[Jim Holland]

And then finally Group two, which is Admiral Hipper and her destroyers, which are still damaged after the attack by the Glowworm, but opting for speed and steaming straight into Trondheim at 25 knots. So the shore gunners aren't well trained. They struggle to hone their searchlights and the entire German squadron gets through before the gunners can find their rage. So the coastal forts hold out for two days, but Trondheim itself surrenders without a shot. But what of Narvik, with which we started this series? This was unquestionably Raeder's biggest gamble. The assault group had the greatest distance to travel, was the most vulnerable and arguably the least well defended for potentially the most vital prize. You know, there's no heavy ships, there's no cruisers, there's no panzer Schiffer, you know, and this is the all important railway and port that supplies the iron ore mines of northern Sweden. So how are they going to fare, Al? Will Captain Warburton, Lee's understrength force of destroyers manage to take on Commodore Bonte's destroyer force? What do you think?

[Al Murray]

Well, I mean we're looking at a Royal Navy whose attitude is to ram the Admiral Hipper. Exactly. Use the fleet. It's, it's only going to go one way. I think it's fair to say that's

[Jim Holland]

a fjord hanger if ever there was one.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, it's another fjord hanger. That's two fjord hangers in a row. Thanks very much for joining us. If you want, if you need to be put out of your agony right now, go to the we have ways Patreon.

[Jim Holland]

Become a member and get so much more besides.

[Al Murray]

Exactly.

[Jim Holland]

So much more. First dibs on things. Early tickets, audiobook extracts, audiobooks, extra episodes.

[Al Murray]

And we have Ways Fest exclusives as well. Do you need a We have ways of making your talk use the fleet T shirt with Admiral Lord Nelson hovering like a ghost. Yeah. Advising you on what to do. Then go to T mill. We have ways of making you talk and find our use the Fleet shirt available in all sizes. All what we do now is we record the next one immediately so we find out what happens straight away. So join us over on the Patreon. Thanks very much for listening. Cheerio.

[Jim Holland]

Cheerio.

[Announcer/Promoter]

Your next chapter in healthcare starts at Carrington College's School of Nursing in Portland. Join us for our open house on Tuesday, January 13th from 4 to 7pm you'll tour our campus, see live demos, meet instructors and learn about our associate degree in Nursing program and that prepares you to become a registered nurse. Take the first step toward your nursing career. Save your spot now at Carrington. Edu Events. For information on program outcomes, visit carrington. Edu Sci.

[Jim Holland]

Hello, James Holland here. I always say history never repeats itself, but a chalk? Wow, it comes pretty damn close. So what better way to make the Great Escape this summer than with us in the Vani? With live music, theater and a lineup of inspiring speakers you won't hear anywhere else, including Gull Hanger's very own Anti Scaramucci, Tom Holland, Saul David, Sarah Churchwell, Gordon Carrera, and of course, Al Murray. Oh, and plenty more besides. And the views from our Hilltop Glam site aren't too shabby either. So bring your friends, bring your family, and come and meet a few of ours too. Head to chalkfestival.com to book your tickets today. Chalk History Festival, 22nd to 28th June. In partnership with Evelyn Partners.