NORWAY 1940: Chronicle of a Chaotic Campaign

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Ostensibly fought for control of Swedish iron ore to Germany, the campaign made an important but largely overlooked contribution to the conduct of WWII. It convincingly proved the supremacy of air power in modern warfare and, particularly, the vulnerability of land and sea forces to sustained undefended air assault.

It was the first conflict in which one side, the German, used all three arms of their forces in integrated combined assault and in which parachute and glider-borne troops were used to secure airfields and strategic targets. The Allies (Britain, France, Norway and Poland) in contrast tried to conduct the campaign on land with inadequate air support and virtually the sole use of infantrymen.