Setanta wrote:Steve 41oo wrote:Setanta wrote:I can certainly agree that the Narvik campaign was a fiasco from start to finish. That was one the Allies should never have lost.
It was only us! And the Norwegians obviously. And a few elks were sympathetic but didnt actually do much.
Although not directly involved in the Narvik expedition, the French did send a mountain division. And, as Paasky pointed out, they arrived without their proper equipment.
There was a fascinating program on the tee-vee a couple of weeks ago about the Lebensborn Kinder of Norway. Children of German soldiers born to Norwegian mothers were, if identified, moved into special homes with special privileges, because the Germans viewed the Norwegians as "racially pure." This backfired, however, when the Germans were gone, and the children were roundly abused in their communities, and many of the younger ones were put into asylums for the mentally ill. Annifrid Lyngstad of the Swedish group ABBA was one of these Lebensborn, whose mother left Norway to raise her child in Sweden.
So that singer would be what, 64 years old (min) now? Unbelievable.
I think she was born in 1942. I'll go look.
The French had in Narvik the 13th demi-brigade of the Foreign Legion, mainly Spanish Republicans, some bataillions of French Chaseurs Alpins and the Polish "brigade autonome des chasseurs de Podhale".
According to Wikipedia, she was born in 1945 . . . and, ironically, was born in a small village not far from Narvik.
Hmm, we had all that discussed here on A2K ...
I hadn't known that the French participated in the Narvik campaign--i had thought they operated near Trondmheim.
Setanta wrote:I hadn't known that the French participated in the Narvik campaign--i had thought they operated near Trondmheim.
Well, that's what I found on some French sites
I wasn't disputing your information, Walter . . . rather, i was acknowledging my ignorance. My (vague) recollection of French participation was from reading Churchill's The Second World War.
Setanta wrote:I hadn't known that the French participated in the Narvik campaign--i had thought they operated near Trondmheim.
Here, Set, as you speak French:
Quote:Le 28 mai 1940, les alliés sont victorieux à Narvik
Légionnaires et Norvégiens atteignent Orneset. Au sud, deux bataillons polonais se portent sur Ankenes et Bjersfjord. Cramponnés à un plateau qui domine la cité, les Allemands ripostent, soutenus par leur aviation. Sous les bombardements, les forces alliées se regroupent, occupent les crêtes et forcent l'ennemi à reculer. Français et Norvégiens entrent victorieux dans Narvik, les Polonais faisant leur jonction avec des éléments de la Légion étrangère dans le Bjersfjord.
Source
Merci, Mon Vieux . . . comme on dit en Anglais, on apprend quelquechose de nouvelle chaque jour . . .
Et ça, ce n'est pas nouveau..
ok enough french, speak american
on the other hand, for clarity, parlez Francais.
I don't speak no 'Merican . . . i speaks Engrish . . .
Setanta wrote:I don't speak no 'Merican . . . i speaks Engrish . . .
that mon ami is a matter of opinion
Walter Hinteler wrote:The French had in Narvik the 13th demi-brigade of the Foreign Legion, mainly Spanish Republicans, some bataillions of French Chaseurs Alpins and the Polish "brigade autonome des chasseurs de Podhale".
And at Narvik they also deployed the 342e CACC, an autonomous tank company armed with 15 Hotchkiss H35 light tanks, one of which now stands on the memorial in front of the Narvik museum. It is a mystery to me how these tanks (notorious for their lousy cross country capability) can have functioned anywhere outside the town itself.
A picture of Narvik to show the landscape:
And this is the tank (but not in its present location):
That's an interesting article, Paasky . . . you, or someone else, already mentioned the piracy in the Malacca Straits, earlier in the thread. I had just heard a report the other day that Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore had caved to international pressure, and were now patrolling the Strait, which explained why piracy was on the rise on the east coast of Africa, especially around Somalia.
