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Raid on Bjerkvik - May 13, 1940
Norwegian WW2 History
2001 During the first 8 months of WW2 the British and French had endured many losses, not only had they lost to the Währmacht in Holland and Belgium they were also losing in France. To pocket a victory the new appointed Mr Churchill together with Paul Reynaud came up with an idea: Bomb and destroy a village in Norway. The planning of the raid had started long before Churchill became Prime Minister of UK. Reynaud was Prime Minister of France aand Churchill First Sea Lord of Britaain as they planned a raid on a small Norwegian villaage - a raaid they hoped would bring them fame and honour. Through an agent based outside Narvik (some 20 km away from Bjerkvik) some 1573 km north of Oslo, they heard of Bjerkvik, an assembly of approximately 140 households, with no Germany soldier around. This was a perfect spot where their losing armies could win a victory. With battleships and many soldiers - among them some soldiers belonging to the French Foreign Legion - the British and French in the bight to May 13 started an attack on Bjerkvik. They shoot on the houses with the largest guns available on the battleships for over an hour, then the soldiers came onshore and started their raid. When the British and French left Bjerkvik all houses were demolished and 18 people killed and the same amount wounded. Houses burned for more then one day after the battleships had bombed and the soldiers had set the rest of them on fire. As the "brave" British and French soldiers came back to England they were celebrated for their victory. A "victory" the people of Bjrekvik even to day look upon as a slaughter of innocents. Above are the hard facts regarding the first British/French "victory" during WW2. Let us look at the armada attacking this little Norwegian village. The following ships attacked: battleship "Resolution" 30,000 tons, cruiser "Effingham" 10,000 tons, cruiser "Vindicative" 10,000 tons, cruiser "Aurora" 10,000 tons and five destroyers, total 1620 soldiers. Out in the Ofotfjorden the carrier "Ark Royal", 22,000 tons, with 60 airplanes was waiting. The attack on Bjerkvik were led by Admiral Lord Cork and the French General Bethouart, they were onboard "Effingham". The raid on Bjrekvik lasted for two days. These days told the people of Bjerkvik what the allied were capable of when it came to mistreatment of civilians. (Even to day one shall not try to tell people living in Bjerkvik that the allied were fighting a chivalrous war.) German soldiers had been in Bjerkvik a week before the attack and they came back after the allied had left. During the whole war the Germans never treated anybody in Norway as bad as the allied treated the people in the small village of Bjerkvik. I have looked for information on this in both of David Irving’s books on Churchill’s War but have found none. Why? Don’t ask me. Ask David! Is he too asham to tell? Heil og sael
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