Namsos Campaign - Ashore and South

Ashore and South

Carton De Wiart showed considerable vigour in managing the landing and dispersal of troops and supplies in such a way as to get them off the ships and into the hills during the five hours of darkness prevailing in Namsos in late April. On several occasions German reconnaissance aircraft were unaware that landings had occurred the previous night. He wasted no time in setting up a headquarters in Namsos and sent out guards to the long bridge over Namsosfjord, essential to one of the two roads south and moved others to occupy the village of Bangsund further south. He also sent 300 troops due east along the second, less direct, route south to Grong where they linked up with small numbers of Norwegian troops under Colonel Ole Getz. Smaller groups were sent south of Bangsund in an attempt to reach Beitstadfjorden, at the head of Trondheimsfjord.

Carton De Wiart realized that the quicker he got his forces south, the better were his chances of taking Trondheim from the Germans. The first priority, he felt, was to reach Steinkjer where the two roads south met, before the Germans got there from Trondheim.

In the meantime, the naval commander, Admiral Layton, decided that taking his destroyers into Namsos was too risky. He would send troops and supplies in on the Polish transport SS Chrobry. Since most of the remaining troops at Lillesjona were aboard the Empress of Australia, much time was wasted with further trans-shipping, and the Chrobry, accompanied by HMS Vanoc got into Namsos just before sunrise on April 17. In the mad hurry to get away before the German bombers arrived, the soldiers landed without much of their kit. But, De Wiart succeeded in getting the troops dispersed before a reconnaissance aircraft arrived.

At this time, Carton De Wiart was not aware that the attack directly into Trondheimsfjord was called off. Throughout his time at Namsos, he was left completely uninformed of what was happening elsewhere in Norway.