Friedrich Bonte - Narvik

Narvik

During the German invasion of Norway, Bonte commanded the ten destroyers carrying General Dietl's mountain troops to Narvik on 9 April 1940. On the morning of 10 April, the flotilla was attacked in Narvik fjord by British destroyers under the command of Commodore Bernard Warburton-Lee. In the ensuing battle, Bonte's flagship, the destroyer Wilhelm Heidkamp, was hit by a torpedo and exploded. Bonte and most of the crew perished. Bonte was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

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