Anatomy of a Campaign: The British Fiasco in Norway, 1940 (Cambridge Military Histories)

The British Campaign In Norway In 1940 Was An Ignominious And Abject Failure. It Is Perhaps Best Known As The Fiasco Which Directly Led To The Fall Of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain And His Replacement By Winston Churchill. But What Were The Reasons For Failure? Why Did The Decision Makers, Including Churchill, Make Such Poor Decisions And Exercise Such Bad Judgement? What Other Factors Played A Part? John Kiszely Draws On His Own Experience Of Working At All Levels In The Military To Assess The Campaign As A Whole, Its Context And Evolution From Strategic Failures, Intelligence Blunders And German Air Superiority To The Performance Of The Troops And The Serious Errors Of Judgement By Those Responsible For The Higher Direction Of The War. The Result Helps Us To Understand Not Only The Outcome Of The Norwegian Campaign But Also Why More Recent Military Campaigns Have Found Success So Elusive. Machine Generated Contents Note: 1. Introduction -- 2. `a Legitimate Side-show' -- 3. Deciding To Decide -- 4. Warning Signs -- 5. `the Major Project' -- 6. `hare-brained' -- 7. Taking Stock -- 8. Weserubung -- 9. `something Must Be Done' -- 10. The Jigsaw Puzzle -- 11. `completely Outwitted' -- 12. `boldness Is Required' -- 13. `an Even Greater Prize' -- 14. Maurice -- 15. Sickle -- 16. `we Must Get Out' -- 17. The Third Dimension -- 18. `we The Name Of God, Go!' -- 19. `a Good Dividend'? -- 20. `no Time To Lose' -- 21. The Long Retreat -- 22. Finale -- 23. Conclusions. John Kiszely. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover 1 Half-title 3 Series information 4 Title page 5 Copyright information 6 Table of contents 7 Preface 9 Acknowledgements 12 List of Figures 13 List of Maps 14 British Operations 15 List of Abbreviations 17 1 Introduction 19 Genesis 19 Norway 23 The Strategy Makers 26 2 ‘A Legitimate Side-Show’ 38 3 Deciding to Decide 47 4 Warning Signs 57 5 ‘The Major Project’ 65 6 ‘Hare-Brained’ 73 7 Taking Stock 85 8 Weserübung 97 9 ‘Something Must Be Done’ 105 10 The Jigsaw Puzzle 118 11 ‘Completely Outwitted’ 128 12 ‘Boldness Is Required’ 153 13 ‘An Even Greater Prize’ 173 Would it have succeeded? 182 14 Maurice 186 15 Sickle 199 16 ‘We Must Get Out’ 223 17 The Third Dimension 236 18 ‘In the Name of God, Go!’ 248 19 ‘A Good Dividend’? 258 20 ‘No Time to Lose’ 266 21 The Long Retreat 277 22 Finale 286 23 Conclusions 292 What, though, of the reasons for British campaign failure? 294 So where does the responsibility for campaign failure lie? 303 Appendix A Operational Code Names 318 Appendix B Who’s Who (September 1939-June 1940) 319 Abbreviations Used in the Endnotes 323 Notes 324 Preface 324 Chapter 1 324 Chapter 2 329 Chapter 3 330 Chapter 4 331 Chapter 5 332 Chapter 6 333 Chapter 7 336 Chapter 8 338 Chapter 9 339 Chapter 10 342 Chapter 11 344 Chapter 12 348 Chapter 13 352 Chapter 14 354 Chapter 15 356 Chapter 16 361 Chapter 17 363 Chapter 18 366 Chapter 19 367 Chapter 20 368 Chapter 21 370 Chapter 22 372 Chapter 23 374 Bibliography 378 Official Publications 387 Unpublished Works 387 Index 388 1 Introduction 2 'A legitimate side-show' 3 Deciding to decide 4 Warning signs 5 'The major project' 6 'Hare-brained' 7 Taking stock 8 Weserubung 9 'Something must be done' 10 The jigsaw puzzle 11 'Completely outwitted' 12 'Boldness is required' 13 'An even greater prize' 14 Maurice 15 Sickle 16 'We must get out' 17 The third dimension 18 'In the name of God, go!' 19 'A good dividend'? 20 'No time to lose' 21 The long retreat 22 Finale 23 Conclusions Appendices.