Operation Weserübung

Denmark: one hour forty-five minutes

Operation Weserübung began before dawn on 9 April 1940, with German land, sea and airborne forces striking Denmark and Norwegian objectives from Oslofjord to Narvik — Oslo, Arendal, Kristiansand, Egersund, Stavanger, Bergen and Trondheim.

German troops crossed the Jutland border at 04:15 while a troopship entered Copenhagen and landed 800 men at the Langelinie quay. Facing an ultimatum and a threat to bomb the capital, King Christian X and the government ordered resistance to end and capitulated at 06:00.

Faulty communications left isolated fighting running until 08:15; documented Danish losses were 13 soldiers and three border gendarmes killed, with 21 soldiers wounded.

Oscarsborg changes the Oslo plan

At Oscarsborg Fortress, Colonel Birger Eriksen's batteries opened fire on the German cruiser Blücher at 04:21. She sank at 06:22.

That delayed the seizure of Oslo long enough for King Haakon VII, the government and members of parliament to escape by train. Germans entered the city later that morning, but the planned surprise capture of the king and government had failed.

Off the Lofoten Islands, HMS Renown opened fire at 04:05 at 18,600 yards on Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, damaging Gneisenau before the German ships withdrew in severe weather.

A coup announced over the radio

Norway's elected government rejected the German demand to submit and left Oslo. That evening Vidkun Quisling used Norwegian radio to announce an unauthorized new government and order resistance to stop — the first attempted coup conducted by broadcast.

By nightfall Germany held Denmark and bridgeheads at Norway's principal ports and airfields. Norway did not capitulate: its constitutional government remained free and ordered continued resistance, and Quisling's self-proclaimed government was displaced within days.