Memorials and Memories of the Battle for Narvik
9 April to 8 June 1940
Following the unprovoked German invasion of Norway beginning on 9 April 1940, British Army, Navy and Air Force units were sent to the port of Narvik in the far north of the country. They were supported by French, Polish and Norwegian forces but failed to hold Narvik in the face of German counter-attacks.
Of the six ports initially occupied by the Germans, Narvik was of the greatest strategic importance as the rail terminal for the shipment of iron ore from the mines in Kiruna in Swedish Lapland. This trade continues to this day on a massive scale: 26 million tons a year.
Our pictures are of memorials in and around Narvik, followed by photographs taken at the cemetery in Ballangen, southwest of Narvik. The Reed family were there to visit the grave of Wilfred Reed, their father and grandfather, who was a regular soldier in the South Wales Borderers.
Of the six ports initially occupied by the Germans, Narvik was of the greatest strategic importance as the rail terminal for the shipment of iron ore from the mines in Kiruna in Swedish Lapland. This trade continues to this day on a massive scale: 26 million tons a year.
Our pictures are of memorials in and around Narvik, followed by photographs taken at the cemetery in Ballangen, southwest of Narvik. The Reed family were there to visit the grave of Wilfred Reed, their father and grandfather, who was a regular soldier in the South Wales Borderers.
