The German invasion of Denmark and Norway, April 1940

A German soldier directs traffic before a barracks as cars and a tank pass; a column of soldiers in steel helmets marches by men in hats and two girls who watch without a word. Above a harbour town that resembles Bergen a tug brings in a steamer, soldiers come down a gangway, small tanks roll through a street past cyclists, the German war ensign flies at a ship's stern, three-engined transports land on a grass airfield, and the long barrel of a ship's gun hangs over a fjord.

In the early hours of 9 April 1940 Germany attacked Denmark and Norway. Denmark gave in within hours. In Norway troops landed from warships at Kristiansand, Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik, while Oslo was taken from the air after the cruiser Blücher had been sunk in the Oslofjord. King Haakon VII and his government refused to capitulate and withdrew northwards.