On This Episode of History Date Night:

Norway is collapsing, and the Allies ordered to leave without telling their Norwegian partners. In this week of History Date Night (April 27–May 3, 1940), the central campaign of the German invasion of Norway ends in evacuation, bitter Allied infighting, and a final naval disaster at sea.

Justin and Jennie track the retreat from Kvam through the Gudbrandsdal valley to Andalsnes, the destruction at Namsos under relentless Luftwaffe bombing, and the political fallout as Britain and France fracture over strategy, while the machinery of occupation tightens elsewhere in Europe.

On This Episode of History Date Night:

A British brigade is shattered in four days and Hitler decides Norway is going well enough to start picking a date for the invasion of France.

In this episode, we cover the German invasion of Norway from April 21–26, as a disciplined German advance up the Gudbrandsdal Valley collides with Allied improvisation. You’ll follow the collapse of Britain’s 148th Brigade, a remarkable escape led by Lt. Col. H.B. Hibbert, America’s first military death of WWII while still neutral, and the tightening grip of occupation under Josef Terboven.

On This Episode of History Date Night:

The Allies finally land in force and instantly collide with snow, missing gear, and orders that don’t match. In this episode we cover the German invasion of Norway from April 16–20, when operational improvisation on both sides turns victory into a logistics and leadership test.

Justin and Jennie trace the first major Allied troop landings at Harstad, Namsos, and Åndalsnes, the Royal Navy’s mounting losses under Luftwaffe attack, and one of the campaign’s great ironies: Bletchley Park breaks the Norway Enigma key, but Britain can’t yet deliver the intelligence where it matters.