La Germania invase la Danimarca e la Norvegia 85 anni fa il 9 aprile 1940. Entrambe le nazioni difendevano i loro paesi, norvegesi insieme agli alleati che sbarcarono in Norvegia per combattere i tedeschi. Una navi da guerra chiamata Blücher fu distrutta nell’Oslofjord quel giorno. (raccolta di 20 foto)

Denmark fell in 6 hours, standing no chance against the Third Reich. Around 16 soldiers died defending Denmark.

Norway was defended by British, French, Polish and Norwegian troops.

6 000 danish volunteers joined the Waffen SS Frikorps

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark_in_World_War_II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark_in_World_War_II)

In the early morning of 9 April, the gunners at Oscarsborg Fortress fired on the leading ship, Blücher, which had been illuminated by spotlights at about 04:15. Two of the fortress guns were 48-year-old German-made Krupp guns (nicknamed Moses and Aron) of 280 mm (11 in) caliber. Within two hours, the badly damaged ship, unable to manoeuvre in the narrow fjord from multiple artillery and torpedo hits, sank with very heavy loss of life totalling 600–1,000 men. The threat from the fortress (and the mistaken belief that mines had contributed to the sinking) delayed the rest of the naval invasion group long enough for the Royal Family, the Cabinet and members of Parliament to be evacuated, along with the national treasury.

12000 Danes volunteered for the SS, 6000 of those served and around 2000 of them were killed before the German capitulation. And then around 700 served in the Kriegsmarine, Luftwaffe, Heer and German police.