Comments by "Sar Jim" (@sarjim4381) on "Norway 1940: The Siege of Narvik" video.

It should have been possible for the Norwegians and their allies to hold northern Norway except for the critical lack of close air support. The British learned nothing from the defeat of Poland and the Low Countries and still didn't understand the importance of aircraft in holding ground. The Germans could not have won without their close air support and aerial resupply, things the British could have stopped with enough air assets in Norway.
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@L4r5man Indeed. And not only didn't the British seem to understand the need for air support, the best aircraft the RAF could provide were a few Hurricanes and the almost worthless Gloster Gladiator biplanes. The Gladiator pilots fought bravely, but they were overcome by better German aircraft and pilots, with most of their planes destroyed on the ground before they could even get in the fight. Fourteen more Gladiators were delivered on May 21 but, with the battle all but lost, the ten surviving planes and crews were embarked on the Glorious for a return to the safety of Britain. Ironically, almost all the pilots and all the aircraft were lost after surviving the fighting in Norway, when the Glorious was sunk while sailing for home with an escort of just two destroyers, both of whom were also sunk. In my book, Norway goes down as one of the worst British defeats of the war, a battle that could have been won except for poor planning, poor tactics, poor cooperation with the Norwegians, and a lack of material resources.
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@HingerlAlois Yes, and it continued for almost a month afterwards, and hence why I said the British learned nothing from the rapid overrunning of of the Low Countries in relation to their ultimate defeat in Norway.
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