A critical thinking history challenge

To the amateur history buff the Altmark Incident may be unknown and therefore the Q/A portion should be a fun challenge.

The questions should not be considered trivia since many of the answers align with your knowledge of the characters and governments involved.

There are 30 questions, most of which are multiple choice.

The purpose of this history study from World War II is to encourage and prompt the student to critical thinking and decision making.

Enjoy the challenge.

Background: Remember your World War II history?

Here are some review questions-multiple choice (four choices).

Q #1: Who was the aggressive country in Europe in 1938?a. France b. Germany c. Czechoslovakia d. Austria

Too simple? Just an easy review. Here’s another.

Q: #2: After moving troops into the Rhineland Hitler moved troops into Austria. Where next?

a. France b. Belgium

c. Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia d. Western Poland

A few more set-up questions:

Q #3: After the Sudetenland, Hitler took all of Czechoslovakia but still a shot had not been fired. World War II began when Germany invaded what country?a. France b. Belgium c. Soviet Union d. Poland

Q # 4: With the invasion of Poland, two countries immediately declared war on Germany. Choose those two countries from this list of six countries:

a. France b. Belgium c. Holland d. Great Britain e. Soviet Union f. Norway

g. United States

We’re getting close to our study. Just a few more introductory questions.

Q # 5:Name the Prime Minister of England 1937-May, 1940a.Winston Churchillb.Stanley Baldwinc.Neville Chamberlaind.King Phillip

Sorry, it wasn’t Churchill until May of 1940.

It was d. Neville Chamberlain.

Q # 6: What is the Prime Minister holding in his hand?

a. The treaty he signed with Hitler assuring “Peace in our time.”

b. The election results of 1937; his victory over Baldwin.

c. A letter from President Roosevelt assuring America’s help against Hitler’s Germany.

d. Unknown.

Winston Churchill was not the Prime Minister yet, but he had an important position, that of “First Lord of the Admiralty.” The character traits we associate with Churchill during the Battle of Britain and World War II as Prime Minister, he was demonstrating as the First Lord of the Admiralty in 1940.

The Altmark Incident takes place in Nordic countries.

Q # 7: Name the three Nordic countries (sometimes incorrectly referred to as Scandinavian countries) from this list of seven.

a. Denmark b. Holland c. Norway d. Sweden e. Latvia f. Belgium g. Finland

Q # 8: Which of the three Nordic countries listed was at war with the Soviet Union in November, 1939?

a. Norway b. Sweden c. Finland

The Altmark was a German supply ship.

The Altmark Incident involves the two Scandinavian countries of Sweden and Norway

Q 9: Here is your only truly trivial question. What or who is “Altmark”? Lucky Guess???a.A German Lt. Colonel.b.A city in Norway.c.A German ship.d.A millionaire Norwegian citizen.

A German supply ship

And now we center our attention on Norway, Sweden, the Germans, and Winston Churchill.

Q 10: Where was the allegiance of Norway and Sweden?a. Both were on the side of France and Great

Britain.b. Both were on the side of Germany.c. One was with France and Great Britain, the

other with Germany.d. Both were neutral.

All countries, even Germany, recognized International Law regarding neutral countries.

The Neutrality of Norway included three miles of ocean off the coastline.

Q 11: Another trivia question dealing with northern Sweden.What did northern Sweden have that the Germany war machine needed (worded that way, it is probably not a trivia question)?a.Goldb.Coalc.Timberd.Iron ore.

Germany needs Sweden’s iron ore. Without it they don’t have weapons, tanks, ammunition, or vehicles, land and sea.

Narvik

Lulea

Iron ore mines

Study the map.Use your knowledge of geography to respond to the next question.

Q 12: Choose the port to which the iron ore will be transported by rail, then by ship to Germany.

a. Narvikb. Lulea

NARVIK

NarvikIron ore mines of Sweden

Route of transports

Lulea

The Baltic Sea at Lulea freezes in winter

The Norwegian Sea does not freeze.

The route to Germany

After considering the information on the previous slide, and the map, you must have a question.

Discuss.Nothing yet?

Have you found the contradiction?

Review the slides.

There is a real contradiction.

Find the contradiction.

Discuss.

Discuss.

The contradiction….s.

Q 13: If Germany honors Norway’s and Sweden’s neutrality then why did they take control of the Swedish Iron Ore mines?

Q 14: Why would Great Britain, especially, do nothing about the German scheme?

Q 15: Why would Sweden allow Germany to “steal’ their iron ore?

Q 16: Why would Norway allow Germany to use their private waters and occupy Narvik?

Each of these questions is worthy of discussion. Any opinions?Offer any idea and the class will listen.

Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, warned Chamberlain and the War Cabinet,

“We must stop the ore from reaching Germany.”

Q 17: What was the reaction of, 1. Prime Minister Chamberlain 2. The War Cabinet.

Take a guess. Q 18: Do you recall Chamberlain’s dealings with Hitler? Q 19: Who are the members of the War Cabinet?Q 20: How old would they be? Is that a hint to their reaction to Churchill’s warning?

The answer………………..The answers contain these words: indecisive, wary, no support.

Comment on this list:Norway was allowing the shipments from Narvik.Sweden allowed Germany to harvest their iron ore.Norway and Sweden were not willing

to permit violations of their neutrality.France did nothing.Great Britain initially did nothing. Churchill will DO

SOMETHING soon.Germany wanted Norway and Sweden to be neutral.

Who is telling the truth?

Churchill believes the German iron ore shipments must be stopped.

Any suggestions? Consider the following “truths.”International neutrality laws.All countries, including Germany, have stated their

honoring of those laws.Norway and Sweden have declared their neutrality.Great Britain and France have declared war on Germany.Germany has taken the Rhineland, Austria, the

Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, and attacked Poland. They have threatened Denmark and Norway.

Here are some ideas we will submit to Churchill. Are your ideas herein?

a. British naval bombardment of Iron ore mines in Sweden.

b. Covert operation by British commandoes to gain control of the iron ore mines

c. British submarines violate the neutrality laws and sail inside the three mile limit and sink the Germany transports.

d. Send Prime Minister Chamberlain to meet with Hitler once more to get him to agree to obeying international neutrality laws.

The goal of this presentation is to get you students thinking and discussing. These four “ideas” are worthy of discussion and opinion.

Figured out Churchill’s plan?

Lay mines inside Norway’s territorial waters which will force the German ships out into the Atlantic to be sunk by the British torpedoes.

Start the arguments!

Q 21: What was the response from Chamberlain and the War Cabinet?a.Agreed and approved the action.b.Remained hesitant about making a decision.c.Unanimously disapproved.d.Not a choice.

The War Cabinet’s refusal of Churchill’s plan led him to plan #2: send British Commandoes on a covert mission to reach the iron ore mines of Sweden.

Churchill knew that his two ideas would be violating Norwegian and Swedish neutrality and did see the danger that such actions might drive Norway and Sweden onto Germany’s side.

And now…….the re

sponse of Chamberlain and th

e War

Cabinet?Remained hesitant about making a decision.

The Altmark now becomes THE STORY!

The Altmark had been a fuel and support ship of the pocket battleship Graf Spee during its deadly 1939 rampage in the south Atlantic

The

Graf Spee

German Battleship

After the Graf Spee was scuttled, the Altmark had escaped from Montevideo and become a floating prison for 299 British merchant sailors who had been plucked from the sea after the German raider had sunk their ships

Montevideo

Josing Fjord

Locked in filthy, foul-smelling conditions of darkness, and on starvation rations, the prisoners had scant hope of rescue.

A destroyer flotilla, commanded by Captain Philip Vian, skipper of the HMS Cossack, was operating in the general area and was ordered to locate the Altmark.

After being intercepted by the British destroyers led by the HMS Cossack, captained by Philip Vian,

the Altmark sought refuge in the Jøsing Fjord,

but Cossack followed

her in the next day.

Josing Fjord

As an auxiliary vessel the Altmark was theoretically neutral when the sighting was flashed to the Admiralty.

“flashed to the Admiralty”Q 22: What is the meaning?

a. Cpt. Vian was simply notifying London Admirals that he was going to board the Altmark.

b. Cpt. Vian was notifying the Norwegian government of his intentions.

c. Cpt. Vian was asking the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, what to do next.

d. The “sighting” was that of the German vessel to Berlin.

Churchill had to consider: The Altmark was in neutral waters, protected by international law which all three countries honored (Great Britain, Norway, and Germany). The Altmark, though, was harboring British POWs. International law also allowed for unarmed ships holding POWs to be enroute to their home country sailing through neutral waters. Churchill knew the Altmark had been traveling from Montevideo and the POWs must be suffering through this long voyage. Churchill was also notified by scout planes that the Altmark, in fact, was armed.

Q 23: What did Churchill do?

Q 24: What would you do????

Churchill ordered Vian

to seize the Altmark.

Vian used his destroyer flotilla to barricade the mouth of the fjord;

He was correct; the Altmark had housed its guns and was pretending to be an innocent merchant vessel, immune from interference.

The Norwegians had two torpedo boats (PT Boats) in the fjord. Q 25: What did the

Norwegians do?a.Aimed their torpedoes at the British destroyers.b.Aimed their torpedoes at the German vessel.c.Stayed at anchor and watched.d.Sent a threatening radio transmission to the British.

The Norwegians not only refused the British permission to board the Altmark but also pointed their torpedo tubes at them and threatened to resist, claiming that they had searched the vessel three times and found no POWs aboard.

Q 26: This will be an educated guess.What is the probable scenario for the Norwegian search of the Altmark?

a.They lied. They never boarded the Altmark. b.They are not being completely truthful. Yes, they did search the Altmark three times but only where the German’s allowed.c.Yes they boarded the Altmark but were satisfied with the German response that no POWs were aboard.d. They boarded the Altmark three times, found the POWs but they supported the Germans and lied to the British about the POWs.

Although th

e Norwegians had shadowed th

e

Altmark durin

g it passage th

rough their

territoria

l waters, n

one of their b

oarding

parties had actually

searched the ship, th

ey

had simply been cowered in

to acceptin

g the

intimidatin

g German Commander’s

explanation th

at no POWs w

ere on his ship.

Norwegian gunboats have torpedoes aimed at the British destroyers.The Germans are working at getting the support of the Norwegians and hoping the British will honor the neutrality rules.Captain Vian is waiting for further orders now that the Norwegians have intervened in the situation.

At this tense moment-----------

Captain Vian asks the Admiralty for further instructions.

Remember, Winston Churchill is not the Prime Minister……………………….Yet.Q 27: What is Churchill’s next move?

a. He yielded to his “boss” Lord Halifax who told him to wait.

b. He didn’t even tell his boss what he was going to do (this action could get him fired). He told Vian to

use his weapons and get on the Altmark.c. He convinced Lord Halifax to let Vian get on the Altmark

at all cost, even a gunfight.d. To keep the Norwegians happy and knowing he had to

get Lord Halifax’s approval he decided to wait and wait.

“I can’t wait,” he announced: “Get me Lord Halifax.” Within seconds Halifax was on the line. With Halifax’s

approval Churchill immediately got the message to Vian.“Get on the Altmark and save our men, if it means a

fight, so be it, but save our men.”

Amazing photograph taken by a British scout plane. That is the Altmark deep into the fjord.

That evening the two destroyers of Captain Vian forced their way into the icebound Josing Fjord to carry out Churchill’s orders.

Q 28: What did the Norwegian gunboats do?

a. They fired upon the British.b. They fired upon the

Germans.c. They stood by their “rights” in their home country and moved toward the British destroyers.d. They withdrew.

Q 29: Why did they withdraw? There should be a list of possible reasons.

Using their searchlights, as the Norwegian gunboats stood aside, declining to interfere, they boxed in the Altmark and ordered its captain to “heave to “and to prepare to be boarded.

Q 30: What was the response of the German Captain?

a.He tried to ram the Cossack.b.He fired his onboard guns at the Cossack.c.He surrendered peacefully.d.He fired on the Norwegian gunboats.

Before Vian’s crews were able to board it, the Altmark set its engines to full speed ahead and attempted to ram the British destroyer, but failed thanks to some nifty navigation by the Cossack.

Although the Altmark ran aground on rocks at the end of the narrow fjord, the crew of the Cossack managed to secure grappling lines to the German vessel as the two ships came together like wrestlers in a death grip.

Vian’s crew rescued the POW’s, but not before engaging in hand-to-hand fighting and a shoot-out on deck that killed six Germans.

The incident was a classic example of Winston Churchill in action as a war leader: audacious, willing to ride roughshod over the rules of neutrality-and unhesitatingly to accept the consequences.

It was also proof that Churchill had not succumbed to the culture of failure that would have dissuaded others.

1918

1940