Did Britain plan an invasion of Norway during WWI?

by jeppelapp

Growing up in Norway, WWII has always dominated the historical narrative. What little education I've received on WWI has been limited to our neutrality, but I've often heard that if the war hadn't ended when it did, Britain would have invaded Norway in order to use the coastline. Can this be verified in any way, or is it pure speculation?

thefourthmaninaboat

There were no such plans that I'm aware of. From 1917, the Allies, mainly as a result of American pressure, began laying a mine barrage across the northern exits to the North Sea. In response to this, the Germans began diverting U-boats through Norwegian waters. These waters were not initially mined, and could not be due to Norwegian neutrality. Instead of planning an invasion of Norway, the Allies brought diplomatic pressure to bear on Norway. The Norwegian Navy was forced to lay mines in the vicinity of Karmoy, completing the North Sea Barrage. This meant that no invasion of Norway was necessary. Other than this, the Norwegian coastline had little strategic significance during the war.

The majority of British planning for amphibious operations during the war had a primary focus on the German and Belgian coasts. An invasion of islands off the German coast would allow the RN to base ships off the main German naval bases. Plans for invasions of Sylt and Borkum were drawn up in 1914-15, but were cancelled in favour of the Gallipoli landings. Landings on the Belgian coast would allow the British to neutralise the ports at Zeebrugge, Ostend and Bruges, from which German ships and submarines could operate against the shipping routes into London. Several plans were drawn up for this, including one where troops were landed from trawlers in Ostend harbour, and another where troops and tanks would be landed from large pontoons (which I've written much more about here).