Polish Sailor from ORP Grom. WWII3D Model
In December 1939, the Allies decided to redeploy an expeditionary corps to Scandinavia in order to assist Finland which was fighting the USSR. As a result, the Polish destroyers Grom, Blyskawica and Burza, serving alongside the Royal Navy, were repositioned to the port of Rosyth. At the same time, Britain and France planned to cut off the German iron ore supply line which led from the Swedish Kiruna through the unfrozen port of Narvik. In order to secure the supply of raw materials, on 1 March 1940 Hitler decided to invade Denmark and Norway (Operation Weserübung). Thus began the first major battle of the so-called “strange war” waged in Western Europe – the Battle of Narvik. It was also the first victorious battle of the Polish army since the defeat of the September Campaign. It involved Polish soldiers from the Polish Independent Highland Brigade and a squadron of Polish destroyers, one of which, ORP Grom, was sunk by German bombers on 4 May.
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