946d69da   
   XPost: soc.history.what-if, alt.history.what-if   
   From: rrostrom@comcast.net   
      
   The Horny Goat  wrote:   
      
   > Had the British taken and held Narvik ...   
      
   The Allies did take Narvik (I write "Allies"   
   because the French _Chasseurs Alpins_ were   
   heavily involved).   
      
   However, after the fall of southern Norway   
   to the Germans, and with the collapse of   
   France, Narvik was deemed untenable.   
      
   I wonder though - given the terrain, could a   
   determined garrison hold out? The Allies would   
   also keep northern Norway, which has effects on   
   Finland; it would also secure the convoy route   
   to Murmansk. And here's a big question: would   
   the Axis be able to hold the Petsamo nickel   
   mines, and how important was Petsamo nickel?   
      
      
      
   > ...I have no doubt the Brits would have invaded   
   > Northern Sweden sometime between 1941-43  to take   
   > the iron fields...   
      
   Very unlikely. By that time, Germany had the Briey   
   fields in France, Britain would not want to   
   force Sweden into the Axis, and German forces   
   operating through and with Sweden would easily   
   recapture the Kiruna mines _and_ take Narvik.   
   --   
   Nous sommes dans une pot de chambre, et nous y serons emmerdés.   
   --- General Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot at Sedan, 1870.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)