April 9th – Danish Movie – 2015

“Never again a April 9th”, the saying very much gripped by grand parents generation and referred to April 9th 1940. In the early hours of April 9th Denmark was attacked and occupied in a German blitzkrieg move. The sudden attack combined only with a token defence left the Danish people with a feeling that they had been betrayed by their politicians and let down by the army. Furthermore in the days following the 9th of April the Germans never disbanded the Danish army and left in place politicians and bewildered government willing to collaborate and Denmark was to some extent left to take care of itself but under German overall control. This was done because the Germans had no real interesting in Denmark. It was merely a stepping stone for a much larger prize, Norway.

The defence of Denmark has often been ridiculed and is subject to a number of myths both in Denmark and abroad where any fighting is often not even acknowledged at all. The Germans tried to put it up as a great propaganda piece that they were in fact invited to protect Denmark from British aggression. Denmark was a small country of little significance, an agricultural country with limited industrial capacity (weapons manufacturing capacity was mainly small arms). While it did control the straits to the Baltic sea Denmark’s size had meant that she relied on declared neutrality and a balanced diplomatic approach between the great powers to keep out of WWI. The same politics were pursued in the interwar period as it was believed that the same neutrality could be achieved again. With economic depression the defence budgets were slashed and slashed knowing that diplomacy was the better defence. A non-aggression pact was negotiated with Germany which further relaxed the focus on the armed forces until the Munich crisis. Following the Munich crisis Britain was approached and asked about their position should Denmark be invaded. The answer was negative, Britain did not believe in the practically of landing and supplying an oversea expeditionary force than close to German naval and air bases. Suddenly the armed forces were important again and Denmark rushed to expand the army and secure modern weapons. But it was too little, too late to discourage a German invasion.

It may be that the troops put up only brief resistance for a couple of hours and I totally understand this is best described as a sideshow to a sideshow. I know international viewers will ask what is two hours of fighting or a couple of dozen lives in a war of 6 years and millions of dead, it all seems very negligible. But with their lives on the line, they were no different from most other soldiers of WWII. They were let down by the politicians who had refused to modernize the army in the 1930s and furthermore refused to fully mobilize the army even in the face of invasion. The soldiers who found themselves defending Denmark on the 9th of April 1940 generally fought as well as could be expected but had no real chance. This movie tells their story which may be niche but no less of a tragedy for those who did not come home.

 

So It Begins

The movie opens with the proclamation by the Danish king given on the 9th of April to the Danish population following the invasion and a brief description of the Danish situation. We cut to April 8th and meet our main protagonist 2nd lieutenant Sand, who serves as second in command of a bicycle infantry platoon. All leave from the army has been cancelled and the troops are returning to garrisons. The air is thick with rumours of a potential German invasion and that is why all the conscripts are ordered back but they are told is merely an exercise. There are plenty of banter and the soldiers from the different regions of the country have their petty rivalry over cultural differences, differences there still exists to this day but will be completely hidden to the international viewer for whom it will seem simply boyish. It must be noted that the Danish army was mostly a training organisation with only a small core of professionals while the rest of it was made up of conscripts serving for up to a year. The tension mounts as the troops are handed live ammunition and ordered to bed fully dressed, they are still unaware and believe it is part of the training while their officers discuss what to do but ultimately have their hands tied by the politicians. The troops were denied to deploy forward to the prepared defensive positions as it was feared the Germans would take it as a provocation.

Suddenly the suspense is broken, the Germans cross the border and Denmark is at war. The movie follows the bicycle infantry platoon as they get on their heavy military bikes and go against their instincts by paddling towards the danger not away from it.

On the way down towards the border, they encounter the first troops falling back from the German forces and they decide to take up positions. This is probably the one of best moment of the movie, they can hear the German mechanized column approaching long before they can se it. Outnumbered and outgunned they have to put their faith in their outdated machine guns to halt the mechanized forces until the rest of the army can be mobilized. There are little heroism here, there are a scared group of young soldiers trying to do their duty.

 

The Movie

The rest of the movie follows the “fictive” platoon as they go through their first day in battle. When I say fictive it is because the platoon is not real but represents a number of different kinds of soldiers and people. The movie is relatively short at only 1½ hour but I think it works very well. It may at times feel more like a docudrama as there is not much in the way of character development.

Combat scenes are well crafted and feels very real, for instance the main protagonist never fires his gun but focuses on commanding as a lieutenant should do. It is clear that it is a very low-budget, in fact the budget about one-third of a game of Thrones episode but I think it does well with what it has to work with. It feels very authentic (except a small annoyance where the price of milk seems to be hugely inflated compared to actual 1940 prices).

The movie never falls for exaggerated heroism, nor for the ubiquitous pacifism one finds in most war movies. It tries to truthfully convey the day and the fight as it happened more or less and for that I think it does have its place.

 

Historical Comment – bicycle infantry

A lot of Danish movie critics saw the use of bicycles as the ultimate futility and while the Danish army was ill-equipped for fighting a modern war lacking both armour and anti-tank weapons, the bicyles I believe is not the main issue. mobility was a main concern of most armies of WWII and all armies experimented with bicycle infantry as a cheap way of adding extra mobility to the infantry especially recon. I have attached a picture below of the British commandos, a state-of-the-art unit landing on D-Day with their military issue bikes.

British Commandos landing on D-Day with bicycles for added mobility in order to reach Pegasus Bridge and the Paras faster

Bicycle infantry was a much cheaper alternative to traditional horse mounted infantry, see e.g. German use of horses in WWII: https://playinghistory.wordpress.com/2015/11/01/horse-powered-wwii-german-army-and-horses/

 

The Big Question

Ultimately the movie never really answers the big question, could Denmark have gained anything by resisting more fiercely. I honestly do not think so. Denmark would never have been able to resist a German invasion without foreign aid, its population and land was simply too small. The only possible source of aid would be Britain or France but for them to open a front in Denmark where everything would have to be transported across the North Sea while the Germans to drive up everything directly from their military depots seems to be a losing prospect. I therefore do not believe a longer fight would have gained much for Denmark. On the other hand a drawn out resistance would likely have resulted in a much more brutal occupation. Denmark in the end got off light of WWII, it may seem unfair to other warring nations and cowardice to try to avoid picking sides even after being occupied but I guess that is politics.

 

7/10 this movie is not about the politics or the big picture, it is about a group of conscript soldiers thrown into a war they never wanted. As a representation of Danish history, I think despite a few liberties, it is truthful enough to make for an interesting portrayal of a group of forgotten men in a sideshow of WWII. I recommend watching it.