Soldiers of the Norwegian theater!
In irresistible advance, German troops have today established the land link between Oslo and Drontheim. The intention of the allies to nonetheless still force us to our knees through a late occupation of Norwegian soil had thereby been definitively thwarted.
Units of the army, of the navy and of the Luftwaffe, in exemplary coordination, have brought about an achievement that in its daring brings the highest honor to our young German Wehrmacht.
Officers, non-commissioned officers and enlisted men! You have found in the Norwegian theater against all the hardships at sea, on land and in the air and against the resistance of the enemy. You have solved the tremendous task that I had to put to you in faith in you and your strength.
I am proud of you. The nation expresses its gratitude to you through me.
As outward sign of recognition and of this gratitude, I bestow upon the supreme commander in Norway, General von Falkenhorst, the Knights Cross to the Iron Cross.
I will also decorate the bravest among you upon suggestion by your supreme commander.
The highest reward for you all, however, may now already be the conviction that you have made a decisive contribution in our folk’s most difficult struggle of fate for existence or nonexistence.
I know you will also continue to fulfill the task put to you.
Long live our Greater Germany!
Berlin, April 30, 1940
Adolf Hitler
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