The final Allied attack on Narvik began on 27 May, launched by French, Polish and Norwegian troops, supported by British artillery. However, immediately after its capture, orders were received to destroy the port and evacuate the force to the UK. (The BEF was simultaneously being evacuated from Dunkirk.) To cover the evacuation, AA units were ordered to maintain maximum activity and especially to prevent reconnaissance overflights. At the same time, 6 AA Bde was ordered by London to recover its 3.7-inch and 40 mm guns as a matter of priority. This was done by progressively thinning out defences. The Bodo force was evacuated at night by naval destroyers after a 100-plus German air raid destroyed the town and airstrip: all equipment there had to be abandoned. However, 6 AA Bde was able to assemble 22 Bofors and five HAA guns from the outlying positions at Harstad, with a number of predictors and heightfinders. 6 AA Brigade ended all AA defence on 6 June and by 8 June the British troops had embarked with their surviving equipment and the convoy sailed for the UK, still under air attack.Derry, pp. 201–2, 207–11, 213–22.
