Battle of Midtskogen

Battle of Midtskogen
Battle of Midtskogen
Part of Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War
Overview of the battle.
Overview of the battle. Norwegian forces in green symbols. German forces in red symbols.
Date 10 April 1940
Location Elverum, Østerdalen, Norway
Result Norwegian victory
Belligerents
 Norway  Nazi Germany
Commanders and leaders
Captain Oliver Møystad Hauptmann Eberhard Spiller  
Strength
100+ soldiers/militia,
2 Colt M/29
heavy machine guns
100 paratroopers
Casualties and losses
3 wounded 2 killed, unknown number of wounded

The Battle of Midtskogen was the battle fought on the night between 9 and 10 April 1940 during the Second World War between a German raiding party and an improvised Norwegian force. the site of the battle was Midtskogen farm, situated approximately 5 km (3.1 mi) west of the town Elverum at the mouth of the Østerdalen valley in southern Norway. The invading German troops were out on a raid to capture the Norwegian King, Haakon VII, and his cabinet and thereby forcing Norway into submission. After a short battle, the German force withdrew, having lost its commander in the fighting.[1]

Contents

Opposing forces

The Norwegian defenders mustered a numerically slightly superior force, the core of which was a rifle company of the Royal Guards and a number of hastily mustered volunteers, consisting mostly of members of local rifle clubs.[2]

The German party consisted of approximately 100 Fallschirmjäger in a convoy of commandeered Norwegian civilian vehicles. Though somewhat numerically inferior the Germans were vastly superior in terms of training and fire-power, possessing numerous modern submachine guns, light machine guns and hand grenades.

Battle

The opposing forces clashed at around 01:30 on 10 April with the German vehicles crashing into a Norwegian roadblock. The ensuing fire-fight continued until 03:00, ending with both forces pulling back. The Norwegians were reinforced and regrouped into new positions; the Germans, realizing their raid had failed, retreated to Oslo.

Aftermath

Memorial stone to commemorate the battle. "Here Norwegian forces stopped the enemy′s attempt at capturing the King, Crown Prince, parliament and cabinet".

The casualties on both sides were light. The Germans suffered two men killed in action and an unknown number of wounded. One of the German fatalities was their military attaché Hauptmann Eberhard Spiller. Norwegian losses were three men wounded in action. The action may have been small, but as it prevented capture of the King and cabinet it probably saved Norway for the allied cause and proved a major boost to Norwegian morale, being very low due to the early German successes in the Norwegian Campaign.

References

Other sources

  • Andreas Hauge: Kampen på Midtskogen 1940, article published 1995 (Norwegian)
  • Hauge, Andreas (1995 Kampene i Norge 1940 (Sandefjord: Krigshistorisk Forlag) ISBN 82-993369-0-2 Norwegian


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Bataille de Midtskogen — Carte de la bataille Informations générales Date 9 avril 10 avril 1940 Lieu Norvège Issue Victoire …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Hans Majestet Kongens Garde — Insignia of Hans Majestet Kongens Garde Active 1856–present Country …   Wikipedia

  • Odd Øyen — Born 8 September 1914(1914 09 08) Oslo Died 3 January 1997(1997 01 03) (aged 82) Bærum Buried at …   Wikipedia

  • List of battles (geographic) — This list of battles is organized geographically, by country in its present territory. For other lists of battles, see List of battles. Angola* Battle of Mbwila 1665 * Battle of Quifangondo 1975 * Battle of Cassinga 1978 * Battle of Cuito… …   Wikipedia

  • List of battles 1901–2000 — List of battles: before 601 601 1400 1401 1800 1801 1900 1901 2000 2001 current 1901 1925*1901 Balangiga Massacre September 28 Filipino guerrillas launch a surprise attack on soldiers of the 9th U.S. Infantry and massacred nearly all of them.… …   Wikipedia

  • List of World War II topics (B) — # B 17 Flying Fortress (video game) # B 17 Flying Fortress # B 17, Queen of the Skies # B 24 Liberator # B 29 Superfortress # B Reactor # Błyskawica radiostation # Błyskawica submachine gun # Børge Mathiesen # BA 10 # BA 11 # BA 20 # BA 21 # BA… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Norwegian battles — is a list of battles fought in Norway or which a significant number of Norwegians participated.*800 1450 **Battle of Hafrsfjord (ca. 872) **Battle of Solskjel (before 900) **Battle of Rastarkalv (955) **Battle of Fitjar (961) **Battle of… …   Wikipedia

  • Olaf Helset — (28 July 1892 – 21 August 1960) was a Norwegian Major General and a sports administrator. He was born in Nannestad. Helset grew up in Romerike and graduated from a private school in Kristiania in 1911. After graduation, he attended Military… …   Wikipedia

  • Dano-Swedish War of 1808-1809 — The Dano Swedish War of 1808 1809 Part of the Napoleonic Wars and the English Wars Norwegian soldiers on the march towards the S …   Wikipedia

  • Norwegian Campaign — Part of the Second World War German forces advancing near Bagn in Va …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”