1st Division (Norway)

Last updated

The 1st Division (Norwegian : 1. divisjon) is a former unit in the Norwegian Army, responsible for the defence of Eastern Norway along with 2nd Division.

Following the German invasion of Norway in 1940 the Norwegian 1st Division, commanded by Major General Carl Johan Erichsen, was responsible for defending the land areas on both side of the Oslofjord against the invading troops. The division was not well prepared for the situation, the troops were not mobilized and the division's stores depots in Fredrikstad were captured by the Germans already on 9 April. The 1st Division was responsible for Fossum Fortress (Høytorp Fort and Trøgstad Fort) in Askim and the Greåker Fort in Sarpsborg. The Germans started attacking on 12 April, and there were battles at bridges crossing Glomma (Fossum Bridge, Langenes Railway Bridge, and a bridge near Kykkelsrud Power Station). Fossum Fortress was surrendered on 13 April. On 14 April a large number of troops in Østfold, around 3,000 men, chose to cross the border to Sweden instead of continuing the fight or surrendering to the German troops. At Kongsberg two bataillons surrendered without fighting, while some officers and soldiers disagreed with the surrender and defended the Vinje district for about one month. [1] [2] [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Parachute Division (Germany)</span> German WWII airborne division

The 1st Parachute Division was an elite German military parachute-landing division that fought during World War II. A division of paratroopers was termed a Fallschirmjäger Division. For reasons of secrecy, it was originally raised as the 7th Air Division or (German: 7. Flieger-Division), before being renamed and reorganized as the 1st Parachute Division in 1943.

The 1st Army was a Royal Yugoslav Army formation commanded by Armijski đeneral Milan Rađenković during the German-led Axis invasion of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in April 1941 during World War II. It consisted of one infantry division, one horsed cavalry division, and two brigade-strength infantry detachments. It formed part of the 2nd Army Group, and was responsible for the defence of the section of the Yugoslav-Hungarian border between the Danube and the Tisza rivers.

The 7th Panzer Division was an armored formation of the German Army in World War II. It participated in the Battle of France, the invasion of the Soviet Union, the occupation of Vichy France, and on the Eastern Front until the end of the war. The 7th Panzer Division is also known by its nickname, Ghost Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Hegra Fortress</span> Part of the Norwegian campaign of World War II (April–May 1940)

The Battle of Hegra Fortress was a 25-day engagement in the 1940 Norwegian campaign which saw a small force of Norwegian volunteers fighting numerically superior German forces from a fortified position. After initial fighting around the Meråker Line railway line, the Norwegians pulled back into Hegra Fortress and held off further German attacks before surrendering on 5 May as one of the last Norwegian units active in southern Norway.

During the early part of the Norwegian campaign of the Second World War, the Norwegian 2nd Division, commanded by General Jacob Hvinden Haug, was responsible for defending Eastern Norway against Nazi Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Königsberg</span> 1945 battle of World War II, during the Great Patriotic War.

The Battle of Königsberg, also known as the Königsberg offensive, was one of the last operations of the East Prussian offensive during World War II. In four days of urban warfare, Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front and the 3rd Belorussian Front captured the city of Königsberg, present day Kaliningrad, Russia. The siege started in late January 1945 when the Soviets initially surrounded the city. Heavy fighting took place for control of overland connection between Königsberg and the port of Pillau, however by March 1945 Königsberg was hundreds of kilometres behind the main front line in the eastern front. The battle ended when the German garrison surrendered to the Soviets on 9 April after a three-day assault made their position untenable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erwin Engelbrecht</span> German general (1891–1964)

Erwin Engelbrecht was a German military officer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Reidar Holtermann</span> Norwegian major general

Hans Reidar Holtermann was a Norwegian military officer. Holtermann is best known as the commander of Hegra Fortress during the Battle of Hegra Fortress in the Norwegian Campaign of 1940.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Dombås</span> 1940 battle between Norwegian army forces and German paratroops

The Battle of Dombås was fought between Norwegian Army infantry forces and German Fallschirmjäger paratroops in mid-April 1940. As part of their conquest of Norway south of Trondheim, and as a countermeasure against reported Allied landings in the Romsdal area of south-western Norway, the Germans dropped a company of paratroopers near the vital railroad junction of Dombås on 14 April 1940. For the next five days, the German force blocked the Dovre Line railroad line between Oslo and Trondheim, as well as the main road between the two cities.

The Battle of Poznań during World War II in 1945 was an assault by the Soviet Union's Red Army that had as its objective the elimination of the Nazi German garrison in the stronghold city of Poznań (Posen) in occupied Poland. The defeat of the German garrison required a month-long reduction of fortified positions, urban combat, and a final assault on the city's citadel by the Red Army, complete with medieval touches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German invasion of Denmark (1940)</span> World War II-era German attack on Denmark

The German invasion of Denmark, was the German attack on Denmark on 9 April 1940, during the Second World War. The attack was a prelude to the invasion of Norway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oskar Kummetz</span> German admiral

Oskar Kummetz was an admiral with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He also served in the Kaiserliche Marine during World War I. Kummetz was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions in the Battle of Drøbak Sound, during which his command, the Blücher, was hit in the superstructure by two 28 cm shells from Norwegian fortress Oscarsborg, 15 cm shells from Kopås fortress and 5.7 cm gunfire from Husvik fortress. From Kaholmen Blücher was hit by two torpedoes and she sank 84 metres below the sound.

The 132nd Infantry Division was a German division in World War II. It was formed on 5 October 1940 in Landshut, as part of the 11th Wave of Wehrmacht mobilization, and was destroyed in the Courland Pocket in 1945.

<i>Fallschirmjäger</i> Paratrooper branch of the Luftwaffe (Air force of Nazi Germany)

The Fallschirmjäger were the paratrooper branch of the German Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. Throughout World War II, the commander of the branch was Kurt Student.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invasion of Yugoslavia order of battle: Yugoslav</span>

The Yugoslav order of battle before the invasion of Yugoslavia includes a listing of all operational formations of the Royal Yugoslav Army, Royal Yugoslav Army Air Force and Royal Yugoslav Navy immediately prior to the World War II invasion of that country in April 1941.

The 2nd Army Group was a Royal Yugoslav Army formation commanded by Armijski đeneral Milutin Nedić during the German-led Axis invasion of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in April 1941 during World War II. It consisted of the 1st and 2nd Armies, comprising four infantry divisions, one horsed cavalry division, two brigade-strength infantry detachments, and one horsed cavalry regiment. It was responsible for the defence of the border with Hungary from Slatina to the Tisza river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Army (Kingdom of Yugoslavia)</span> Royal Yugoslav Army formation (1941)

The 2nd Army was a Royal Yugoslav Army formation commanded by Armijski đeneral Dragoslav Miljković that opposed the German-led Axis invasion of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in April 1941 during World War II. It consisted of three infantry divisions and one horsed cavalry regiment along with supporting units. It formed part of the 2nd Army Group, and was responsible for the defence of the Yugoslav–Hungarian border along the Drava river from Slatina to the Danube.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Cavalry Division (Kingdom of Yugoslavia)</span> Royal Yugoslav Army combat formation

The 1st Cavalry Division of the Royal Yugoslav Army was established in 1921, soon after the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. In peacetime it consisted of two cavalry brigade headquarters commanding a total of four regiments. It was part of the Yugoslav 1st Army Group during the German-led World War II Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, with a wartime organisation specifying one cavalry brigade headquarters commanding two or three regiments, and divisional-level combat and support units.

Bjarne Keyser Barth was a Norwegian fortress artillery officer. A military officer from 1914, Barth took part in Norwegian neutrality protection duties during the First World War, mostly at Oscarsborg Fortress. Remaining in military service after the end of the First World War, he served at several different Norwegian fortresses, finally at Fossumstrøket Fortress in south-eastern Norway.

The 3rd Division is a former unit in the Norwegian Army, responsible for the defence of Agder and Rogaland.

References

  1. Faye, Wilhelm (1963). Krigen i Norge 1940. Operasjonene i Østfold (in Norwegian). Forsvarets Krigshistoriske Avdeling / Gyldendal.
  2. Skodvin, Magne (1990). Krig og okkupasjon 1939–1945 (in Norwegian). Samlaget. p. 54. ISBN   82-521-3490-4.
  3. Nordlie, J.H (1947). "Kort oversikt over kampene i Norge våren 1940". Innstilling fra Undersøkelseskommisjonen av 1945. Bilag (in Norwegian). Vol. 1. Oslo: Aschehoug / Parliament of Norway. pp. 107–108.