Hitler’s Pre-Emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940 by Henrik Lunde (the reader ebook .TXT) 📕

east of Lake 796. It remained in this area until the Germans withdrew during the night of May 22. Company 7 was also pulled back and assigned a security mission between Hill 796 and Hill 1097 on the Swedish border.

The redeployment of the two companies, which reduced Norwegian combat power in the Kuberg area, was apparently not connected to any planned offensive operations in this area. It seems that they were sent into the long mountainous stretch between Kuberget and the Swedish border for security reasons. This movement was one reason why the Germans rushed forces to fill the vacuum on their right flank.

The Norwegians made several unsuccessful attacks against Kuberget over the next few days. A determined German defense, periods of fog, and German close air support frustrated all attempts until Co 2 captured Hill 794 around 2200 hours on May 16, after bitter close-quarter fighting. A small German force had held this hill earlier until Lieutenant Trautner’s ski platoon rejoined its parent unit on May 15. This ski platoon was down to 14 men. The Norwegian losses were light. Lieutenant Trautner was among the fallen Germans. From Hill 794, the Norwegians placed effective fire on the southern slopes of Kuberget and this made it extremely difficult for the Germans to supply their forces. It was therefore important for the Germans to retake Hill 794 quickly. Von Schleebrügge ordered Lieutenant Hans Rohr to recapture the hill with his own men and the remnants of Lieutenant Stautner’s ski platoon.

Rohr managed to drive the Norwegians off the summit but failed to secure the hill completely. The fighting continued during the unusually bright night and the Germans were particularly exposed to Norwegian sharpshooters. Hovland quotes from Rohr’s journal:

We managed to occupy the old positions, but we were pinned down by well-placed Norwegian snipers. We constantly heard shots but could not locate the snipers. Corporal Ogris and I crawled up on a small mound in order to observe the surrounding terrain. Then, a single shot rings out and Ogris falls off the mountain … He was hit between the eyes, the cerebral matter flowed out … Sleep was out of the question that night, I had to rush around the perimeter because the Norwegians repeatedly tried to break in at different locations. We managed to hold the position primarily through the use of hand grenades.22

Company 13, commanded by Captain Schönbeck, was ordered to join Rohr’s men and clear Hill 794 in the morning of May 17. This was Norway’s Independence Day and the Norwegians were able to exact some revenge on the German company that had inflicted so much damage on the 1/12th Inf in Gratangen more than three weeks earlier. The German attack was repelled with seven killed and another seven seriously wounded. The bitterness of the fighting is attested to by the fact that among the original 23 men in Rohr’s unit, six were killed, 12 wounded, and three captured.

The Germans rushed reinforcements into the area southeast of Kuberget for fear of a Norwegian breakthrough on the German right flank that would threaten their base at Bjørnefjell and the railroad connection to Sweden. The division reserve, Co 3/138th, was sent towards the right flank at 0100 hours on May 17. This unit occupied Hill 529 in the afternoon, after driving off a small Norwegian security force, and Hill 620 on the night of May 18-19. Two naval companies occupied Rundfjell and Haugfell, the two mountains immediately north of Bjørnefjell.

Three officers and 63 men of the German 1st Para Co, under the command of Lieutenant Becker, were parachuted into the Bjørnefjell area around noon on May 14. Six hours later, General Dietl ordered these paratroopers to Kuberget. They were assigned to the right flank on Kuberget, with their front curving southward to meet the Norwegian threat from the east. A second part of the 1st Para Co, under Lieutenant Mösinger, arrived at 0100 hours on May 19 and was sent off quickly to join the rest of the company on Kuberget. These paratroopers were well armed with at least 12 light machineguns but they were not dressed or equipped for the climate and had no experience in mountain warfare.

The Germans withdrew from Kuberget in the early morning of May 21 and the Norwegians quickly occupied the hill. The decision to withdraw was due to events further west and in accordance with a decision to retire to a new defensive line. The Germans had taken considerable losses in the fighting around Kuberget. The Norwegians found a mass grave and several German dead were found on the southwestern slope of Hill 794, leading to Skitdalsvann. Major Schleebrügge’s report to the 3rd Division on May 18 lists the casualties for the last three days as 13 killed, 25 wounded, 27 missing, and six cases of frostbite. This was almost half of the German troops involved in the fighting.23 The 1/16th remained in position from Kuberget to the Swedish border until friendly units to the west reached Jernvannene.

The 2/16th Inf, commanded by Major Munthe-Kaas, spent May 15 clearing German snipers from the area west of Storebalak. Subsequently, the battalion attacked with three companies forward: Co 5 on the right with Storebalak (Hill 763) as its objective, Co 6 in the center with Kobberfjell as its objective, and Co 8 and the heavy weapons remaining, for the time being, in positions on Hill 717. Company 3 became the brigade reserve, and along with a mortar squad from the 1/12th Inf was placed at the disposal of 2/16th and located on the left flank near Co 8.

Storebalak fell to the Norwegians around 2100 hours on May 15. One Norwegian and five Germans fell in the fighting. The German defenders retired to Hill 648. Company 6 attacked Kobberfjell in the morning of May 17 while the reinforced Co 5 made a supporting attack against Hill 648. The attacks met heavy resistance and were repelled. By nightfall, Co 5 was located on the southern slopes of Storebalak and in