https://norwegianamericanhistory.org/catalog/files/original/462ae7181ea957a0b312863da5fc1280.pdf abb058dba3fa58573ad84cddbb21c880 PDF Text Text Wartime Diary of Arne Bjorndal — Translation [*The paragraph indentations of this translation correspond to the indentation used in the original Norwegian text. The pages of the original diary are numbered through page 31; in this translation the numbering continues after page 31, but the numbers are enclosed in parentheses.] ________________________________________ 2. 9 April 1940 At 00:20 I was awakened by the sound of air raid sirens and understood immediately that it was German warplanes and that the Germans were now attacking Norway. We sit in the basement for about 2 hours. At 03:30 the alarm sounds again, and this time it lasts for about an hour. At the breakfast table we hear that the order to mobilize has been given and that the Germans have launched an attack on Norway. Norwegian warships have encountered the enemy off the south coast of Norway and in the Oslo Fjord. I am scheduled to be examined in chemistry, and so I put on my best uniform, white gloves, lacquered belt and my high-topped riding boots and head for the Norwegian Military Academy. While riding the tram down the street, the air raid siren sounds again and I have to walk the last stretch down to the Academy. I meet Cadet Krogh, who tells me that Fornebo1 has been bombed, and that a Norwegian plane was shot down. Most of the cadets have arrived … _________________________________________ 3. … at the Academy (only half of them were scheduled to take the exam). At the Academy we are told to wait for more detailed orders. The Commandant has not yet heard anything from the General Staff and cannot simply suspend Academy procedures without further ado. The planes continue to pass over us, they are flying at an altitude of about 1,000 meters and the large 75 mm anti-aircraft cannons cannot shoot at them because they are too low. At 09:30 they have still not heard anything from the General Staff, but the Commandant gives the order to mount all the heavy machine guns at the Academy and begin shooting at the planes as soon as they appear. 1 Translator’s note. The main airport serving Oslo and Eastern Norway from 1939 to 1998. Replaced by Gardermoen, north of Oslo. 1 �Ammunition was fetched from Akershus Fortress, and a half hour later 6 or 7 heavy machine guns had been mounted and were ready to fire at incoming planes. One was mounted on the Academy roof, two in the courtyard, and one on the roof of the post office. The others were back-up. __________________________________ 4. Soon they are all shooting, and there is an unimaginably loud roar and whining of shells. Regular shifts numbering thee cadets each man the heavy machine guns, and those who are not outside sit in the basement, as the air raid siren sounds incessantly. The Commandant’s wife leaves the Academy together with her children, the Commandant is visibly relieved. At 12:00 there is a pause. We still have not heard anything from the General Staff. The Commandant has ordered all the cadets to evacuate the city, and we are allowed to return to our rooms (one half of us at a time) and fetch our field equipment. We are ordered to return to the Academy by 14:30 at the latest, as we are to leave for Elverum at 15:00. I was among the first allowed to go and fetch my things, and I headed up to Schultsgate 7. Up on Hegdehaugsveien the air raid siren sounds again, but we do not have … _______________________________________ 5. … time to stop and so continue on up the street. Up at Industrigate we hear a strange rushing sound that turns into a whine. We know what it is — an airplane diving to drop its bombs. We jump into an entryway and immediately thereafter hear two powerful explosions. With no further interruptions, we reach “Studentarhuset”, our student quarters (Schultzgate 7). At the “house” everyone was outside to watch the planes. We could see that all of them seemed rather confused (but so were we, I suppose), and some of the second lieutenants living there came and asked us what they should do (they were in uniform), but we couldn’t give them advice. We didn’t know ourselves what lay ahead. We told them that we thought it best for the time being to get out of the city as soon as possible, and we said that they would no doubt receive instructions later. Bratseth and I managed to hijack an automobile … ______________________________________ 6. … and arrive first back at the Military Academy. We removed the heavy machine gun from the Academy roof and replaced the roof tiles. Thereafter, a detachment carried a lot of equipment from the depot, which we packed into large sacks. 2 �More and more cadets arrived back and we got hold of 3 buses and 3 closed delivery vans (Ritzvans). The drivers immediately began to load the vehicles with ammunition and weapons, all the heavy machine guns and some mortars. The last cadets to arrive said that they had encountered German soldiers out in the streets. The Germans had asked them where they were going, but they pretended not to understand and continued on to the Military Academy. Lieutenant Homsen came in civilian clothes. He was living out on Drammensveien and he said that several hundred soldiers (German) had come marching in so that … ________________________________________ 7. … he had not been able to be seen in his uniform and had to dress as a civilian. It was now 14:00 and we were an hour away from our departure. The Commandant still looked pale but held a short orientation for us and reported what had occurred up to that time. The Germans had flown in these soldiers to Fornebu (about 400, he said) and they were now marching into the city. Some of the pilots (including Hagen) had already gone up to Kjeller Airfield at 08:30 in order to get as many planes into the air as possible. Likewise, the anti-aircraft artillery (some of it) was sent out to boats in different parts of the city. Reidar Godø Tvette?* (artilleryman at Akershus Fortress) was already on his way to Oskarsborg Fortress2 by early afternoon. Cadet Sergeant Skau arrived at the Academy in civilian clothes around 14:00 and reported that sentries had been posted everywhere around the city … *Am not completely certain of his name. _______________________________________ 8. … and that the Germans had marched to positions outside the National Theater, and he had seen sentries posted at the railway station, at the fortress outside the post office and at a number of other locations. The post office is situated vis à vis the Military Academy and we were expecting the Germans to appear at the gate at any moment and take everyone at the Academy prisoner without having had an opportunity to defend ourselves. There were a number of cadets who asked the Commandant for permission to put on civilian clothes and sneak out of the city one by one. The Commandant replied that it was better to be taken prisoner as a unit than to be picked up one by one. But it was a huge risk to be gathered together and in uniform in the middle of Oslo when all the important points in the city were occupied by the Germans. At 14:30 the buses drove into the courtyard and we were ordered … 2 Translator’s note. On the west side of Oslo Fjord near Drøbak. The fortress cannons and torpedoes sank the German heavy cruiser “Blücher” early in the morning of the 9th of April 1940. 3 �_______________________________________ 9. … to take our packs and rifles and board them. We all believed that that we would be taken prisoner as soon as we emerged onto the street, or that they would throw a hand grenade into the bus if we did not stop. At 14:45 everything and everyone had been loaded into the vehicles and the custodian opened the Academy gate. With the Commandant in the lead bus, we drove down Tollbugate toward the East Station. Everyone was ordered to remove their caps, conceal their rifles, open the top uniform buttons and look as much as possible like we were tourists or were being evacuated. We had our hearts in our mouths and expected at any moment to be stopped by a German “Gefreiter”, a private, who would then make quite a catch. We were around 70 officers and cadets together with the three delivery vans filled with weapons and ammunition. But no “Gefreiter” appeared, and … _______________________________________ 10. … we managed to get past East Station and roll on out onto Trondheimsveien. Here on T.veien we stopped for gasoline for a few minutes and heard that T.veien was closed off up at Gjelleråsen and that we would not be able to leave the city by the regular route. Here we heard our first description of an anti-aircraft battery that had been in a skirmish with German planes. The planes had dive-bombed the battery a number of times and several of the soldiers had been killed. The battery had been put out of commission, and a second lieutenant (I think it was Bentzen) shot himself when he saw how things were going. (He was engaged to be married to a German girl, and the last thing he said was: “I’ll not be taken prisoner by the Germans.”*) It was Cadet Sergeant Fyrvoldt who gave this account, he had been at the battery, … *reported as I remember hearing it. ____________________________________ 11. … and he came back to (into) the Academy just before we departed. We drove south on rural highways and other small roads until we entered the main highway south near Kolbotn (or perhaps it was Klemmetsrud). The entire time there were bombers and transport planes hovering right over our heads, and more than once we expected that they would drop some bombs when they made a pass over our convoy. But it went well, and we drove south through Askim and Mysen. The reason for driving so far south was that we could have been stopped by the Germans, owing to the fact that there was a roadblock at Gjelleråsen and the airport at Lillestrøm was occupied and some of the hangars were ablaze. 4 �From Mysen we headed north through Trøgstad and Høland to … ________________________________________ 12. … Bjørkelangen. Here we paused for a few minutes for a hasty lunch of coffee and open-faced sandwiches. While we sat there eating at a roadside inn, Quisling gave his speech. I was together with a couple of others on the second floor and didn’t get to hear it, but Lieutenant Holmsen, who came up to us a little later, summarized it and said he had mentioned some State Council members and had especially urged officers to remain loyal to him. Holmsen laughed and said: “Yes — yes, in any case we’ll continue on all the way to Elverum.” We who had not heard anything of the speech didn’t know what to believe, and no one offered any comments. While we were still in Oslo, the mobilization order had been repeated, but we were fully aware that the Germans were behind it … _______________________________________ 13. … so no one paid attention. From Bjørkelangen we continued on over to Blaker and along the east side of the Glomma River to Kongsvinger. Here we stopped for an hour and then got back on the buses. The mood during the first part of the trip was subdued, as we expected at any moment to be randomly stopped by one or another German patrol or be bombed by one of the planes that flew over us again and again. But now that we no longer feared being taken prisoner and “restrained”, everyone felt considerably more relaxed, at least in the beginning, and so to the sound of a cheerful song we rolled into Kongsvinger, with Elverum out next destination. Here in Kongsvinger we met Cadet Larsmoen, who had not arrived back at the Military Academy by 3 o’clock. So he had taken … _____________________________________ 14. … a train from the East Station and traveled directly to Kongsvinger. He told us that there had been a number of Germans on the train. He had been in full uniform but had not been questioned by the Germans. He did not know where they had left the train. At midnight the 9th of April we were in the bus on our way to Elverum, and the mood wasn’t bad. For me, personally, the war could not have come at a better time, as I was scheduled for my oral exam in chemistry and had little hope of doing well. 5 �The 10th of April at 02:153 we drove through Elverum on our way to Terningmoen4. On the horizon south of the parade ground we noticed what seemed to be flames and then it became clear — it was the … _______________________________________ 15. … first farm to become a casualty of the war in Norway. Those who had been sleeping during the last leg of the trip woke up and asked what it was that was burning. No one replied, but from the serious faces they understood that it was our first encounter with the war. The bus stopped suddenly; we had arrived at Terningmoen at 02:30, after a drive of almost 12 hours. As soon as we left the bus, we gathered together, and the Commandant, who had had a brief conversation with Commander-in-Chief Ruge (we did not know at this time that he had been made Commander-inChief of the Norwegian Armed Forces), came over to us and gave us the following orientation: “The enemy is now fighting with his own detachments at Sagstua5, about 3 kilometers south of here. The strength of both sides unknown. A good outcome of the fighting now taking place will be of great significance for us for the negotiations that our … _______________________________________ 16. … government is conducting with the Germans.” Afterwards, we were given orders to immediately begin loading our machine gun magazines and to fill and load our own rifles. We were divided up into squads, and a half hour later 65 cadets were ready for battle. While we were busy loading the magazines, we heard that Colonel Ruge had been appointed Commander-in-Chief. As we stood ready for departure, he came over and greeted us. He was still in the uniform of a colonel, with a Krag-Jorgensen rifle and gleaming bayonet resting on his shoulder. With a smile on his face and acting as though this were the most everyday thing in the world, he said: “Remember now, boys, you are your commander’s last reserve!” We entered the buses that had brought us here and rushed toward Sagstua. The first person we met after we had … ________________________________________ 17. 3 th Translator’s note. At this time, between 2-3 a.m. on the 10 of April, the firefight between German and Norwegian troops was going on at the Midtskogen farm, several kilometers away. 4 Translator’s note. A military base in Elverum. 5 Translator’s note. The Norwegian plan was to set up the first roadblock at Sagstua, and a second at Midtskogen. 6 �… arrived was Cadet Ekoanes. He came groveling over to the road, his face covered with a smile. “I missed the bus and so I took a train and got here just in time to join you.” He had attached his bayonet and crawled up to us on the bus, and then we drove a few hundred meters up the road. We exited the bus quickly and hastened down below the road so as not to be surprised by enemy fire. The troops were ordered to advance in succession. A platoon of the Royal Guardsmen was in position, and it was not difficult to see that they were happy to get reinforcements. Our method of advancing was to send the buses 100 meters along the road, then position them diagonally over the road. Afterwards, a platoon on the left side of the road advanced until it was even with the buses, and finally the platoons on the right side of the road. After each advance, we dug ourselves in and … _______________________________________ 18. … lay with our rifles ready to cover the other advancing platoons. We expected to run into the Germans at any moment, but nothing happened, no German appeared, and I guess we could say we were a little disappointed. By 7 o’clock6 (perhaps it was 8, I hadn’t looked at my watch for a long time), we had worked our way forward to the Midtskogen farm, and here we found a lot of ammunition and spent cartridges, hand grenades, a revolver and an officer’s cap that the Germans had left behind. On the roads and in the ditches there were traces of blood and the ruins of the farm were still burning, so these were all clear signs of fighting. We stopped our advance and prepared defensive positions. We dug in, covered the bottom of the trenches with greenery, hauled large slabs of stone which we secured in the breastwork in front of our positions, and finally we camouflaged everything with birch and spruce branches. The platoon leader (Lieutenant … ______________________________________ 19. … Holmsen) gave us our firing instructions and flanking assignments, so now “he” could come and would get what he deserved. But no one came. I had a position on the far left flank, and now I had time to look around. We were allowed to move about a little in order to keep warm, but someone had to be manning the machine guns at all times. The entire time while we were advancing, we were wading in snow, sometimes up to our waists. Of course our boots were filled with snow all the time, and I was wet halfway up my calves. Now I began searching in my backpack. I didn’t find any socks. No food either, but I had several pair of woolen underwear I could use as socks, if I made a few “emergency” alterations. I took a woolen undershirt with long arms, slashed them off with my bayonet and wrapped them around my feet as best I could. As for the socks I had been wearing, I cut off the soles, wrung … 6 Translator’s note. From what I have read online, the firefight at Midtskogen took place between 2-3 a.m. 7 �________________________________________ 20. … the water out of them and wore them over my boots like galoshes. Moreover, I wound a band around my ankle, so now I could wade in the snow to my heart’s content without getting snow in my boots. * Now that warmth was returning to my feet, I began feeling sleepy. I lay down in my foxhole in the snow; but it was too cold to sleep. Instead I went over to my neighbors, Ottestad and Ernst Thue, who had dug out a hole for the machine gun, and they served up all kinds of sinister stories. That warmed me up a little, but nothing that lasted. At 12 o’clock (approximately) we were told that we could go over to the farm (Midtskogen, part of the farmhouse was still standing) and we would be served some coffee and food. We did so, half of each group at a time, and, a pity to say it, but we weren’t really hungry. As the afternoon progressed (about 2 o’clock), half of the cadets were removed from their positions at … * The German envoy7 in Oslo drove through our positions at Midtskogen in a car with headlights blacked out. We lay low in our positions so that he would not see anything. He was on his way to Elverum to negotiate with the Norwegian government. _______________________________________ 21. … Midtskogen and loaded onto two large buses. The Germans had withdrawn and were presumably making their way southward along the shore of Lake Mjøsa, so it was not unreasonable to believe that we might encounter them one place or another south of us. We prepared for all eventualities and sat ready with our rifles between our legs or pistols in our laps. We saw nothing along the way until we drove further south to Espa, where we met a group of bewildered people who told us that about an hour earlier the Germans had disarmed several hundred men on this spot. They had had a heavy machine gun mounted at the front and back and completely had the upper hand. The Norwegians had fallen into a trap. This news made us even angrier and more belligerent than we already were, and if we had found any Germans then, they would have fared very badly. We climbed aboard the buses again and continued on in a southerly direction at full speed, but before we had come a very long way, we met a vehicle with … 7 Translator’s note. This was Dr. Curt Bräuer (1889-1969). He was initially in favor of negotiating with the Norwegian government, but he received orders from Berlin to deliver an ultimatum to King Haakon. The title of the Norwegian film “Kongens Nei” (2016), English title “The King’s Choice”, is based on this meeting between Envoy Bräuer and King Haakon. The film has dramatic scenes of the Battle of Midtskogen. 8 �_________________________________________ 22. … soldiers who told us that the Germans had passed Minnesund and were continuing southward. We stopped and took up positions near the Nedre Strandløkka farm, not far from Strandløkka8 station, and we immediately began scouting out sites for machine guns, and for heavy machine guns. We spent the entire day working on building a fortified position and preparing sites for the machine guns and camouflaging them. Ottestad, Thue and I prepared a fine machine gun position on top of a manure pile, but moved it later because we began to reek of the foul odor ourselves. We blocked off the road with three trucks, which we filled with sand and positioned sideways across the road with their front ends pointing toward the ditch. In addition, we found a large roadgrader blade which we put lengthwise across the road behind everything else. Finally, we added a barrier of barbed wire bound together with cord. — First to arrive … ______________________________________ 23. … from the south and intending to pass through the roadblock was a large black hearse. It was the vehicle that carried the German military attaché9 in Oslo who was killed by some of the first bullets fired in the Battle of Midtskogen. We found this out later. The military attaché was supposed to lead those who were to capture the King and the Norwegian Government, who were in Elverum. On 11 April we were in our positions at Strandløkka. Many vehicles began coming up the road, and we created a gate through the roadblock so they could pass through. But we had a truck ready to “darn” the hole as soon as anything seemed suspicious. Now we heard that a Norwegian battalion of neutral Royal Guard soldiers had been in a battle with the enemy at Eidsvoll, but had had to retreat north to around Minnesund. General Hvinden … ______________________________________ 24. … Haug drove through our roadblock at Strandløkka and did not appear to be in a particularly good mood. Here at Strandløkka we were paid a visit by Captain Rognes, who had been part of the Inspector General (Ruge) staff and who had now come into the General Staff. He was a fellow who commanded respect, was on the faculty of the Military Academy, and when he realized it was cadets he saw here, he came over to have a chat whenever circumstances permitted. He told us that a large battleship had been 8 th Translator’s note. On the east side of Lake Mjøsa, north of Minnesund. The battle here lasted from the 14 to the th 17 of April. 9 Translator’s note: Eberhard Spiller (1905-1940). 9 �sunk in the Oslo Fjord10, two large ships on the south Norwegian coast, and one in Trondheim Fjord (they thought it was the “Bremen” that had been sunk here, but later we discovered it was not the case). He told us that the Norwegian mobilization operation had suffered a serious blow with the occupation of Oslo and Trondheim; otherwise, he said, things around the country were going better … ________________________________________ 25. … than expected. From Gardermoen11 they were still able to take out weapons and supplies, as much as they needed, and in the fjord country of West Norway the mobilization was going as planned. He hoped that the Norwegian people would endure this test that the war provided and he felt that times would be better for everyone afterwards. He also said that we had been promised assistance by the British and French, so everything ought to turn out well, he thought, if only the enemy could be thwarted long enough for the mobilization to be completed. Then we could begin to push “him” south, surround and completely destroy him. While Captain Rognes stood chatting with us over by our roadblock, the German envoy12 arrived and wanted to pass through. He was returning from Elverum, where the negotiations had gone poorly, and traveling to Oslo to deliver his report. Captain Rognes walked over to the car; but the German envoy had already got out and was coming … _______________________________________ 26. … toward him with outstretched hand. Rognes did not “see” the proffered hand and only responded with an ever so slight nod. We just stood there gaping. We knew that Rognes had backbone, but that he refused to shake the hand of the German envoy was more than we expected. Most astonished of all was the German envoy, who stood there with his outstretched hand rising higher and higher until it was right under Captain Rognes’s nose. Then he took his hand with a faint smile and said: I hope that the good relations that have existed between Norway and Germany will continue. He put special emphasis on the word good. Then the German envoy passed through the barricade looking neither to the right or to the left. But when he passed a group of cadets, he scrutinized us. We stood … 10 Translator’s note. This was the “Blücher”, which was sunk near Oscarsborg Fortress. Translator’s note. Originally, a military base. The Germans transformed it into an airport during the war, and after the war Gardermoen was taken over by the Norwegian Air Force. Today it is the main international airport serving Oslo. 12 See footnote no. 7. 11 10 �______________________________________ 27. … there all of us with deadly serious expressions and looked at him with hateful eyes. Would hope he’ll remember those eyes for some time. Some women from the neighboring farms prepared dinner for us, beet soup, it was the first dinner since the war had begun. It was not really good in the usual sense of the word, but it vanished with alarming speed. In the course of the day a number of reconnaissance patrols were sent out. One headed for Minnesund to check the thickness of the ice on the Vorma River, and a number of others across Lake Mjøsa (on kicksleds) to investigate this and that over on the other side. Toward evening there were very many vehicles traveling north on the road along Lake Mjøsa (Trondheimsveien). I counted from 15-20 in an hour, and in the course of the night there were many more. A patrol was sent out and it turned out to be … _______________________________________ 28. …those who were hauling ammunition and equipment from Gardermoen, they had managed to haul out almost everything, and it was being driven up to Hamar. Later in the night (around 4 o’clock) I was on duty at the roadblock, and it was at that time that the blowing up of the bridges began. The hour I began my watch, I saw everything as a flash, like lightning or cracks and pops indicating a change in the weather, you saw something light up, and then it was a long time until we heard the sound. It was then so many of the bridges were blown up in East Norway that to date have not been rebuilt. At 5 o’clock I was taken along on a patrol over to the other side of Lake Mjøsa. We were to use kicksleds, as the ice was good and we had three kicksleds at our disposal. I was the leader of the patrol, and other members of the patrol were Alex Hagen and Svanø Hafstad. What we were instructed to find out was what … ________________________________________ 29. … they were doing, those who were driving vehicles up and down on the other side of Lake Mjøsa. We had received a report that they were not Norwegian detachments on the other side, and the transports from Gardermoen had ended. We reached the other side safely, and Svanø Hafstad remained behind to guard the kicksleds. We agreed on the signal we would use, and then Alex and I stole off. The community we were in, or rather the one to which we were heading, was Feiring. It was a long way up from the shoreline to the first houses. After proceeding for awhile we clearly heard people moving about, but it was so dark that we could not see 10 meters ahead and had no way of knowing whether it was friend or foe. We took no chances and were extremely cautious … _______________________________________ 11 �30. … as we moved forward. The first house we came to was empty, but we didn’t discover that before we had gone around it and rapped on the windows and doors for quite a while. Finally, I opened the door and went in, but there was no one inside, just an old clock ticking away on the wall. It confirmed that there had someone in the house fairly recently. We continued on along a footpath that led from the houses up to the main road, but that turned out to be quite a distance away, well over two kilometers. There were people in the next house we came to, but only women, and they were so frightened that it was almost impossible to get them to open the door. Finally, after softly rapping on the door, we saw a light coming down the stairway from the garret. It was the woman of the house with … _________________________________________ 31. … all her children tagging behind in a line. They were all in their nightclothes and so frightened that they were trembling. We were sorry to come the way we did and frighten them in the middle of the night, but we needed to use their telephone to ring up others living along the road who perhaps could provide us with information as to who it was who had been driving along the road in the vehicles we had seen. It took some time for us to make clear our mission to the woman, and when she finally telephoned for us, our question remained unanswered. 19 December 1944 (continuation) We continued on up the road to a place where we waited awhile, but nothing happened. Then we saw a blue lantern off down the road. It stopped at fairly regular intervals and blinked. This was suspicious. After a little while it came closer and I let … ______________________________________ (32) … Hagen know that he should cautiously take the person in question prisoner when the sign was given. Now he came closer and we saw that he was on a bicycle. When he was 3 meters away, we jumped up and aimed our pistols at him and ordered him to put his hands up. He seemed extremely surprised and began talking a mile a minute incoherently in broken Norwegian: “I don’t have a weapon, I just have a knife, etc.” He was so nervous and his behavior so strange that it seemed suspicious, and he farted loudly of sheer fright. We took him along down to Lake Mjøsa, transported him over to the other side, and delivered him to Lt. Holmsen, who undertook a preliminary interrogation. Later he was sent to Lillehammer and I heard nothing more about him. ________________________________________ (33) 12 �During the night one of the cadets disappeared, and we believed he had fallen through the ice. We searched for him but did not find him. Later, we heard that he had taken off for Hvalsmoen and had reported in there. This was poor conduct for a cadet. His name was Granli and he was the eldest in the 1st class. The following day there was an alarm and we lay in position for an hour waiting for the enemy, who did not appear. So we had a quiet day until Captain Pran (Phran?) took over as our commander, but it was just for the moment. Nothing of importance happened the next few days, and then on Saturday we were relieved by an entire company. All the cadets were withdrawn back to Hamar and put up in civilian homes. Otterstad and I found lodging in the home of a railway conductor. This was the first Saturday of the war, … ________________________________________ (34) … making it 14 April 1940. We walked through the streets and there always had to be two of us together. At the railway station I wrote a short letter home to my family. Sunday, 15 April 194013 In our quarters we are provided bread and butter for three days, for which we must fill out a requisition. We are issued a helmet and underwear. In the afternoon, vehicles are requisitioned and we leave, with Brandbu as our destination. The route leads over frozen Lake Mjøsa. Before reaching Brandbu we are stopped by some civilians who report having seen a “suspicious man”. After having made inquiries at a hotel he had checked into, we discovered he was a seaman who had hiked a long distance with a suitcase and and duffel bag to reach his home. We arrived in Brandbu late in the evening around 11 p.m. After reporting to … _______________________________________ (35) … the senior officer (Colonel Mork14), we were shown our quarters and went to bed. The next day, the 16th of April, I met several students from the Student House who had hiked through Nordmarka. (Their 13 Translator’s note. The calendar for 1940 shows 15 April as a Monday. Writing this at a later time, he may have been mistaken about the day of the week for that date. 14 Translator’s note. I found online these excerpts from Henrik Lunde’s book Hitler’s Preemptive War: The Battle for th Norway, 1940, p. 313: “… and Colonel Carl Mork’s 6 Inf Regiment covered the area between Lake Mjøsa and Randsfjord. […] The Germans encountered stiff resistance […] As they moved into the interior, they also encountered deep snow that made movements off the roads very difficult. […] Norwegian defenses fell into a pattern that would characterize the rest of the campaign in central Norway. They were based on a series of barricades and cuts in lines of communications, supported by flanking fire that made German clearing actions 13 �names were, by the way, Telle, Niels Martin Lunde, Per Reiste.) The formation of detachments was now underway. Major Hertzberg, Sr. was one of them who was busy dividing everyone into groups according to competence. Good heavens! A difficult job! In the course of the day, my platoon is delivered to me, and from now on I am platoon leader in Rødberg’s Brandbu company with 40 agile fellows who are at my beck and call. I give them some instruction in how to choose a firing position and how to observe and specify a target. After two hours of practice, the training is over and we fall in and begin marching, our present destination being the dining hall (of the Brandbu Youth Center). ______________________________________ (36) After a hasty meal (bread and coffee), I receive orders from the Company Commander to march to Røykenvik and help prevent a possible landing of paratroopers on the shore of Randsfjorden. A man named Mons Røykenvik is supposed to arrange accomodations for us. We arrive there after a 3-hour march and everything goes according to plan. Mons is a congenial fellow and does what he can for us. I reconnoiter and immediately post sentries at the best vantage points, while also dividing up the watches. My platoon consists at present of 3 squads. They are: 1st squad: G. B. Dreyer, sl. (= ‘squad leader’) law student G. Slettmoen O. Bukvæld L. Hovde P. Flåten ______________________________________ (37) T. Groven G. Flatåker A. Silnes E. Jørgensen 2nd squad: A. Buer J. Granheim L. Henrud J. Gresslien K. Koppervik O. Skaugen R. Jørgensen O. Engebretsen difficult. […] they attempted to break the Norwegian lines under heavy supporting fires, while ski troops worked around the defenders’ flanks.” 14 �T. Torgersen 3rd squad: Erik Vibe, sl. law student J. Krestoffersen P. Paus L. Haugen K. Rønning F. Aasen J. Haug _______________________________________ (38) G. Mekren H. Håkenstad 4th squad: (arrived the following day) Scott Andersen (sl.) Bjarne Johansen Georg Fjeld Alf Sunde Odd Sunde Bjarne W. Paulsberg Finn Singdalsen Rolf Christiansen Bjarne Seiersted Tank Nielsen This was then the 1st Platoon of Capt. Rødberg’s “brave” company. The 4th squad arrived the following day. Their levels of training varied greatly. Some of them were “choir boys”, with no experience, while others had served already for 10-15 years, and 3-4 had been Royal Guardsmen the past several years. One of them had just come from … ________________________________________ (39) … winter exercises and handled his machine gun like a virtuoso. The squad leader of the 2nd squad, Buer, had served for 30 days many years earlier, but his knowledge and conduct made him a natural leader. And there were no other gentlemen in the 2nd squad who had more military service. 15 �On the 17th of April we were inspected by Capt. Rødberg and given orders to reconnoiter new positions with a view to the south. This came as a surprise, as we did not know about any pull-back from Jevnaker. There were a few small episodes in the course of the day. Among other things, a sentry (a double post who monitored the traffic along the main road) arrested a young girl who tried to slip by without being seen. Now she was brought … ______________________________________ (40) … to me and I was told that she was suspicious because she did not wish to say why she had attempted to slip past the guards. After having examined her a bit, she blurted out the truth: “She was on her way to the midwife at Brandbu.” And her appearance clearly bore “signs” of her condition. She was immediately given a pass and went her way. In the afternoon we did some gymnastics and practiced taking up firing positions and preparing defensive positions. They knew pitifully little, but all were enthusiastic and eager to learn, so they did learn a bit. On the 18th of April we received marching orders, and at 7 o’clock everyone was ready, and together … _______________________________________ (41) … with the rest of the company coming from Brandbu we marched up along the shore of Randsfjorden. During a brief rest, Capt. R. gave a somewhat uninspiring speech, which was nonetheless vigorously applauded. Everyone shouted ‘hurrah’; the mood was good. When we reached some farms around 3 kilometers north of Røykenvik, we were ordered to assume positions and prepare them. In the course of the afternoon time was spent preparing defensive positions for every rifleman. Later half of the troops rested. At 3:30 p.m. we were suddenly awakened by the sound of an alarm. A report had come in that the enemy was coming up the road with 8 tanks and 20 truckloads of soldiers. A barricade was set up across the road in great haste. In the meantime, we had acquired a field cannon mounted on a truck. Capt. Jahren (a few days later, Major Fahren) was in charge of it and had command over the rest of the company. 16 �My platoon was positioned on the left flank of the company’s front line where a small rural road followed along the fringe of a forest. Now everyone took up positions and waited for what was to come. We waited an hour, then two; but nothing happened. Earlier in the day, Cadet Bjørstol, who was platoon leader of the 3rd Platoon (or maybe it was the 4th), had sent out half of his troops led by his second-in-command, but they had not returned. Now he returned himself without having found them, and he had to report half his platoon as missing. In the course of the evening we continued to receive … _______________________________________ (43) … reports that the Germans were on their way up toward our positions. These reports came from civilians who had seen them further down the road and who let us know how far they had advanced. The situation was very tense, and as it was now almost completely dark and the field cannon could not be used in the darkness, it would soon be of no help. Capt. Jahren was bearing up well but clearly he seemed nervous. *Rødberg was worse; he suffered a bit of a nervous breakdown, threw himself into a vehicle shouting: ‘The Germans are coming! The Germans are coming!’, fired into the air a few times with his pistol, and drove away. A little while later the field cannon was driven away, and, likewise, Capt. Jahren, without giving any further orders of any kind. Now, here we were, 4 cadets, each with his platoon. And … *I did not see this myself but was told about it by two of my fellow platoon leaders. I was with my platoon on the left flank. ______________________________________ (44) … two of these (1st and 2nd platoon) had only one machine gun each. The others in these platoons had only rifles and carbines. This was the force that was about to encounter 400 Germans with 7-8 tanks and artillery, according to the reports we had received. The 4 platoon leaders now held a “war council”, and two proposals were put forth: 1. (mine), offer resistance as long as possible, thereafter retreat up along a rural road that ended at a place called Bleiken; 2. (Ignasius) retreat immediately without any resistance along the main road that follows Randsfjorden, as the present position was deemed to be of little importance (owing to the very open terrain with wide views), and neither was the roadblock effective because of the flat fields on both sides. Ignasius was cadet second lieutenant … 17 �______________________________________ (45) … and was appointed company commander in Rødberg’s absence. The 2nd proposal was adopted and we immediately began our withdrawal. Now we received a report that the Germans were marching along the shore of Randsfjorden to circumvent our positions. This was possibly not correct; but for us who had just begun to march, it was certainly not good news. We had to proceed with utmost caution, and the entire time we sent out advance patrols and scouts on each side of us. We were enveloped by utter darkness and had no way of distinguishing between friend and foe. After a march of 2-3 hours, a vehicle approached, so the order was given for everyone to vanish into the forest. Two of us remained on the road to stop the vehicle. It turned out to be Capt. Rødberg, and we were not at all happy to see him, considering the manner in which he had abandoned us and left us in such … _______________________________________ (46) … a disagreeable situation. It is now 02:00 the 19th of April and we are marching along Randsfjorden back to our own detachments. Capt. Rødberg told us that good positions had been prepared and fortified at Hornskleiva near Randsfjorden, but, he said, [we could be in danger] as they had not been informed that we were marching toward these positions. So I sent one of my squad leaders (Vibe) ahead as well as another soldier named Stomperud, and as they left the air resounded with verses of the popular Norwegian song “Gjest Bårdsen”. In this manner we made it through their positions unscathed. The sentries said they had orders to shoot, and it was only our singing that had saved us. After some waiting, our platoon was now shown a cottage where we could rest for a few … ________________________________________ (47) … hours. There were 38 men in this small hut, packed together like sardines. I was fortunate enough to get the only bed, which I shared with another. We had marched around 15 hours, maybe 20, so we were tired and fell asleep at once. 2-3 hours later, around 08:00, we were awakened and had to go out immediately and take up our positions. This time, too, my platoon was positioned on the company’s left flank. It was a wooded ridge that rose directly up from the main road. The rock wall there had been dynamited to create the road bed, and the rock precipice was almost vertical from the lake to the road, and from the road the wall went straight up another 50 meters. Here a crag had been blasted away and the road was effectively barricaded by enormous blocks of stone. 18 �_________________________________________ (48) A sketch of the positioning of the platoons at Hornskleiva on Randsfjorden (sketched from memory) “Special sentry15” To Røikenvik Randsfjorden (ice) st 1 Platoon The old road nd 2 Platoon Heavy machine gun To Hov in Land rd 3 Platoon Blasted rocks blocking road 4th Platoon (Reserves) _________________________________________ (49) 15 Translator’s note. He uses the designation “Flaskepost” (in quotation marks). Normally, “flaskepost” means a “message in a bottle”, but here it refers to a dangerous special sentry post. 19 �There was yet another company, besides the platoons (of our company) that are noted on the map. This company had a number of machine guns (probably 6), as well as two heavy machine guns. Later, the field cannon was added, our previous old acquaintance. On the far outer left flank where my platoon was positioned there was a force of about 70 men under the command of an older lieutenant. He was now put under my command, so that I now had all the platoons positioned from the old road and out to the left and up the ridge. It was the largest command I ever had during the war. After some reconnoitering I placed the squads in position and kept one in reserve. Afterwards, I inspected the troops and at this time I gave the lieutenant a piece of my mind because … ______________________________________ (50) … he said he was going to go get something to eat. He said he had not eaten for many hours. I thought it was a sergeant or a squad leader, for that was my impression at first glimpse. I tersely ordered him to keep quiet and said that food was not the most important thing now with the enemy expected to appear at any moment. It was not long before we received a report that he was advancing toward us. Everyone took their positions, ready to fire. We now had a total of 8 machine guns, 2 or 3 heavy machine guns, and a field cannon. We prepared to fire all the weapons simultaneously (a salvo) in order to take the enemy by surprise as best we could. All the positions were well camouflaged and everything seemed in good order. Vision from our position … _________________________________________ (51) … was poor and instructions to my squads were to limit their fire. I moved my one machine gun squad over near the 2nd platoon so that they could be part of the salvo. Now we heard the rumbling of the tanks in the distance, we were not to shoot at the tanks, but rather at the infantry that followed. The tanks would not get by the barricade, so that was not a danger. It was remarkable that everyone wanted a machine gun or heavy machine gun. I considered taking a heavy machine gun from one of the soldiers to man it myself. But I decided he would want to keep it for himself [*word ‘himself’ crossed out], so I had to be content with “just” a rifle. Now the 1st of the tanks appeared in the curve in the road about 400 meters away, and right afterwards the 2nd and 3rd, followed immediately by two rows [* ‘two rows’ crossed out] soldiers on bicycles in two rows, and at the end came some truckloads of soldiers. We let them … _______________________________________ (52) … come to within about 150 meters and then we let loose with all our barrels at once. We saw the bullets from the heavy machine guns as they plowed up the road beneath the bicycle tires. In a moment’s time the road was littered with bicycles, with a few Germans lying still and others trying to 20 �crawl into the ditches. The first tanks had just about reached the barricade as a bundle of dynamite with a fuse was thrown onto it. It did not turn around. The other two returned to the curve in the road, following the trucks, which had vanished in a hurry. Here they stood and opened fire on us with their small cannons, but their aim was poor and no one was hit. We continued shooting at those who had had to leave the road. Our fire was not answered, and after a while … _________________________________________ (53) … it died away. But all our sharpshooters lay in wait and the moment someone appeared he found himself the object of aggressive rifle fire. As we lay there, a German suddenly emerged from the underbrush where he had been hiding, jumped on his bicycle and peddled furiously to get away. Bullets landed all around him, but he was not hit. For a long time thereafter we saw little of the Germans. We heard a constant rumbling of tanks and thought they maybe would return and try to get through on the old road. Special sentries were posted along the portion of the road where it was most winding. They had a dangerous job, and, wishing to be an example for my platoon, I volunteered for this task and stood there for almost 3 hours. ________________________________________ (54) No tanks appeared, but I heard them close by the entire time, so they must have been there, but they didn’t come close enough for us to “reach them”. I [*the word “I” crossed out]. Each special sentry had a bucket of bottles filled with petroleum. Wool thread drenched in petroleum was wound around each bottle. Tucked into the thread were 3-4 matches. You took the bottle in your right hand ready to throw it, and when the target was within “throwing distance”, you rubbed the rough surface over the matches and the wool thread caught fire. When the bottle struck the tank it would then shatter, the contents would flow out over it, and [*the word “and” crossed out], catch fire and burn it up. The method was awfully primitive, but it was said to have been used very effectively in the war in Finland. _________________________________________ (55) 21 �[*Written above the sketch of the bottle the words “wool thread, coarse, drenched in petroleum”, and written on the bottle the word “Petroleum”, and pointing to the matches the word “matches”.] When I returned to the platoon after having stood as special sentry for about 2 hours, I made sure my men were all in advantageous firing positions with a place to rest their rifles. Each was covered with spruce branches and camouflaged. I ordered them all to remain prepared near their positions as we could expect an attack at any time. Now my buddy Gausland, who was also a cadet and now battalion assistant, came up to look at the positions. As we stood there looking over toward the forest in front of my positions (the … _______________________________________ (56) … very short line of fire, about 100 meters here), we heard something move. We lay down without making any noise and sent a sign to the others to lie down and keep still. And now a German soldier comes wading through the snow straight for our positions. Then another appears behind him (about 30 meters back), came wading through the deep snow. But then the first one must have discovered something, for he stopped suddenly 30 meters from where we lay. We shot both at the same time and he collapsed at once. But the few seconds before we could aim again at scout no. 2 were enough for him to throw himself down and wriggle away in the deep snow. We shot at him whenever he came a little into view above the snow, but he … _______________________________________ (57) … got away uninjured. Afterwards, we inspected the pockets of the dead German, but he had nothing of importance. He lay on his side, curled up, his mouth wide open, and he had presumably died instantaneously from a bullet through his chest. 22 �Now we knew that the Germans would be told that the ridge up from the old road was occupied and that we could be attacked at any time. I went down to the machine gun squad nearest the “old road”, and while I was there I suddenly heard a loud explosion right behind me. Very quickly [*the words “very quickly” crossed out] I do say, we hit the ground in an instant and crawled in between two large stones, and now 12-15 powerful explosions followed in rapid succession. Explosives whined through the air with a… ________________________________________ (58) … menacing high screeching sound. They struck the trees everywhere around us and sprigs and branches were scattered on the ground. When the bombardment ended, I immediately went to the other squads higher up, as the explosions had come from there. I was greeted by an unpleasant scene, three or four men wounded, one of them mortally, and most of the others, except for those closest, had vanished. Squad leader Vibe was also gravely wounded and we all helped lift him up and get him in position to be transported. He was very animated and talked and gesticulated, but he was extremely pale. He bled from his chest and he had no feeling in his arms and legs and could not move them. A private named Rudolf Jørgensen was mortally wounded. The right side of … _________________________________________ (59) … his throat was torn open so we could see his windpipe and esophagus, and blood gushed out with each heartbeat from arteries near the lower mandible (a.Mandibula?) [*in the parentheses a question mark written after a word that has been crossed out]. His throat was peeled open all the way up to his right ear and toward the back of his neck. He was unconscious and there was no other way to move him than to drag him down. A soldier and I took him under the arms, lifted him up and dragged him like a sack. He was completely unconscious and very heavy. We dragged him down toward the old road and left him with a Sergeant Gran who was posted there. Then we returned to the spot where he had been wounded. I smelled of blood, a sickenly sweet odor, and I was soaked in blood from my shoulder all the way down to my knees after trying to carry … ________________________________________ (60) … him. Among the others wounded was “Stomperud”, who had a splinter in the back of his head. He left under his own power. The others had only minor wounds. Back on the battlefield there were only 4 older men left, plus an entire squad (those who had been nearest the “old road” and had not been hit by the bombardment). I posted those who were left at vital spots and immediately sent a call for reinforcements. Gausland, who came while we were taking care of the wounded, also promised to send reinforcements for those who had vanished. And when some time had passed, Otterstad arrived with a squad and a half from the 2nd platoon, and then went … 23 �________________________________________ (61) … on a patrol out to the flank to see if we were outflanked. Now the Germans launched a real attack, while at the same time opening heavy fire on our positions up on the ridge. We heard them above us coming down toward us, but we could not see them yet. Their fire was not well aimed and did not harm us, but it was powerful and a number of trees were cut to pieces by the heavy machine gun fire, and soil and rocks splattered all around us. I went to report that the attack was coming in our direction and ask for new reinforcements. I did it myself because Otterstad was close by and I told him that I was leaving and that he would have supervision. I returned after a quarter hour — without reinforcements, … ________________________________________ (62) … but with orders for a phased retreat. The order had been given by Rødberg, said Gausland, who himself came up to us to see that we succeeded in our retreat. I had posted the four men who had remained after the first bombardment on the outermost left flank at a very dangerous spot. It was a protruding crag with a large rock. The crag was exposed to fire but had a good view, and for that reason I had posted them there. Now they had disappeared. As they said later, they thought that the others had retreated without letting them know. A while before we received the order to retreat, a soldier came from the squad nearest the road, completely out of breath, and says that there … ________________________________________ (63) … is a machine gun aimed at us from behind us. We are finished, he adds, we can only retreat. He had seen a lot and was willing to show me where it was. As I understood it, he had to be wrong, and I followed him to where he had seen it. It was indeed a machine gun, but it was the 4 men on the outermost flank up on the crag whom he had seen. He received a vigorous scolding for his foolish mistake and was told that such reports are well suited for creating panic. The phased retreat proceeded leaving 100 meters between each group. We returned rapidly to the old road and from there down to the main road. We had our machine guns in position during the entire retreat. Soon we were behind the first curve in the road and were safe. _______________________________________ (64) Otterstad’s squad and a half plus my own were the last to leave their positions. Now we marched back along the main road as it grew darker. After marching several kilometers, we came to a curve in the road 24 �where I found some of the men from my own platoon who had taken off. Later I found a few more, and by the end of the day I had found all of them, except for those who had been wounded or killed, plus a lad from Valdres by the name of Henrud, who was still shaking in his boots after the bombardment. I didn’t see him again and can imagine that he took off for his home in Valdres. Now we had arrived at Fall near Randsfjorden. Here I spoke with Battalion Commander Major Lauvdal and reported my losses to him. I tried to get some of them to return down to Hornskleiva in order to … ________________________________________ (65) … see how far the Germans had come, but only a few sergeants went along. We drove down to about one kilometer from Hornskleiva without encountering anyone. Then we got out and continued on foot to a curve in the road right before Hornskleiva, but we didn’t see anyone. By now it was completely dark and we couldn’t accomplish much, as we had no automatic weapons. After some reconnoitering we found out that we could very well take up a new position about half a kilometer north of Hornskleiva, where the terrain offered good opportunities for defending oneself. But when we returned to Fall, Major Lauvdal had decided that we would give up the territory and move further north. At midnight we were put up in the youth club in Hov, Land, after being given something to eat at the schoolhouse not far away. So on the … _______________________________________ (66) 20th of April at 2:30 a.m. we were awakened with news that the Germans had been reported 5 kilometers further south, and for this reason we had to head north. We began marching, and at 03:00 we were fully underway. Time passed, and at 8 o’clock we were able to ride in trucks over to Haslevollseter, where we stopped to find out if we could find lodging, and then we continued on to Mustad farm in Øvre Vardal, where we were able to sleep in a schoolhouse until well into the afternoon. _____________________________________________ English Translation: Jim Skurdall, Lørenskog, Norway 25 � https://norwegianamericanhistory.org/catalog/files/original/8e5e8ee7027e807705111de9232c5d0f.pdf 11bf6e27acee9f218314a450af7fde71 PDF Text Text [*The paragraph indentations of this transcription correspond to the indentation used in the original Norwegian manuscript. Irregular spellings are transcribed as written.] [*The pages of the original diary are numbered through page 31; I continued numbering the pages, but from p. 32, the numbers are enclosed in parentheses, for example, (32) ] _____________________________________ 2. 9. april 1940. Kl. 0020 vaknar eg av flysirena og skynar straks at det er tyske fly, og at tyskarane har gått til angrep på Norge. Me sit i kjellaren ca. 2 timar. Kl. 0330 går det alarm på nytt, denne gangen varer det ca. 1 time. Ved frukostbordet får me høyre at der er gått ut mobliseringsordre og at tyskarane er gått til angrep på Norge. Norske krisgsskip har vore i kamp med fienden utanfor Sørlandet og i Oslofjorden. Eg skal op til eksamen i kjemi, og eg tek på meg mi beste uniform, kvite hanskar, lakkbelte og springstøvler og går på skulen. Medan eg trikkor nedover går det flyalarm igjen og siste stykke nedover til Krigsskulen må eg gå. Møter kadett Krogh, som fortel at Fornebo er blitt bomba, og at eit norsk fly var skote ned der ute. På Krigsskulen er det møtt op dei ... ______________________________ 3. ... fleste av kadettane (det var berre halvparten some skulde møte til eksamen). På krigsskulen får me ordre om å vente på nærmare ordre. Sjefen har ikkje høyrt noko frå Generalstaben og kan ikkje løyse op Krigsskulen utan vidare. Flya går over oss til stadigheit, dei går i ca. 1000 m. høgde og dei store 75 m.? [*text missing rightside margin] luftvernkanonene kan ikkje skyte på dei fordi dei går for lågt. Kl. 930 har dei fremdeles ikkje høyrt noko frå G. Staben, men skulesjefen gir ordre om at alle mitraljøser som er på Krigsskulen skal monterast op og begynde å skyte på flya so snart dei viste seg. Ammunisjon vart henta frå Akershus og ein ½ time seinare var 6-7 mitraljøser stilte op mot luftmål. Ei stod oppe på skuletaket, to nede i skulegarden og ei oppe på Posthustaket. Dei andre stod i reserve. ______________________________ 4. Snart skyt dei alle, og det er ei dundring og skratting utan likje. �Me betjenar mitrl. i faste skift på 3 mann og dei som ikkje er ute sit nede i kjellaren, for det er flyalarm uten avbrot. Frua til skulesjefen reiser frå skulen saman med borna, sjefen er synlig letta. Kl. 1200 vert dei ein pause. Me har framdels ikkje høyrt noko frå G.staben. Skulesjefen besluttar då og reise ut av byen med heile skulen og me får gå heim (ein halvpart om gangen) og hente feltutstyr. Me får ordre om å kome attende til skulen seinast kl. 1430 for me skulde reise til Elverum kl. 1500. Eg var millom dei fyrste som fekk gå og hente mine saker, og eg trakka avgårde opover til Schultsgt. 7. Oppe i Hegdehaugsveien går det flyalarm på nytt, men me har ... ______________________________ 5. [scan omits some of the text in the right-side margin] ... ikkje tid å stanse og held fram op. Oppe i Industrigt. høyrer me slik underleg sus som veks til eit hyl, me skynar kva det er, fly som stuper seg ned for å bombe. Me hoppar inn i eit portre og straks etter kjem det 2 kraftige eksplosjonar, utan fleire avbrot når me Studentarhuset (Schultzgt. 7). På «huset» var alle ute og såg flya, dei var nokså forstyrra å sjå [missing] (men det var vel me og kanskje) og flere av dei fenrikane som budde der kom og spurde oss kva dei skulde gjere (dei var i uniform) me kunde ikkje gi dei noko råd, me visste ikkje sjølve kva det skulde vert av oss. Me sa berre at forløbig so var det best å berre kome seg ut av byen snarast råd, so vilde de sidan få vite kva dei skulde gjere. Bratseth og eg kapra ein bil ... _________________________________ 6. ... og var dei fyrste som kom attende til Krigsskulen. Me tok med mitraljøsa frå Krigsskuletaket og la på plass taksteinane. Deretter bar avd. ned ein heil del frå depotet som me pakka i sekkar. Det kom no fleire og fleire og me fekk tak i 3 store bussar og 3 innelukka varebilar (Ritz-bilar). Sjåførane begynte straks å laste inn ammunisjon og våpen, all mitraljøsene og nokre bombekastarar. Dei siste som kom fortalde at dei hadde møtt tyske soldatar ute i gatene. Tyskarane spurde kvar dei skulde, men dei lest som dei ikkje forstod og fortsette ned på K.skulen. Løytnant Homsen kom sivil. Han budde ute på Drammensveien og han fortalde no at fleire hundrede soldatar (tyske) kom marsjerande innover slik at ... _____________________________ 7. ... at han ikkje kunde gå i uniformø men trakk i sivil. Kl var no ca. 1400, enno var det ein time igjen til me skulde reise. Sjefen var nok bleik, men heldt likevel ei lita orientering for oss og fortalde kva som hadde �gått fyre seg. Tyskarne hadde landsett frå fly disse soldater ute på Fornebu (ca. 400 sa han) og dei var no på marsj innover til byen. Nokre av flygarane (deriblandt Hagen) reiste allerede kl. 0830 oppover til Kjeller for å få opp so mange fly som mulig. Likeeins vart luftvernartilleriane (nokre) sendt utover til bater rundt ikring i byen. Reidar Godø Tvette?* (festningsartilleristar) reiste ut til Oskarsborg allerede tidleg på fyrmiddagen. Kadettsersj. Skau kom og sivil til Krigsskulen ca. kl. 1400 han fortalde at det stod postar ute i byen alle ... *Er ikkje heilt sikker på navnet. _____________________________ 8. ... stadar og at tyskarane hadde marsjert op utanfor Nasjonalteatret han hadde set postar på jernbanestasjonen, på festninga utanfor posthuset og fleire andre stader. Posthuset ligg vis a vis Krigsskulen og me venta berre kvart augneblinken at tyskarane skulde vise seg i porten og ta til fange heile Krigsskulen utan me hadde sjangse å forsvare oss. Det var da fleire av kadettane som ba sjefen om at dei kunde klæ seg sivil og lure seg ut av byen enkeltvis. Sjefen svarte då at det var bere å verte tekne til fange som ei avdeling enn å verte hekta ein for ein. Det var ein stor risiko å verte verande samla og i uniform midt i Oslo når alle viktige punkt i byen var besette av tyskarane. Kl. 1430 køyrde bussane inn i skulegarden og me fekk ... __________________________________ 9. ... ordre om å ta med pakning og gevær og gå inn. Me trudde alle at me vilde verte fanga straks me viste oss på gata, eller dei kasta ein handgranat inn i bilen dersom me ikkje stansa. Kl. 1445 var alt og alle innlasta og vaktmeisteren opna skuleporten, og med sjefen i fyrste bilen køyrde me nedover Tollbugt. mot Austbanestasjonen. Alle fikk ordre om å ta av seg lua, gøyme geværet, knappe opp i halsen og gå so turist eller evakueringsaktig ut som mulig. Me sat med hjarta i halsen og venta kvar augneblink å verte stoppa av ein tysk «Gefreiter» som soleis vilde gjere ein god fangst. Me var ca. 70 officerar og Kadettar og dessutan tre varebilar fyllte med våpen og ammunisjon. Men ingen «Gefreiter» viste seg og ... _______________________________ 10. ... me kom lukkelig forbi Austbanestasjonen og rulla utover Trondheimsveien. Her i T.veien stansa me nokre minuttar for å fylle bensin og då fikk me høyre at T.veien var sperra oppe i Gjelleråsen og at me soleis ikkje kunde kome ut av byen på den vanlige måte. �No fikk me og den fyrste skildring frå eit luftvernbatteri som hadde vore i kamp med tyske fly. Flya hadde gjort stupbombingar på dei fleire gongar og nokre av soldatane vart drepne, batteriet vart sett ut av fungsjon og ein fenrik (trur det var Bentzen) skaut seg då han såg korleis det gjekk. (Han var forlova med ei tysk gjente og dei siste orda han sa var: «Eg skal ikkje verte tysk fange.»*) Det var kadettsersjant Fyrvoldt som fortalde dette, han var ved batteriet, ... *gjengitt efter hukommelsen. __________________________________ 11. ... og kom attende til (inn på) Krigsskulen straks før me reiste. På bygdevegar og andre små vegar køyrde me so sørover til me kom inn på hovudvegen sør ved Kolbotn (eller kanskje det var Klemmetsrud) i heile tida svæva store bombe- og transportfly tett over hovudet på oss, og meir enn ein gong venta me at dei skulle sleppe ned nokre bomber når dei gjorde ein sving burtover bilkolonna vår. Det gjekk likevel bra og me køyrde sørover gjenom Askim og Mysen. Grunnen til at me køyrde so langt sørover var, forutan at Gjelleråsen var sperra, at flygeplassen på Lillestrømm var besatt og at fleire av hangarane stod i brand so me kunde vente å verte stansa av tyskarne. Frå Mysen gjekk det so mot nord gjenom Trøgstad og Høland til ... ________________________________ 12. ... Bjørkelangen. Her vart det ein kort rast og me fekk oss ein kopp kaffi og nokre smørbrød. Medan me sat der på eit gjestgiveri og åt heldt Quisling sin tale. Eg og nokre andre sat i andre etasje og fekk ikkje høyre noko av det, men løytnant Holmsen som kom opp til oss seinare fortalde litt av innholdet og at han opfordra serleg officerane til å vere lydige mot han. Holmsen log og sa: «Ja – ja vi skal i alle tilfelle fortsette heilt fram til Elverum.» Vi som ikkje hadde høyrt noko av talen visste ikkje kva me skulde tru, og det var heller ingen som kommenterte noko. Allerede medan me var i Oslo var mobiliseringsordren kalla attende, men me var fullt klar over at det var tyskarane som stod bak det, ... ________________________________ 13. ... so det var ingen som brydde seg noko om det. �Frå Bjørkelangen gjekk det vidare over Blaker og langs austsida av Glomma til Kongsvinger. Her heldt me rast ein time og so var det å entre bilane att. Stemninga hadde på fyrste delen av turen vore låg og trykket fordi me heile tida venta å verte stoppa av ei eller annor tilfeldig tysk patrulje eller verte bomba ned av eitt av dei flya som krinsa over oss gong på gong. Men no då me var utanfor fåre frå å verte fanga og «knebla» i fyrste omgong steig humoret ganske betrakteleg, og under lystig song rulla me utor Kongsvinger med Elverum som næste mål. Her på Kongsvinger møtte me kadett Larsmoen som ikkje nådde attende til Krigsskulen til kl. 3. Han tok ... ______________________________ 14. ... då toget fra Austbanestasjonen og reiste direkte fra til Kongsvinger. Han fortalde at det var fleire tyskarar som reiste med same toget som han. Han reiste i full uniform men var ikkje antasta av tyskarane. Kvar dei gjekk av toget visste han ikkje. Den 9. april kl. 24 var me soleis på veg til Elverum i bil, og med eit humor som slett ikkje var dårleg. For meg personleg syntes eg at krigen kom som på bestilling, eg skulde nemleg op i kjemi muntleg den dagen, og hadde so visst ikkje stort håp om å gjere det godt. 10 april kl. 0215 kjørte vi gjenem Elverum på vei til Terningmoen. På himmelen sørom ekserserplassen opdaget vi et ildskjær som ikkje var til å ta feil av — det var den ... ___________________________ 15. ... første bondegård som blev krigens offer i Norge. De som under den siste delen av bilturen hadde sovet våknet op og spurte hvad det var som brant, ingen svarte, men på de alvorlige ansikter skjønte de at det var vort første møte med krigen. Bilen stanset med et rykk og vi var framme på Terningmoen kl. 0230, efter nesten 12 timers kjøring. Straks vi steg ut blev vi samlet og sjefen som hadde en kort samtale med K. G. Ruge (vi visste ikke nu at han va utnevnt til Kommanderende General) kom han bort til oss og gav oss følgende orientering: «Fienden er i kamp med egne avdelinger ved Sagstua ca. 3 km syd herfra. Styrkeforhold på begge sider ukjent. Et heldig utfall av den kamp som pågår vil være av betydning for de forhandlinger vår ... ____________________________ 16. �... Regjering fører med tyskerne.» Derefter fikk vi ordre om øieblikkelig å gå i gang med å ladde og mg. magasiner og til å fylle og ladde egne gevær. Vi blev indelt i lag, og en halv time senere var 65 kadetter ferdig å rykke i felten. Mens vi arbeidet med opladningen av magasinene fikk vi høre at oberst Ruge var utnevnt til K. G. Mens vi nu stod der ferdig til utrykning kom han bort og hilste på oss. Han var ennu iført sin oberst uniform, og bar et Krag-Jorgensen gevær med påsatt blank bajonett, over skulderen. Med et smil og med en mine som om det var den mest dagligdagse ting av verden, sa han: «Husk nu på gutter at dere er sjefens siste reserve!» Vi satte oss inn i de busser vi var kommet med, og suste sydover mot Sagstua. Dei første vi møtte da vi ... __________________________ 17. ... kom frem var kadett Ekoanes, han kom krypende bort til veien og smilte over hele ansiktet. «Jeg kom forsent til bussen og tok derfor toget, jeg kom akkurat tidsnok hit til å være med.» Han hadde påsatt blank bajonett og krabbet op i bilen til oss og vi kjørte enda noen 100 m. fremover veien. Vi steg raskt ut og gikk ned av veien for ikke å bli overrasket av ild. Troppene blev ordnet og nu begynte en suksesiv fremrykning. En tropp gardister nå i stilling og det var ikke vanskelig å se på dem at de var glade for å få forsterkning. Vi rykket frem på den måte at de to bussene kjørte ca 100 m. fremover veien, og stillet sig på skrå over veien, derefter rykket en tropp til venstre for veien frem i høide med bilene og tilslutt troppene på høire side av veien. For hver sats i fremrykningen grov vi oss ned og ... ________________________________ 18. ... og lå klar med geværet for å dekke nabotroppen vår den rykket frem. Vi ventet hvert øieblikk å støte på tyskerne, men intet hente, ingen tysker viste sig og det det var ikke fritt for at vi var litt skuffet. Til kl. 7 (kanske det var 8, hadde ikke set på kl. på lenge) hadde vi arbeidet oss frem til Midtskogen gård og her fant vi en mengde ammunisjon og hylser, håndgranater, en revolver og en officerslue som tyskerne hadde efterladt. På veiene og i grøftene var der blodspor og det røg enda fra ruinene på den brente gård, så her var tydelige spor. Her stanset vår fremrykning og vi forberedte oss i en forsvarsstilling. Vi grov oss ned, la underlag av ris i bunnen, slepte frem store steinheller som vi grov inn i brystvernet foran stillingene, tilslutt maskerte vi altt sammen med bjerk og grankvister. Troppsjefen (løytnant ... _____________________________ 19. ... Holmsen) la ildplan og gav ild- og flankeringsopgaver så nå kunde «han» bare komme så skulde han få sin bekomst. Men der kom ingen. — Jeg hadde stilling ytterst på venstre fløy og nu fikk jeg tid å se mig �om, vi skulde få lov å bevege oss litt for å holde varmen, men der skulde hele tiden være besetning ved mg.ene. Vi hadde under hele fremrykningen vadet i snø, stundom til midt på livet, skoene var naturligvis fulle av snø til enhver tid, og jeg var våt til midt på leggen. Nu begynte jeg å undersøke om der var no i ryggsekken. Strømper fantes ikke. Mat var der naturligvis heller ikke, men jeg hadde flere sett godt ullunder som jeg kunde bruke som strømper, dersom jeg foretok en liten «feltmesøkj» forandring. Jeg tok en ullskjorte med lange armer, sprettet dem av med bajonetten og la dem omkring føttene på beste måte. De strømpene jeg hadde på skar jeg lesten av, vred ut ... _____________________________ 20. ... vannet og trog dem utenpå skoene som gamasjer, dessuten spente jeg en strikk omkring ankelen, så nu kunde jeg vade i snøen så meget jeg bare vilde uten der kom noe i skoene. * Nu når varmen begynte å komme igjen i benene meldte også søvnen sig. Jeg la mig ned i gropen min i snøen; men det var for kaldt til at jeg fikk sove. I stedet gikk jeg bort til mine naboer Ottestad og Ernst Thue som hadde gravet ut en maskingeværgrop, og hvor der nu blev servert de uhyggeligste historier man kunde komme på, det varmet litt; men noen varig varme var det ikke. Kl. 12 (ca.) fikk vi ordre at vi kunde gå bort på gården (Mitskogen, stuen stod igjen) og vi vilde få kaffi og mat. Vi gikk, halve styrken om gangen, og det var synd å si vi manglet apetitt. Ut på eftermiddagen (ca 2) blev halve kadettstyrken tatt ut av stillingen ved ... * Den tyske gesant i Oslo kjørte gjenem våre stillinger ved Midtskogen i blendet bil. Vi lå nede i stilling alle sammen for at han ikke skulde få se noe. Han skulde til Elverum for å forhandle med den Norske Regjering. ____________________________ 21. ... Midtskogen og innlastet i 2 store busser. Tyskerne var trukket sig tilbake og var sansynligvis på vei sørover langs Mjøsa, så det var ikke urimelig vi kunne møte på dem en eller annen plass sørpå. Vi forberedte oss på all eventualiteter og sat klar med geværet mellem beina eller pistolen i fanget. Ingen ting var å se langs veien, før vi kom sørover til Espa, der møtte vi en flokk forvillede folk som fortalte at tyskerne for ca. en time siden hadde avvebnet flere hundrede mann her på dette stedet. De hadde en mitraljøse foran og en bak, så de hadde fullstendig overtaken, nordmennene var gått i en felle; vi blev om mulig ennu mer forbannet og krigers så hadde vi nu funnet tyskerne vilde det ha gått dem ille. Vi hoppet inn i bilene igjen og kjørte videre sørover for full speed; men vi var ikke kommet langt før vi møtte en bil med ... �________________________________ 22. ... soldater, som fortalte at tyskerne var kommet sig over Minnesund og videre sørover. Vi gjorde holdt og vi gikk i stilling ved gården Nedre Strandløkka, ikke langt fra Strandløkka stasjon. Her gikk vi straks igang med å rekognesere stillingar for mg. Og for mitraljøsene. Heile dag til seint på kveld arbeidde me med å bygge brystvern lage anlegg for mg. og gevær maskering. Ottestad, Thue og eg bygde ei fin mg. stilling midt oppe i jødselhaugen på garden, men me flytte den seinare, for det vart slik stygg lukt av oss. Vegen sperra me med tre lastebilar som vi fyllte med sand og la dei på tvers av vegen med forstellet nede i grøfta, dessutan fann me ei stor veiskrape som vi la på tvers bak alt sammen. Dessutan laga vi store hinder av piggtråd og batt heile hinderet godt saman med streng. — Den fyrste ... _____________________________ 23. ... som kom sørfrå og som vilde gjennem sperringa, var ei stor svart likvogn; det var den som køyrde den tyske flygeattasjéen i Oslo som fall for ei av dei fyrste kulene oppe på Midtskogen. Det fek me høyre seinare. Flygeattasjéen skulde vise veg for dei som skulde fange Kongen og Regjeringa som oppheldt seg på Elverum. 11. april låg me so i stilling ved Strandløkka. Der begynte å kome mange bilar opover, og me laga ein port i hinderet so dei kunde kome gjenom; men me hadde ein lastebil klar til å «stoppe» att i holet so snart noko mistenkjeleg viste seg. Me fekk no høyre at ein bataljon norske nøitralitetsvaktsoldatar hadde vore i kamp med fienden ved Eidsvoll, men måtte trekkje seg attende nord om Minnesund. General Hvinden ... ______________________________ 24. ... Haug køyrde gjenom sperringa vår ved Strandløkka, men han såg ikkje ut til å vere i serleg godt humør. Her på Strandløkka fekk me og besøk av kaptein Rognes som var i staben til General Inspektøren (Ruge) og som no var komen i Generalstaben. Det var ein kar det stod respekt av, han var lærar på Krigsskulen, og når han såg at det var kadettar som var her , kom han og slo av ein prat når hadde anledning. Han fortalde oss at eit stort slagskip hadde vorte senka ute i Oslofjorden, 2 større skip på Sørlandet og eitt i Trondheimsfjorden (dei trudde det var Bremen som var senka her, men det viste seg seinare ikkje å vere tilfelle) Han fortalde at mobiliseringa hadde fått ein stygg knekk ved at Oslo og Trondheim var besette; men elles utover landet gjekk det betre enn dei hadde ... ____________________________ �25. ... venta. Frå Gardemoen dreiv dei og køyrde ut våpen og matriell alt dei orka, og på Vestlandet gjekk mobliseringa etter planen. Han vilde håpe at det Norske folket greidde den prøva som krigen var og so vilde det verte betre tider for alle etterpå, sa han. Videre hadde vi fått lovnad på Britisk og Fransk hjelp so alt skulde nok gå godt, det galt berre om å stanse fienden so lenge at mobliseringa var ferdig, då skulde me begynne å skue «han» sørover, ringe han inne og tilintetgjøre. Medan kaptein Rognes stod å pratet med oss burte ved sperringa vår, kom den tyske gesant og vilde gjenom sperringa. Han kom attende frå Elverum der det hadde gått dårlig med forhandlingane og skulde no reise sørover til Oslo for å avgi rapport. Kaptein Rognes gjekk burt til bilen; men den tyske gesant var ute av bilen og kom ... ___________________________ 26. ... mot han med framstrakt hand. Rognes «såg» ikkje den framstrekte handa og gjorde berre ein aldri so liten bøy på¨nakken. Me stod berre og måpte; at Rognes var ein mann med bein i nasa visste me; men at han virkeleg våga å late vere å ta den tyske gesant i handa det var meir enn me hadde venta. Den som var mest forundra av oss alle var den tyske gesant for han stod og rette handa høgare og høgare til han tilslutt mest hadde handa like op under nasen på kapt. Rognes. Han tok då handa med ein liten smil og sa: Jeg vil håpe at det gode forhold som har rådet mellem Norge og Tyskland må få fortsette. Han la serleg trykk på gode. Den tyske gesant gjekk gjenom sperringa utan å sjå hverken til høgre eller vinstre; men då han gjekk forbi ein flokk kadettar såg han undersøkjande og nøye på oss. Me stod ... ______________________________ 27. ... alle med dødsens alvorlege miner og såg på han med hatige augo. Vil vone han huskar dei augo ei stund. Nokre koner frå nabolaget kom og kokte middag til oss, bettasup, det var fyrste middagen siden krigen begynte. Vidare god var den vel ikkje i vanleg forstand; men den fortsvant med uhyggelig fart. Ut etter dagen vart fleire opklaringspatrtuljer sendt ut. Ei nedetter til Minnesund, for å undersøkje korleis isen på Vorma var og fleire over Mjøsa (på spark) for å undersøkje eitt og anna på andre sida. Ut på kvelden vart det svært mange bilar som køyrde nordover på vegen langs Mjøsa (Trondhjemsveien). Eg talde op 15-20 på ein time, og ut på natta vart det endå fleire. Ei patrulje vart send ut og det viste seg at det var ... ____________________________ �28. ... som køyrde ut ammunisjon og matriell frå Gardermoen, dei hadde greidt å køyre ut mest alt sama, og det vart køyrt opover til Hamar. Seinare på natta (ca. kl. 4) gjekk eg vakt ved sperringa, og då var det sprenginga av bruene begynte. Den timen eg gjekk vakt såg eg alt i eitt eldglimt, mest som lyn eller «verbrestar» som lyste op, og det gjekk lenge før me høyrde lyden. Det var då dei vart sprengde mange av dei bruene på Austlandet som ikkje er opbygde den dag i dag. Kl. 5 vart eg teken til å gå patrulje over til andre sida av Mjøsa. Me skulde bruke «spark», for isen var god og me hadde tre «sparkar» til disposisjon. Eg vart førar for patrulja og dei to som var med var Alex Hagen og Svanø Hafstad. Det me skulde skaffe greide på var kva ... _____________________________ 29. ... dei gjorde på dei som reiste i bil, att og fram på andre sida av Mjøsa. Me hadde fått melding om at der ikkje var norske avdelingar på andre sida, og køyringa frå Gardermoen skulde vere slutt. Utan uheld nådde me andre landet og Svanø Hafstad vart att for å passe «sparkane», kjenningesignal vart avtalt og so luska Alex og eg avgårde. Byga me var i, eller rettare skulde til var Feiring, men det var langt frå stranda og opover til dei fyrste husa. Då me hadde gått ei stund høyrde me tydeleg at det var folk som var ute og sjekk; men det var so myrkt at me kunde ikkje sjå 10 m. fram fyre oss so me kunde ikkje avgjere om det var vener eller fiendar. Me tok ikkje nokon sjangse og gjekk svært varsomt ... _____________________________ 30. ... fram. Det fyrste huset me kom til var tomt, men det opdaga me ikkje før me hadde gått ikring det og banka på vindaugo og dører ei god stund. Til slutt opna eg døra og gjekk inn; men der var ikkje eit menneskje, berre eit gamalt slagur hang og tikka på veggen, det viste at det ikkje var lenge sidan der hadde vore folk. Me heldt fram langs ei rås som gjekk frå husa og opover mot hovudvegen; men det viste seg å vere eit drygt stykke, ca. 2 km. Det neste huset me kom til var der folk i, men berre kvinnfolk og dei var so redde at det var mest uråd å få dei til å late op. Endeleg etter mykje banking fekk me sjå eit ljos som kom ned troppa frå loftet, det var frua i huset med ... _____________________________ 31. ... alle ungane på rad etter seg. Alle var i nattklæde og so rædde at dei skølv. Me syntest det var leit at me skulde kome slik og skræmme dei op midt på natta; men me måtte få låne telefonen deira for å ringe til folk langs veien, som kanskje kunde gi oss oplysningar om kven det var som reiste langs veien i dei bilane me hadde set. Frua i huset som me etter mykje stræv fekk gjort opmerksom på kva saka galt ringde for oss; men me fekk ikkje svar på spursmålet. �19/12 – 44 (fortsettelse) Vi gikk videre opover til veien hvor vi ventet en stund uten at noe hente. Da fikk vi se en blå løkt som lyste borte i veien. Den stanset med visse mellemrom og blinket, dette var mistenkelig. Om litt kom den nærmere og jeg gav beskjed ... ______________________________ (32) ... til Hagen om å være forsiktig og ta vedkommende til fange på givet tegn. Han kom nu nærmere og vi så at han syklet. Da han var 3 m. fra oss sprang vi op og pekte på ham med pistolen og kommanderte hendene op. Det så ut til å være en veldig overraskelse for ham og han begynte å si en hel del ord, usammenhengende og gebrokkent: Jeg har ingen vappen, jeg har bare en knife osv. Han var også så nervøs og rar at det virket mistenkelig, ja han prompet høit av bare forskrekkelse. Vi tok han med ned til Mjøsa, transporterte ham over til den annen siden og avleverte ham til Lnt. Holmsen som tok foreløbig forhør. Siden blev han sendt til Lillehammer og jeg hørte ikke mere til ham. ______________________________ (33) Denne natten forsvandt en av kadettene og vi trodde han var falt gjenom isen. Vi lette efter ham; men fant ham ikke, siden fikk vi høre at han var stukket over til Hvalsmoen og melt seg der. Det var dårlig opførsel til en kadett å være, han hette Granli og var elstemann i 1. kl. Dagen etter gjekk det alarm og me låg i stilling og venta på fienden en times tid; men han kom ikke og vi hadde en rolig dag til Kaptein Pran (Phran?) hadde nu overkomandoen over oss, men det var visst bare i øieblikket. De følgende dager hente intet av betydning før lørdag da vi fikk avløsning av et helt kompani. Alle kadetter blev trukket tilbake til Hamar og innkvartert hos sivile. Otterstad og jeg lå hos en jernbanekonduktør. Dette var den første lørdag i krigen ... ____________________________ (34) ... altså 14 april 1940. Vi gikk omkring i gatene og vi måtte gå to og to sammen. På jernbanestasjonen skrev jeg et lite kort brev hjem. �Søndag 15.4 – 40 Vi utstyres i vårt losji med brød og smør for tre dager, hvorfor vi skriver ut rekvisisjon. Vi får hjelm og undertøi utlevert. Alt på eftermiddagen rekvireres biler og vi kjører ut med Brandbu som mål. Veien går over den islagte Mjøsa. Før vi kommer til Brandbu blir vi stanset av noen sivile som har set en «mistenkelig mann». Efter å ha undersøkt et hotell hvor han hadde tatt inn, viser det seg at det er en sjømann som har spasert lang vei med koffert og oppakkning for å komme hjem. Til Brandbu kom vi sent på kveld ca. kl. 23. Efter å ha meldt oss hos ... _________________________ (35) ... sjefen (oberst Mork) blev vi anvist kvarter og gikk til køys. Neste dag, 16.4. møtte jeg flere studenter fra Studenterhuset som hadde gått gjenom Nordmarka. (Forøvrig, Telle, Niels Martin Lunde, Per Reiste) Opsetning av avdelinger var i full gang. Major Hertzberg (den eldre) var en av dem som drev og tok ut folk og delte dem op in grupper efter dyktighetsgrad. Han hadde Gud bedre et vanskelig arbeid. Ut på dagen får jeg troppen utlevert og fra nu av er jeg troppchef i kapt. Rødbergs kompani av Brandbu med 40 raske karer som lystrar mitt minste vink. Me driv litt instruksjon i valg av ildstilling, målobservasjon og målangivelse; men etter ca. 2 timers eksersis er utdannelsen ferdig og vi setter oss i marsj med spisesalen (Brandbu Ungdomshus) som det foreløbige mål. _________________________________ (36) Etter et lite raskt måltid (brød og kaffi) får eg ordre av komp.chefen at eg skal marsjere til Røykenvik og holde vakt for å hindre eventuelle luftlandetropper å gå ned på Randsfjorden. En mann: Mons Røykenvik skulle skaffe oss hus og halm til å ligge i. Etter ca. 3 timer mars er me framme og alt går i orden. Mons er ein hyggelig kar som gjer kva han kan for oss. Eg rekognoserar og set straks ut vakter på forskjellige gode utsiktssteder og indeler troppen i vaktskift. Troppen består av foreløbig 3 lag disse er: 1. lag: G. B. Dreyer, lf. (= ‘lagfører’) stud jur G. Slettmoen O. Bukvæld L. Hovde P. Flåten _____________________________ (37) T. Groven �G. Flatåker A. Silnes E. Jørgensen 2. lag: A. Buer J. Granheim L. Henrud J. Gresslien K. Koppervik O. Skaugen R. Jørgensen O. Engebretsen T. Torgersen 3. lag: Erik Vibe, lf. stud. Jur. J. Krestoffersen P. Paus L. Haugen K. Rønning F. Aasen J. Haug ______________________________ (38) G. Mekren H. Håkenstad 4. lag: (kom til dagen efter) Scott Andersen (lf.) Bjarne Johansen Georg Fjeld Alf Sunde Odd Sunde Bjarne W. Paulsberg Finn Singdalsen Rolf Christiansen Bjarne Seiersted Tank Nielsen Dette var altså 1. tropp av kapt. Rødbergs «tappre» komp. 4. lag kom først til dagen efter. Utdannelsen var svært forskjellig. Noen var «Olavsgutter», noen hadde vært inne for 10-15 år siden og 3-4 var gardister fra de siste år. En var nettop kommet fra ... _____________________________ (39) �... vinterøvelser og behandlet sitt mg. som en virtuos. Lagfører i 2. lag, Buer, hadde vært inne for mange år siden i 30 dager, men hans greie og kraftig optreden gjorde ham til selvskreven sjef. Der var heller ingen av de andre herrer i 2. lag som hadde serlig mere militærteneste. 17. april blev vi inspisert av kapt. Rødberg og vi fikk ordre om å rekognosere nye stillinger med front mot syd. Dette kom overraskende, for vi visste ikke om tilbaketrekkningen fra Jevnaker. Utover dagen hente forskjellige små episoder. Bl. annet arresterte vakten (dobbeltpost som kontrolerte trafikken på hovedveien) en ung pike som forsøkte å komme forbi vakten uten å bli sett. Nu blev hun frem- ... ____________________________ (40) ... stillt for meg og det blev sagt at hun var litt mistenkelig da hun ikke vilde si hvorfor hun forsøkte å lure seg forbi vaktene. Efter å ha eksaminert henne litt plumpet hun ut med sannheten: «Hu sku te jormora på Brandbu.» Og hennes utseende bar tydelig «preg» av den tilstand hun var i. Hun fikk straks utskrevet passerseddel og gå videre. På eftermiddag drev vi litt gymnastikk og øvelse i å gå i stilling og forberedelse av en forsvarsstilling. Kunnskapene var sørgelig små, men alle var ivrige og lærenemme, så litt fikk de da lært. 18. april fikk vi marsjordre, og kl. 7 var alle mann klar og sammen ... __________________________________ (41) ... med det øvrige kompani som kom fra Brandbu marsjerte vi opover langs med Randsfjorden. Ved en kortere rast holdt kapt. R. en lunken tale; men den blev likevel livlig aplaudert og der blev ropt hurra av soldatene så stemningen var god. Kommet frem til noen gårder ca. 3 km. nord for Røykenvik skulde vi gå i stilling og forberede denne. Utover ettermiddagen gikk tiden med å lage forsvarstillingen for hver enkelt skytter. Senere gikk halve styrken til ro et par timer. Kl. ½ 4 blev i plutselig vekket da var det alarm. Det var melt at fienden var på vei opover med 8 tanks og 20 lastebiler fulle av soldater. I en fart blev en stor veisperring lagt over veien. I mellemtiden var en feltkanon kommet til ... �_________________________ (42) ... denne var montert på en lastebil. Kapt. Jahren (noen dager senere, major Fahren) førte komando over denne og over de øvrige styrker. Min tropp hadde venstre fløy av kompaniets front der en liten bygdevei gikk langs skogbrynet. Nu gikk altså alle mann i stilling og lå og ventet på det som måtte komme, vi ventet en time og vi ventet to; men ingen ting hente. Kadett Bjørstol som var troppchef i 3. trp. (ell. Kanske 4.) hadde tidligere på dagen sent ut halve troppen under sin nestkommanderende; men de var ikke vendt tilbake. Nu kom han selv tilbake uten å ha funnet den og han måtte opgi sin ½ tropp som savnet. Utover kvelden fikk vi flere og ... _____________________________ (43) ... flere meldinger om at tyskerne var på vei opover mot våre stillinger. Det var sivile som kom nedenfra som gav beskjed om hvor langt de var kommet. Situasjonen var meget spent, det var nu blitt nesten helt mørkt og feltkanonen kunde ikke brukes i mørke så den var snart ingen hjelp i. Kapt. Jahren tok det nokså bra, men han var tydelig nervøs. *Verre var det med Rødberg, han fikk litt av et nervøst sammenbrudd, kastet seg op i en bil i det han ropte: tyskerne kommer! Tyskerne kommer og skjøt noen skudd i luften med pistolen og kjørte bort. Efter en stunds forløp kjørte også feltkanonen bort og Kapt. Jahren likeså uten å gi noen ordre om noen ting. Nu lå vi altså igjen 4 kadetter med hver sin tropp; men ... *Dette så jeg ikke; men det blev meg fortalt av to av mine medtroppsjefer. Jeg var hos troppen min på venstre fløy. ____________________________ (44) ... kun to av disse (1. og 2. tropp) hadde et mg. hver, de andre hadde bare geverer og karabiner. Dette var altså den styrke som skulde ta mot 400 t. med 7-8 tanks og artileri som vi hadde fått melding om. Der blev nu holdt «krigsråd» av de 4 troppsjefer, og der kom to forslag: 1. (mitt) motstand så lenge som mulig derefter tilbaketrekn. opover langs en bygdevei som endte på et sted som hette Bleiken 2. (Ignasius) tilbaketrekning langs hovedveien langs Ransfjorden nu med en gang uten motstand. Da dette blev funnet å være av liten betydning da stillingene våre ikke var gode. (Svært åpent og oversiktelig �terreng). Veisperringen var heller ikke effektiv, da der var flate gjorder på begge sider. Ignasius var kadettfenrik ... _____________________________ (45) ... og blev i Rødbergs fravær kp.chef. Forslag 2. blev fulgt og vi begynte straks å marsjere tilbake. Nu fikk vi en melding om at tyskerne holt på å marsjere langs stranden av Randsfjorden for å omgå vår stilling. Dette var muligens ikke riktig; men på oss som så vidt hadde begynt å marsjere virket den slett ikke bra. Vi måtte nu gå frem med den største forsiktighet og vi hadde hele tiden forpatrulje og speidere ute langs sidene. Det var stummende mørkt og vi kunde ikke vite hvem var venn og hvem var fiende. Da vi hadde marsjert 2-3 timer kom en bil imot oss og vi ga karene ordre til å forsvinne i skogen, bare to av oss blev stående på veien for å stanse bilen. Det viste seg å være Kpt. Rødberg; men vi var slett ikke blide på ham fordi han hadde forlatt oss og overlatt oss i en slik ... ____________________________ (46) ... ubehagelig situasjon: Kl. er nu 0200 19 april — ... og vi er på mars langs Randsfjorden tilbake til egne avdelinger. Kapt. Rødberg fortalte at der var forberedt og utbygd gode stillinger i Hornskleiva ved Randsfjorden, og de hadde nu ingen beskjed om at vi kom marsjerende mot disse stillinger. Jeg sendte da en av mine lagførere (Vibe) og en soldat kalt Stomperud ut i forveien og disse sang Gjest Bårdsen så det ljomet. På denne måte kom vi uskadt gjenem de forreste poster og gjenem stillingen. Postene sa de hadde ordre om å skyte og det var bare vår sang som hadde reddet oss. Nu blev vår tropp, efter en del venting, anvist en liten stue hvor vi kunde få hvile noen ... _____________________________ (47) ... timer. 38 mann var vi her i denne lille stuen og det var fullt som sild i en tønne. Jeg var så heldig at jeg fikk ligge i stuens eneste seng som jeg delte med en annen. Vi hadde marsjert ca. 15 km. kanskje 20 så vi var trette og falt straks i søvn. 2-3 timer senere ca. kl. 0800 blev vi vekket og måtte straks ut og i stilling. Også denne gang fikk jeg kompaniets venstre fløy som område for min tropp. Dette var en skogsås som gikk bratt opover fra hovedveien. Veien var sprengte inn i fjellet på det sted der stillingene var og det var nesten loddrett op fra vannet til veien og fra veien gikk det 50 m. loddrett fjellvegg. Her var en stor fjellhammer sprengt ut og veien var sperret helt effektivt med veldige stenblokker. ___________________________ �(48) Skisse over troppernes plasering i Hornskleiva ved Randsfjorden (tegnet efter hukomelsen) ___________________________ (49) Foruten de tropper (vårt komp.) som er anmerket på kartet lå der et kompani til. Dette kompani hadde flere mg. (visst nok 6) og dessuten lå der to detasjerte mitraliøer. Senere kom en feltkanon, vår gamle kjenning fra kvelden i forveien til. Ytterst på venstre fløy hvor jeg kom lå fra før en styrke på ca. 70 mann under kommando av en gammel løytnant. Han blev nu satt under min kommando og jeg hadde således alle tropper fra den gamle bygdevei og utover til venstre (oppover i åsen). Dette er den største kommando jeg noengang under krigen hadde. Efter å ha rekognosert litt plaserte jeg lagene i stilling og beholt ett i reserve. Efterpå innspiserte jeg og ved en feiltagelse gav jeg løytnanten en kraftigf kjeft fordi ... �____________________________ (50) ... han snakket om å gå å få seg noe å spise, han hadde ikke spist på mange timer, sa han. Jeg trodde det var en sergjant eller lagfører for slik så han ut ved første øiekast. Det blev til at jeg kort og fyndig ba han holde kjeft og sa at mat var ikke det viktigste nu når fienden kunde ventes hvert øieblikk. Det gikk heller ikke lenge før vi fikk melding om at han var i anjarsj. Alle mann gikk i stilling og gjorde seg skuddklar. Der var nu alt i alt 8 mg. 2 eller 3 mitraliøser og en feltkanon. Vi forebredte ildåpning for all våpen samtidig (samlet ildåpning) for at det skulde virke så overraskende som mulig. Alle stillinger var godt kamuflert og det så ut til å være godt til rette. Min del av ... ___________________________ (51) ... fronten var dårlig oversiktelig og mine lags ildopgaver var svært begrenset. Mitt ene mg.lag flyttet jeg over til 2. trp.’s område for at det bedre kunne være med i ildåpningen. Nu hørte vi duren av tanks i det fjerne, vi skulde ikke skyte på tanks, men på infanteri som fulgte. Tanksene kunde ikke komme forbi sperringen så det var ingen fare ved det. Det var merkelig hvordan alle vilde ha et maskingever eller en mitraljøse. Jeg overveiet om jeg skulde ta mitraljøsen fra en soldat for å skyte selv; men han vilde sikkert ha mest lyst å beholde det selv [the word ‘selv’ crossed out] så jeg måtte nøie meg «bare» med et gever. Nu kom 1. tanks frem i veisvingen ca. 400 meter borte, like efter 2. og 3. og derefter to rekker (words ‘to rekker’ crossed out) soldatene på sykkler i to rekker, og sist kom noen lastebiler også med soldater. Vi lot dem ... ___________________________ (52) ... komme inn på ca. 150 m. og så braket det løs fra alle rør samtidig. Vi så mitraljøse kulene hvordan de pløide op veien under sykkelhjulene. På et øieblikk lå en mengde sykler strødd bortover veien og en og annen tysken lå også still, mens andre forsøkte å krype seg ned i veigrøften. Den forreste av tanksene var kommet nesten frem til sperringen da der blev kastet en pakke dynamitt med tendanordning på den. Den vendte ikke tilbake. De andre to kjørte nu tilbake bak veisvingen hvor lastebilene var forsvunet i all hast. Her blev de stående og åpnet ild på oss med sine små kanoner, men ilden var dårlig rettet og ingen blev truffet. Vi fortsatte å skyte på de som måtte befinne seg utenfor veien. Vår ild blev ikke besvart, og efter en stunds ... ______________________________ (53) ... forløp døde den langsomt bort. Men alle våre skarpskyttere lå på vakt og så snart noen viste seg blev han hjemsøkt av nærgående kuler. Mens vi lå sånn, hoppet plutselig en tysker frem fra krattet hvor han �hadde gjemt seg, sprang på sykkelen og syklet tilbake i rasende fart. Kulene slo ned alle steder omkring ham; men han blev ikke truffet. Fra nu av var det lite å se til tyskerene på en lang stund. Det meste vi hørte var tanksen som duret hele tiden, vi trodde den kjørte tilbake for å forsøke seg fremover langs den gamle bygdevei. Der blev utsatt «flaskeposter» langs denne oppe på det sted hvor den var mest slynget. «Flaskepostene» hadde en farlig jobb og for å forsøke på å være et forbilde for troppen meldte jeg meg også og sto der nesten 3 timer. ______________________________ (54) Der kom ingen tanks, men jeg hørte dem hele tiden like i nærheten så de har nok vært der; men ikke kommet så langt at vi kunne «nå i dem». Jeg [the word “Jeg” crossed out] Flaskeposten hadde med en bøtte bensinflasker. Bensinflasken var omsurret med ulltråd som var innsatt med bensin. Under ulltråden var innstukket 3-4 fyrstikker. Man tok så flasken i høire hånd og holdt den klar til kast, når så målet var innen «kastevidde» rev man fyrstikkeskens riveflade mot fyrstikkene hvorpå ulltråden tok fyr. Ved anslag mot tanks’en skulde så flasken splintres, innholdet flyte utover denne, og [the word ‘og’ crossed out] ta fyr og brenne den op. Metoden var meget primitiv; men den skulde ha vært brukt med stort held i Finnlandskrigen. ____________________________ (55) Da jeg kom tilbake til troppen efter å ha stått ca. 2 timer «flaskepost» kontrolerte jeg enda en gang at alle mann hadde laget seg en brukbar ildstilling med anlegg for geveret. Den blev kledd med granbar og maskert. Jeg opforderet alle mann til å holde seg klar like i nærheten av ildstillingene for vi kunne vente angrep når som helst. �Nu kom min kammerat Gausland også kadett og nu bataljonsassistent, opover for å se på stillingene. Mens vi stod og så bortover i skogen foran mine stillinger (det ... _______________________________ (56) ... svært korte skuddfelt, ca. 100 m. her) hørte vi noe som beveget seg. Vi la oss rolig ned uten å gjøre støi og gav tegn til de andre om å ligge ned og holde seg rolig. Og nu kommer en tysk soldat vassende fremover i snøen bent mot våre stillinger. Litt efter dukket enda en op bak ham (ca. 30 m. bak) og kom vassende i den dype sne fremover; men nu må den forreste ha opdaget noe for han stanset plutselig op 30 m. fra der vi lå. Vi skjøt begge samtidig og han falt sammen med en gang; men de sekundene inden vi fikk siktet inn på nytt mot speider nr. 2 var nok til at denne kastet seg ned og ålet seg vekk i den dype sne. Vi skjøt efter han noen ganger han kom litt tilsyne over sneen; men han ... ________________________________ (57) ... kom seg nok vekk uskadd. Efterpå undersøkte vi lommene til den falne tysker; men han hadde intet av betydning. Han lå sammenkrøket på ene siden og gapet og var sansynligvis straks død ved skudd gjenem brystet. Nu visste vi at det blev meldt bakover til tyskerne at høideryggen op fra den gamle bygdevei var besatt og en kunne vente å bli angrepet når som helst. Jeg gikk en tur nedover til det mg.lag som lå nermest «gamle veien» og mens jeg var her hørte jeg plutselig en kraftig eksplosjon like bak meg. Det var fort gjort [words ‘Det var fort gjort’ crossed out] Skal hilse å si at vi kom ned på magen i en fart og jeg krøp inn mellem to steiner og nu fulgte 12-15 voldsomme eksplosjoner i rask rekkefølge. Sprengstykkene hvinte gjenem luften med en ... ____________________________ (58) ... uhyggelig hvinende høi tone. De slo inn i trærne alle steder rundt oss og det drysset ned av bar og grener. Da bombardemanget holdt op gikk jeg straks tilbake til de andre lag høiere oppe for her var det eksplosjonene kom fra. Her møtte meg et lite hyggelig syn, tre-fire mann var såret en av disse dødelig og de fleste andre, bortsett fra de nærmeste var forsvunnet. Lagfører Vibe var også hårdt såret og vi hjalp alle til å få løfte han op og legge ham til rette slik han kunne transporteres. Han var meget livlig og snakket og gestikulerte; men var veldig blek. Han blødde i brystet, i armene og benene var han uten følelse og kunne ikke bevege dem. En menig ved navn Rudolf Jørgensen var dødlig såret. Høire side av ... �_________________________________ 59) ... halsen hans var revet op så vi kunne se luftrøret og spiserøret, det sprøitet også ut blod for hvert pulsslag fra noen arterier i nærheten av underkant av mandibula (a. Mandibula?) [in the parentheses there is a question mark written after a word that has been crossed out] Halsen var flekket op like til høire øre og videre bakover i nakken. Han var uten bevisthet og det var ingen annen måte å transportere ham på enn å dra han nedover. En soldat og jeg tok tak under armhulene på ham, løftet ham op og dro han som enn sekk, han var helt uten bevisthet og veldig tung. Vi dro ham nedover mot den gamle bygdevei og avleverte ham til en sersjant Gran som befant seg der. Nu vente vi tilbake til åstedet, det luktet blod av meg, en stram litt emmen lukt og jeg var bloet fra skulderen og helt ned til knærne efter et forsøk på å bære ... _________________________________ (60) ... ham. Blant de øverige som blev såret var «Stomperud» som hadde fått en streifsplint i bakhodet, han kom seg bort ved egen hjelp. De øvrige var bare mindre skadet. Tilbake på valplassen var nu bare 4 eldre menn, og et helt lag (det som lå nermest «gamleveien» og ikke var blitt bombardert). De øvrige, løitnanten som jeg hadde skelt ut og min nestkommanderende var alle sammen forsvunnet. De som var igjen plaserte jeg på de viktigste stedene og sente øieblikelig bud om å få forsterkninger. Gausland som kom til stede da vi var optatt med de sårede lovet også å sende oss forsterkning for de som var forsvunnet og da det var gått en stund kom Otterstad med 1½ lag fra 2. tropp som han gikk ... ______________________________ (61) ... patruliegang ute i flanken for å se efter om vi var omgått. Nu åpnet tyskerne et veritabelt angrep samtidig med at det åpnet den rene tromme-ild mot våre stillinger oppe i åsen. Vi hørte dem komme nede i lien opover mot oss; men vi kunne ennu ikke se dem. Deres ild var heller ikke velrettet og den gjorde oss ingen skade. Men den var meget voldsom og flere trær blev skåret over av mitraljøsene og muld og stein sprutet rett som det var om ørene på oss. Jeg gikk for å melde at angrepet kom i retning av oss og be om nye forsterkninger. Dette gjorde jeg selv for Otterstad var like i nærheten og jeg sa fra til ham at jeg gikk og at han måtte ha overopsyn. Efter et kvarters forløp kom jeg tilbake — uten forsterkning; _________________________________ (62) men med ordre om tilbaketrekning i etapper. Denne ordre blev gitt av Rødberg sa Gausland som selv kom opover til oss for å se til at vi kom oss tilbake. De fire menn som var blitt igjen efter første �bombardemang hadde jeg plasert ytterst på venstre fløy på et meget farlig sted. Det var en fremspringende berghammer med en stor sten. Berghammeren kunde beskytes lett; men der var svært god oversikt og derfor hadde jeg satt dem der. Nu var de altså forsvundet. For —sa de senere — de trodde at vi andre var gått tilbake før uten å gi besked til dem. En stund før vi fikk ordre om å dra oss tilbake kom en soldat fra det laget som lå nermest veien, heseblesende, og sier at der ... ________________________________ (63) ... ligger et mg. I ryggen på oss. Vi er ferdig legger han til vi kan bare trekke oss tilbake. Han hadde selv set meget og var villig å vise meg hvor det lå, jeg forsto at han måtte ta feil og fulgte dit han hadde set det. Der var rigtignok et mg.; men det var de 4 mann som lå ytterst på fløien på berghammeren han hadde set. Han fikk en kraftig omgang kjeft fordi han hadde tullet og jeg forklarte at slike meldinger var serlig godt egnet til å skape panikk. Tilbaketrekningen foregikk ettappevis med 100 m. i hver ettappe. Vi kom snart tilbake til gamleveien og fra denne og ned på hovedveien. Hele tiden hadde vi våre mg.er i stilling mens vi marsjerte tilbake. Snart kom vi bak den første veisving og vi var reddet. ____________________________ (64) Otterstads 1½ lag og mitt ene var de siste som forlot stillingen. Nu marsjerte vi tilbake langs hovedveien og det tok til å mørkne. Da vi hadde marsjert noen km. fant jeg i en veisving noen mann av troppen min, av de som var stukket av. Senere fant jeg flere og før dagen var omme fant jeg alle unntatt de sårede og drepte og en Valdrisgutt ved navn Henrud. Han var helt vill av skrekk efter bombardementet og jeg så han ikke mere, sannsynligvis, er han stukket av hjem til Valdres. Nu var vi kommet til Fall ved Randsfjorden, her snakket jeg med bataljonssjefen Major Lauvdal og melte av om mine tap. Forsøkte å få med noen for å reise nedover til Hornskleiva igjen for å ... _____________________________ (65) ... se hvor langt tyskerne var kommet, men det blev bare noen sersjanter som blev med. Vi kørte nedover til ca. 1 km. fra Hornskleiva uten å møte noen, da steg vi ut og gikk et stykke til fots, vi var nedover til siste sving før vi kom til Horskleiva; men så ingen. Det var nu helt mørkt og vi kunde lite utrette da vi ingen automatvåpen hadde. Efter litt rekognosering fant vi ut at vi godt kunde gå i stilling på nytt, ca ½ km. nord for Hornskleiva der terenget bød på gode forsvarsmuligheter. Men da vi kom tilbake til Fall hadde major Lauvdal bestemt at vi skulde opgi avsnittet og trekke oss videre nordover. Kl. 12 natt blir vi så innkvartert på ungdomshuset i Hov i Land, efter først å ha fått noe å spise på skulehuset ikke så langt derifra. Altså den ... �________________________________ (66) ... 20. april kl. ½ 3 morgen blev vi vekket med besked om at tyskerne var meldt en ½ mils vei lenger sør i bygden og av den grunn måtte fortrekke nordover. Vi begynte da å marsjere og kl. 0300 var vi kommet i marsj. Om sider gikk tiden og kl. 8 fikk vi kjøre med lastebiler over til Haslevollseter hvor vi stanset for å undersøke om det var mulig å få husrom for oss og kjørte så videre til Mustad gård i Øvre Vardal hvor vi fikk sove på et skulehus til ut på eftermiddagen. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Archival Collection Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context NAHA 2019/055 Title A name given to the resource Arne M. Bjorndal journal, 1940 Description An account of the resource The journal of Arne Bjørndal, who was involved in resistance activities following the German invasion on April 9, 1940. The journal documents his experiences in Norway between April 9–20, 1940. It includes My Early Years: From School Days to War Time, which reflects on his early years in Norway, the invasion of Norway, becoming a “citizen arrestee,” and being sent to Ebreichsdorf sanitorium on the Austria/Hungary border. Transcription and translation of journal provided. Location: 16/C/8 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1940 Subject The topic of the resource World War II Resistance movements, War Oslo (Norway) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bjorndal, Arne Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Right undetermined. Language A language of the resource English Norwegian Extent The size or duration of the resource. 1 folder Type The nature or genre of the resource Notebook Provenance A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource. Lee Bjorndal