Battle of Hegra Fortress

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

Battle of Hegra Fortress
Part of the Norwegian campaign

Norwegian 7.5 cm gun position
Date15 April – 5 May 1940
Location
Hegra, Norway
Result German victory
Hegra Fortress capitulated 5 May after all other Norwegian forces in southern Norway had laid down their arms.
Belligerents
 Norway  Germany
Commanders and leaders
Hans Reidar Holtermann  15–20 April:
Weiss
20 April – 5 May:
Kurt Woytasch
Units involved
A volunteer company of soldiers having served in Artillery Regiment no. 3 138. Gebirgsjägerregiment
(15–27 April)
181. Infantry Division
(27 April–5 May)
Strength
Positional artillery:
4×10.5 cm guns
2×7.5 cm guns
(under Captain Evjen, with 25 men)
Field artillery:
4×8.4 cm guns
(under 2nd Lieutenant Reitan, with 10 men)
Total force:
250 volunteer soldiers
(most of whom had had a short national service with Artillery Regiment no. 3 (AR 3) before the war)
1 female volunteer nurse
1 battalion
1 reinforced infantry company
1 artillery unit
(with numerous mortars, cannons and howitzers)
Casualties and losses
6 killed
14 wounded
200+ captured
150–200 killed or wounded
1 captured
1 aircraft destroyed
1 aircraft damaged
Civilian casualties:
One Norwegian civilian killed
2 Finnish civilian refugees wounded
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.