*
The Norwegian army and navy was certainly not prepared for war. The 125 former years of peace, had brought the country to a trance like state when dealing with military matters. * Most soldiers had a 84 days long basic training, but some even less. There was no real NCO corps, since NCO´s as a profession had been abolished in the early ´30s. After attending a NCO school, lasting from 1 – 4 years, the men served as Sergeants for one year only. Most were then transferred to the reserve as ”Fenrik” (1. Lt) Both
army and navy were mostly equipped with obsolete weapons and equipment.
The uniforms, however, were of good quality, and suited the Norwegian terrain
and climate very well.
The uniform was grey-green (almost bluish), and there were 3 basic kinds of tunic: Service tunic Winter tunic Summer tunic Thick woolen socks and good quality ankle boots were used. Service
head dress was a stiff kepi, with black leather peak & chin strap,
and lace of braid according to rank. A cocarde of the National colors,
red, white and blue, was in front.
Official photo of Norwegian soldiers in Gudbrandsdal. Most of them is equipped with the Krag Jorgensen rifle. * Norway
had no anti-tank weapons, sub-machine guns, nor hand grenades or land mines.
Rifles
Automatic
weapons
Official photo of Norwegians manning a water cooled machine gun Light Machine Gun Heavy Machine Gun Belt fed, used on a tripod, and also on an AA mount, but as it turned out, it was not effective against flying targets. A few Hotchkisses were also used. Mortars * * *
Notes:
Menig: Flying units called it ”Flysoldat”, the Cavalry called it ”Dragon” Kaptein: The cavalry used ”Rittmester” Insignia:
Coy officers: One to three five pointed silver stars on the tunic collar and greatcoat shoulder straps, and one wide lace, and from one to three narrow braid, stripes on the kepi. Field officers: One to three five pointed silver stars and a row of lace on the tunic collar and greatcoat shoulder straps, and one wide lace, and from one to three narrow braid, stripes on the kepi Generals: One to three five pointed silver stars and wide gold lace on the tunic collar, and one narrow and from one to three gold lace stripes on the kepi. Arms-of-service was identified by the color and design of the buttons as follows:
BASIC ORGANIZATION – ARMY INFANTRY * Tropp (Platoon) 2 officers / sergeants w/ 36 men, 4 LMG`s * Kompani (Company) 9 officers / sergeants w/ 108 men, 12 LMG`s * Bataljon (Batallion) 50-60 officers / sergeants w/ 800 men (3 rifle companies, coy 1,2, and 3, 1 HMG company, coy 4) * Brigade (Brigade) (about 6000 men) Brigade staff Infantry batallions (4) Artillery Batallion Engineers Batallion Bicycle Batallion Car Company
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All pictures/material unless otherwise stated, are owned or supervised by NDWW2/NUAV's webmaster. You are not allowed to copy, publish or in any way distribute material from these pages without the webmaster’s written permission.This site do not represent any kind of political statement, it is made by people with the historical interest of Norway in the period between 1940 - 1945. Copyright 1999, 2000 © Kurt Monsen. |