Filip von Ferrary

Soldier of the Norwegian Brigade with a machine gun Vickers on the training ground in the Scottish town of Coatbridge (1940) Soldiers of the Norwegian Brigade during training exercises in the Scottish city of Dumfries (1941) Memorial stone in honor of the Norwegian Brigade at Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh (2011)

The Norwegian Brigade, Den Norske Brigade is a Norwegian military unit of the Allied Forces during the Second World War.

Genesis

Following the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, a Norwegian military mission arrived in Great Britain to recruit volunteers for the Norwegian army. However, due to the quick end of the fighting in Norway, they did not manage to set out for the country. They were grouped in the Hamilton camp in Scotland under the command of Major Carl Eckersberg Stenersen. In mid-May there were about 450 Norwegians. At the beginning of June they were transferred to Dumfries. On June 10 the King of Haakon VII and the government arrived in Britain, and on 20 June, the command of the Norwegian Army took over in London, taking over the command of the Dumfries camp. In the summer the number of Norwegians grouped in it increased to 1-1.5 thousand people. They were uniformed and armed with old rifles from World War I. On June 21, General Carl Gustav Fleischer of the Norwegian Army commanded the idea of ​​collecting all Norwegians aged 20-35 in the United Kingdom to increase the Norwegian forces in exile to about 2,500 people. At the same time, the British intended to form two Norwegian independent companies, each in the number of 230 soldiers, to lead rallies to the islands and the Norwegian coast. The Norwegian government's emissary eventually rejected General Fleischer's plan, giving priority to the merchant navy, the navy and the air force, and the special units the British wanted. At the end of July the Dumfries camp was officially named the "Norwegian Army Camp Dumfries" (Norwegian Army Camp Dumfries). In August, the headquarters of the Norwegian Army moved from there to London. The beginning of the Norwegian Brigade

On September 9, the British used the name The Norwegian Brigade for the first time in front of the Norwegians gathered at the Dumfries camp. It consisted of three shooting companies, a company, a company of machine guns, a mixed company (motorcyclists, sappers, communications), a transport company and field field batteries (4 guns). In addition, there were officers' training camps and a Norwegian army supply office and military hospital. The brigade received new armaments and equipment, but in insufficient quantities. In October, three companies were transferred to Coatbridge near Glasgow, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Arne Dagfin Dahl, to serve patrol duty along the coast. In December, the British War Office handed over the Brigade under command of the commander-in-chief of the British forces. At that time, a group of dozens of soldiers from the Norwegian volunteers under the command of Lieutenant Karl Hjelvik, formed in Iceland and then transported to the United Kingdom, was supported. They set up a ski company. In the beginning of 1941 the Norwegians began military training with British troops, while the field artillery battery was assigned to the 126th Royal Artillery Regiment. The fourth Brigade was formed, in large part of the volunteers who arrived with the British commandos after the Lofoten rally in March. The spring population of the Brigade was 1367 people. On 28 May, a Norwegian-British agreement was signed, which defined the role of the Norwegian army in exile in the structure of the British armed forces. The Norwegian units were to be commanded by native officers, to use their own banners, distinctions and badges. First actions of the Norwegians

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