Why was Egersund one of the first cities Germans took? – Aftenbladet.no

At the beginning of July 1869, there was a party at Sorenskriver Feyer. He stayed in Strand Street in the building that today is the culture office. Here were beautiful people in the city overall. For the first time in history was Egersund firmly on the map. It had to be celebrated. The day before the population had witnessed two steamers which appeared on the horizon and slowly moved towards Hestnes at the inlet to Søra Strait. Three days earlier had abandoned ships Peterhead in Scotland. The mission was to put a submarine cable between Norway and the UK. Egersund and Peterhead was picked out since the distance between these two points is short.

19. August opened line. It gave Egersund a position that the city had not been near either before or since. Telegraph station was one of the most important in Norway.

9. April

The Germans were unhappy with neutral Norway. 16 February 1940 British vessels violated neutrality by taking into Jøssingfjorden and freeing prisoners who were on board the German freighter Altmark. Now would be Norway. The operation codenamed “Weserübung”. 7 April 1940 58 warships from the quay. A number of supply ships were already placed secretly in Norway. Around 1,000 aircraft participated and 8850 men were sent on what they thought was an exercise. Some of these were to township Egersund. In seas got soldiers know about the occupation and that it would happen on April 9 at 4:15.

The surprise attack was that eight major seaports were taken. Stavanger was one of these. In addition, two towns; Horten and Egersund. Horten was marine city in Norway, but many aback at the time that Egersund was as high priority by the Germans. The answer was obvious that the Germans knew of “england cable” when they planned the invasion of Norway. It should be decommissioned.

defense slept

The journalist Arvid Bryne have written about this day in Egersund.

“The painful truth is that Egersund was occupied 150 wake and efficient German soldiers at dawn in the morning hours on April 9 “

One of the Norwegian soldiers who were utkommandert Egersund to fit the telegraph cable says that they were 36 man who went from Madla Stavanger 8. April and were accommodated in total is. They went to bed early. Half five in the morning stood one of the city watchmen suddenly the room and shouted that the city was full of Germans.

“We sprang up in just under clothing to seize weapons, but our boss, Captain Carsten Delhi, which civil was a lecturer in Bærum, said that we should leave out. “Take it easy, guys, this stuff we never. The city is full of German

The Norwegian torpedo boat “Cormorant” was docked in Egersund. Soldiers from a German minesweeper jumped ashore and disarmed the guard for “Cormorant” before he announced the 12 who were sleeping on board.

Cut cable

Thus Egersund taken without were fired a single shot. The town slept while the Germans occupied important hubs. Now the Germans could take control of the important telegraph office that lay in the center. Later we went to Hestnes, to Cable House, where cable to Peterhead was cut. Cable house was guarded throughout the war. After the war it repaired, but it should not go many years before new technology obtained the old cable. In 1955 it was the end.