page_title: Battle for Kvam
section_title: 26 April
hierarchical_section_title: Battle for Kvam / The Battle / 26 April
caption_attribution_description: Norsk bokmål: Bildet er hentet fra Arkivverket. Ødeleggelser i Kvam i Gudbrandsdalen etter bombing våren 1940. Arkivinstitusjon&#160;: Riksarkivet Arkivnavn&#160;: Løken, Hallvard Sted&#160;: Norge, Oppland, Nord-Fron, Kvam Emneord: 2. verdenskrig, Andre verdenskrig Avbildet:
context_page_description: The Battle for Kvam took place 25 and 26 April 1940, in the Gudbrandsdal Valley in the village of Kvam, Oppland, Norway, between British, Norwegian, and German troops. The Germans were moving rapidly north up the river valley to conquer central Norway. In the battle, soldiers from 1st Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment and the 1st Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, together with their Norwegian counterparts, held a rapidly advancing German army at bay for two days. It was one of the hardest fought battles of the Norwegian Campaign.
context_section_description: At 5:30 a.m. the next day, the Germans commenced an intense artillery and machine gun barrage on the KOYLI. The Germans then commenced a series of infantry attacks against the left flank held by "C" company of the York and Lancaster Regiment.  These attacks were all beaten off.
  At 9:00 a.m., the Germans continued to attack the left flank of the British.  This time they moved further up the steep hillside to the farmstead called Hillingen seter.  Here they were met by three brave Norwegian soldiers, who though outnumbered, fought them off, losing their lives in the process.
  At 11:00 a.m., the Germans renewed their attack, and now had air support, as well as increased artillery, to bomb the village of Kvam.  They began to have some success infiltrating the British lines.
  Around 1:00 p.m., the Germans brought tanks down the road toward "B" and "C" companies of the KOYLI in front of the village. The British had three of their 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank guns positioned to defend the road; however, a light road block had been created across the road using tree branches.  These tree branches prevented any of the anti-tanks guns from finding their targets.
  According to Plevy, Captain A.F. McRiggs crossed the road twice, fully exposed to machine gun fire from the German positions, to remove the debris from the road. Just as he finished, a bullet hit him in the shoulder, but one anti-tank gun could now see the tank.
  Corporal Stokes of the York and Lancaster Regiment was in command of the third Hotchkiss gun beside the road at the back of the village.  He could now see the tank and with his first shot he stopped the tank.  His second shot set it on fire and left it at the side of the road.  Moments later a second tank came up the road.  Stokes waited until it was immediately beside the first tank, and he destroyed it with two shots in exactly the same way he stopped the first. Then the Germans sent an armored car rapidly down the road, and when it came between the two tanks, Corporal Stokes knocked it out with one shot.  The three disabled vehicles now blocked the road. Corporal Stokes realized that his Hotchkiss gun was about to become a prime target, so he pulled his crew away from the position just before the Germans destroyed it.  Stokes and his crew now became infantrymen.
  Around 4:00 p.m., the British were in danger of being flanked on the left, but a company from the York and Lancaster battalion managed to hold them off.  Then a company of 40 Norwegian skiers came down from high on the slopes above the battle.  These Norwegian ski  troops under the command of Paul Jørgenvåg opened fire on the Germans from a long distance up on the valley side. Although the fire had little effect from that distance, the Germans were forced to retreat because of their exposed position.
  Unfortunately the situation was deteriorating and at 5:00 p.m., General Paget issued orders for Kvam to be abandoned at 11:00 p.m. and the companies were to retreat behind new positions at Kjørem approximately 4–5 km further north, where companies from York and Lancaster and from Green Howards had set up a new defensive position.
  At 6:00 p.m., the Germans gained full control of the island in the Lågen. German artillery began to fire phosphorus shells into the forests where several British companies were in position, and the resulting forest fires forced the British to escape.  Still the British held until ordered to retreat by General Paget.
  The battle in Kvam on 25 and 26 April 1940 was the hardest in southern and central Norway. 1st Battalion KOYLI and 1st Battalion York and Lancaster had 54 soldiers killed. In addition, three Norwegian soldiers and three Norwegian civilians were killed in Kvam.
  The three civilians killed included a Dane, Søren Sørensen, who was staying on the Svarthaugen farm.  When he saw that the farm was burning, he went down to save the farm animals. After the battle, he was found near the railway line with three bullets through the head.
  The other civilian was Petter Klomstad at Kjestad farm. He had seen the farm on fire and he ran to hel
caption: Residents of Kvam rebuilding shortly after the battle in 1940.
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