page_title: Battle of Dombås
section_title: The last day
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Dombås / Battle / The last day
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Deutsch: General der Flieger Kitzinger bei der Verleihung von Eisernen Kreuzen an Fallschirmjäger in Norwegen. Norsk bokmål: («Fenrik Mössinger mottar Jernkorset av 2. klasse etter at fallskjermjegerne er befridd fra fangenskapet på Averøya på Møre [5. mai 1940]. Offiseren som foretar overrekkelsen er flygeneral Kitzinger.» Bildetekst hentet fra Vi dro mot nord&#160;: felttoget i Norge i april 1940, skildret av tyske soldater og offiserer side 91.) Information added by Wikimedia users.Taken at Oslo Katedralskole
context_page_description: The Battle of Dombås was fought between Norwegian Army infantry forces and German Fallschirmjäger paratroops in mid-April 1940. As part of their conquest of Norway south of Trondheim, and as a countermeasure against reported Allied landings in the Romsdal area of south western Norway, the Germans dropped a company of paratroopers near the vital railroad junction of Dombås on 14 April 1940. For the next five days, the German force blocked the Dovre Line railroad line between Oslo and Trondheim, as well as the main road between the two cities.
context_section_description: By dawn on 19 April, the Germans were completely surrounded by better-armed Norwegian troops. During the night, a final reinforcement had reached the Norwegians; a rail-mounted howitzer manned by a gun crew of Royal Marines that had arrived from Åndalsnes. The howitzer had 300 rounds available and opened fire at 06:00, firing ten rounds with good accuracy. Soon after another Ju 52 transport arrived carrying supplies to the beleaguered Germans but turned around without making its drop after receiving a radio message from Schmidt informing that the paratroopers were going to surrender.
  Later on. Schmidt sent out his second-in-command—Leutnant Ernst Mössinger—to negotiate a surrender, hoping to reach favourable terms. Major Arne Sunde, the Norwegian commander, however refused to accept anything but an unconditional surrender. Sunde told Mössinger that unless the Germans announced their surrender within 10 minutes by launching three flares the British and Norwegian artillery would recommence bombarding Lindse Farm. Nine and a half minutes later, at 11:30, the Fallschirmjäger force at Lindse fired three signal flares.
  Forty-five Fallschirmjäger surrendered at Lindse Farms, six of whom were wounded. After having been fed at the municipal building in Dovre, the captured Germans were sent by train to Dombås.
caption: Fallschirmjägers being awarded with the Iron Cross in May 1940 by General Karl Kitzinger
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