2nd Division ( Norway ) During the early part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War , the Norwegian 2nd Division , commanded by General Jacob Hvinden Haug , was responsible for defending Eastern Norway against Nazi Germany . Overview . The term " division " in the Norwegian Army in 1940 did not mean the same as a division in British terms ( a tactical formation consisting of two or more manoeuvre ( infantry or armour ) brigades with command and staff units and supporting troops ) . The only Norwegian division living up to this in 1940 was the 6th Division at Narvik fielding two brigades ( 6 and 7 Brigades ) . In the 1940 Norwegian Army the term Division signified a geographical area of military responsibility . The division was , in pre - war planning , supposed to field one brigade and one or more local defence battalions ( " landvernbataljoner " ) . In 1940 the 2nd division was able to mobilise a not insignificant number of men to confront the German advance . However , the majority of the troops were poorly equipped even before the loss of critical equipment during the 9 April German invasion . The Norwegian Army of 1940 was basically equipped to First World War standards . There were no tanks , no modern artillery , no anti - tank weapons and no effective anti - aircraft guns . With the exception of a number of Colt M / 29 heavy machine gun s and light Madsen machine gun s , the soldiers had to rely on the 1894 vintage Krag - Jørgensen rifle . In addition to this , the average soldier was poorly trained , many having only received 48 days of basic training , although there also were soldiers with longer service ( guardsmen , soldiers who had been mobilised at the outbreak of the war between Nazi Germany and the United Kingdom and some who had served as volunteers in the Finno - Soviet Winter War ) . Adding to these already formidable problems came the fact that the geographical area the division had to cover was too large to make a proper concentration possible , and consequently the campaign tended to be a number of battalion sized actions fought over a large area . German invasion . The 2nd Division suffered great losses of materiel when the Germans captured several of the division ' s depots and stores in the first 24 hours of the invasion , but in spite of this the division was able to mobilise the following formations : The division was later reinforced by 11th Infantry Regiment ' s two line battalions in Gudbrandsdalen , but at that time most of the original units had been worn out and did not exist as fighting formations . Due to the critical situation in Eastern Norway the field brigade of the 4th Division was transferred to Valdres ( in the 2nd Division area of responsibility ) and was soon heavily engaged against the Germans in Bagn and at Tonsåsen . By the middle of April , the Germans started to advance out of Oslo to break the somewhat over - ambitiously named " iron ring " around the capital . General Hvinden Haug has been criticised by historians for without a fight abandoning prepared and supposedly easily defensible positions along the river Nitelva at Lillestrøm thereby giving up the mustering places and remaining stores of the Norwegian Army at Gardermoen . Norwegian troops managed to halt the Germans temporarily in Hakadalen , at Bjørgeseter and at Strandlykkja by Lake Mjøsa blocking two out of three main routes out of Oslo going north . However this proved futile as German tanks and Junkers Ju 87 " Stuka " dive - bombers , against which the Norwegian foces had no effective defence , routed the Norwegians at the third exit at Klekken near the city of Hønefoss . This made the Norwegian position untenable and initiated a general retreat from the previously successfully held positions . The Norwegians were pushed back northwards , desperately trying to slow the German advance , and waiting for allied reinforcements . The first British units arrived at Lillehammer around 21 April , but this proved too late , for on the same day the Germans decisively defeated the Norwegians at the battles of Lundehøgda and Bråstad and achieved a breakthrough to the Gudbrandsdalen , the heartland of Eastern Norway . For the rest of the campaign in Gudbrandsdalen , the brunt of the fighting had to be borne by British units , even though Norwegian units continued to contribute for the rest of the campaign . Following the allied evacuation of Southern Norway , General Hvinden Haug surrendered the remnants of his division at Åndalsnes on 3 May 1940 .