Erik Sørensen

Flag of Norway (1821-present)

- Svalbard 1941

- Finnmark 1944-1945

Defence Medal 1940-1945 w/ rosette

Amelie Mathilde Sørensen

**Erik Matteus Sørensen** (October 21, 1917 - January 22, 2008) was a soldier and officer of the Norwegian Army and the Norwegian forces in exile who served in World War II.

## Early life and family

Sørensen was born in the village of Binde, Trøndelag county in central Norway. His family was modestly successful, his father Oskar owned a shop in town and for most of his childhood Erik worked there. In 1932, he left his hometown and travelled to Oslo to attend high school there.

Upon graduating high school in 1935, Sørensen enrolled in the Norwegian Military Academy. In 1939, he graduated as an junior officer in the infantry.

## Military service

### World War II

After training at Elverum, Lieutenant Sørensen was appointed to the 1st Company, His Majesty The King's Guard.

On November 30, 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland, beginning the Winter War. Alarmed by the attack on its neighbor, Norway immediately mobilized its army on the northern border. Lieutenant Sørensen was transferred from the Royal Guards into the more battle-ready 2nd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, part of the 6th Division. During the Winter War, Sørensen and his men garrisoned the city of Narvik, where they remained after the Soviet threat ended.

On April 9, 1940, Nazi Germany launched Operation Weserübung, simultaneously invading Denmark and Norway. The Germans attacked Norway at multiple points, and landed a force in northern Norway near Narvik. Sørensen, who wanted to fight, was stunned to learn that the commander of Narvik garrison was to surrender the city without resistance. The Norwegian soldiers, however, escaped capture and fled the city. At Bjørnfjell on the Swedish border, Sørensen and his men fought a delaying action against the Germans but were defeated by superior forces. Escaping once again, the remnants of the garrison fled to the 6th Division, where Sørensen was reunited with his unit. Later in the month, the division launched a counteroffensive against the Germans, but it had to be delayed due to adverse weather conditions. Sørensen and his men led the attack, and a few days later the 6th Division drove the Germans out of Lapphaugen and continued the offensive towards Narvik. In May, the Norwegians pushed the Germans back on the Roasme mountain, and Sørensen distinguished himself in the victories at Næverfjell and Storebalak. After defeating the Germans at Hundbergan and Kobberfjell, the 6th Divsion, augmented by British and French troops, slowly began to encircle Narvik. Later in the month, Sørensen and his unit fought back the Germans and retook the city, ending the Battle of Narvik. Despite this feat, German victories elsewhere meant that Norway would soon be forced to surrender. In June, under intense bombardment, the Norwegian soldiers as well as the Allied troops evacuated Norway and sailed to Britain under Operation Alphabet. Sørensen escaped just a day before the Kingdom of Norway capitulated on June 8.

Stationed in Dumfries in Scotland, the Norwegian exiles set about rebuilding the army. By the end of the year, they had succeeded in creating a new command structure, with Lieutenant Sørensen commanding a platoon in the Norwegian 2nd Rifle Company. At this time, Scotland was subject to constant German air attack, and the Norwegian force was placed on high alert due to the threat of invasion. In March 1941, the force was organized as the Norwegian Brigade, a fully-capable combat unit. In July, the brigade was sent to garrison Tain, assuming a much larger area of defense against the prospective German invasion.

In August 1941, the Allies planned an expedition to Spitsbergen, part of the Svalbard archipelago. The goal of the operation was to repatriate Norwegian citizens, deny the Germans access to natural resources, and destroy the enemy weather reporting stations. Lieutenant Sørensen volunteered, and Operation Gauntlet began with the landing of a Canadian-Norwegian force on the island. Meeting no German resistance, the allied forces proceeded to evacuate civilians, destroy weather stations, and burn many tons of coal. After a successful operation, Sørensen and the rest of the force left Spitsbergen in September.

The brigade continued its usual activities throughout 1942 and 1943, and little notable happened exept for some minor adjustments that saw Lieutenant Sørensen's unit redesidnated as the 2nd Mountain Company. In November 1943, the brigade moved to Stirling. In early to mid 1944, the Norwegians participated in landing exercises as a part of the British 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division, expecting to take part in the invasion of Normandy. However, the brigade was soon detached and the Norwegians would not see combat in the invasion.

In October 1944, it was decided that the 2nd Company would join Soviet forces pushing into northern Norway and assist in the liberation of the home country. Sørensen was promoted to captain and was placed in second command of the force just before they set sail to Murmansk. By November they had arrived, and were subsequently placed under the command of the Soviet 114th Rifle Division. The 114th Division crossed into Norway shortly after, beginning the Liberation of Finnmark. Augmented by local volunteers, Captain Sørensen and his men chased the Germans out of Finnmark, with the enemy rapidly withdrawing and using scorched earth tactics. For the next few months, the soldiers rescued civilians and conducted reconnaisance operations throughout the area, fighting occasional skirmishes with the few Germans who remained. In February 1945, the company was detached from the Soviet division and began to operate independently. Joined by Norwegian police troops from Sweden, Sørensen's men restored Norwegian rule of law in the liberated areas. Bolstered by police and volunteers, the company grew into a battalion and assumed responsibility for the governance of Finnmark. By April, the county was declared completely liberated. On May 8, 1945, the German forces in Norway capitulated, just as they had surrendered everywhere else.

### Postwar in Norway and the Cold War in Germany

Captain Sørensen's duties continued well after the end of war in Europe. He and his men continued through the newly-liberated parts of the country, helping civilians in many towns which had been burned by the Germans as a part of their long retreat. They also participated in the disarming and repatriation of German prisoners, clearing mines, and various civilian tasks. At this time, Soviet forces remained in northern Norway, prompting Captain Sørensen to place his men on alert should they refuse to leave. Nothing came of this, however, and the Soviets left the country in September 1945. In October, the Norwegian Brigade was disbanded.

Sørensen remained in the army after the war. In 1947, he was chosen to command a company in the temporary 471st Brigade, a force that was sent to occupy northern Germany. For six months, Sørensen was stationed in Hanover, after which he returned to Norway. In 1950, with the start of the Korean War, Sørensen was alerted to the possibility of a Norwegian contingent being sent to the front lines. When this did not happen, he instead joined the 501st Brigade for a second deployment to Germany, this time extended. Here, the mission had changed from a simple occupation to a full combat deployment with the intention to deter a Soviet invasion of western Europe. Sørensen saw his last deployment in 1952 with the 521st Brigade, after which he returned to Norway. He then served two years in the Royal Guard, his old unit.

On October 11, 1954, Captain Erik Matteus Sørensen retired from the Norwegian Army.

## Personal life

Erik Sørensen lived in Nostrand in Oslo after his retirement. In 1957, he married Kaia Hagen, who he had met in 1945 when his unit had liberated her village in Finnmark. They lived in Oslo until 1980, when they moved to Trondheim. They had three children, Abraham Kristofer, Henrik Markus, and Amelie Mathilde.

On January 22, 2008, Erik Matteus Sørensen passed away. He was interred at For Church in Steinkjer, Trøndelag, just west of the village where he was born.

### Views

Sørensen was a lifelong social democrat, maintaining a membership in the Labour Party and supporting the new government's efforts to rebuild Norway after the war and the occupation. He supported the postwar legislative purges, declaring anyone who collaborated with the Nazi regime a traitor and rejoicing over the execution of Vidkun Quisling. During the Cold War, Sørensen was supportive of Norway's entry into NATO as well as its increasing anti-Communist policies.

Sørensen was also a Lutheran and a member of the Church of Norway.

## Equipment

During the invasion of Norway, Sørensen was equipped with the Norwegian M/1894/18 Krag-Jørgensen bolt-action rifle and its M/1916 bayonet. His sidearm was the Kongsberg M/1914 semi-automatic pistol, Norway's copy of the American Colt M1911. He also carried the M/1917 Aasen fragmentation grenade.

During his time in exile, he used the British Lee Enfield No.4 Mk.I rifle with the No.4 Mk.II bayonet, as well as the Mills No. 36M Mk.I fragmentation grenade. He used these weapons in Finnmark as well as during the occupation of northern Germany. In the 1950s, he was reequipped with the American M1 Garand rifle.