Last yearīs (2002) hike in the Lyngen area of Arctic Norway (county of Troms) made us realize that this region has more history waiting to be discovered than we had imagined. So, we, the "old gang" or now: the WWII in the Arctic Field Research Team, naturally decided to return to the area in the summer of 2003. Most probably we will continue doing so for a number of years.
This year Mikael Norman and I first visited the Sturmbockstellung by Järämä in northwesternmost Finland. This German late-war mountainside position - or fortress if you like - is so vast that we couldnīt see all of it last year. In fact, we didnīt have the time to explore it completely this year either. We only managed to get to the western end, and thus have yet to see the other side. Since last year Järämäīs museum has added some interesting findings from the field to its showcases.
Three wooden Ju 88 propellers used to protrude from this. Some of the wood remains. The photo was taken in Finland, NE of Kilpisjärvi. The position is described more below. Photo: Mikael Norman
Our next stop was Kilpisjärvi on the Finnish-Norwegian border. Just before entering the town we stopped by many dominating heights, all on the right hand side of the road. We thus found several positions and the remains of a kitchen by a stream. The next day we went off on a hike in search of the lentokone, which is Finnish for aircraft wreck. The wreckīs position is even marked on the map in the lobby of Hotel Kilpis.
The wreckage is what remains of a Junkers Ju 88 that crashed already in 1942. It lies north of the imposing Saana mountain. There are several paths in this area - if you stick to the path with a symbol resembling a birch tree you will easily find it after about half an hour from the start of the path, which is by the northernmost Shell petrol station. The café of the station is decorated with some dramatic photographs including one showing two Demag halftracks used by a local trader for transporting goods after the war. Just north of the café are two war memorials. The latest one commemorates the last action during WWII on Finnish territory. This exchange of fire was between the Finnish 1. Infantry Regiment and the German 143rd Mountain Ranger Regiment, or Gebirgsjägerregiment. It took place on the 27th of April 1945. The other memorial is to the memory of the Finnish ranger raid that was carried out here back in 1916, against British transports to the Tsarīs army.
The remains of the Junkers are few, in fact most of the aircraft is no longer there. Still, it is well worth seeing - as the impact spot even today is very evident from the charred earth. The odd bits and pieces of the plane that remain also still tell a story.
Some fairly intact German shelters such as this one are to be found in tactically sound places along the E 8 road between Kilpisjärvi and Skibotn. Nato troops have left traces too, telling us that they have made use of these German positions in their cold war exercises. Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
Next we met up with Nigel Hirst, Simon Orchard and Tor-Helge Yttervik on the Norwegian side of the border and started searching the area for old shelters and...rubbish heaps. Simon promptly found some pieces of porcelain. One plate was even marked "SS Reich 1940". As there was no division bearing that name (i.e. "Reich") until 1941 this plate is something of a mystery, although Simon since has found a Norwegian diver who has found an identical piece outside the coast of Troms. Presumably the plate belonged to the 6th SS Mountain Division "Nord", that passed through the area in late 1944.
In the evening yours truly "by chance" bumped into one of the citizens of Skibotn who shares our interest for the regionīs recent history. He informed me of plans to open a War Museum in Skibotn, it may even open in 2004.
To find a Gebirgsjägerīs boot lying about on the surface was not something I had expected outside Russia - but there it was (and probably still is), on the Finnish-Norwegian border. The crampons around the sole identify it as a mountain trooperīs boot.
The following day we went back to hike along the Finnish-Norwegian border, mostly on the Norwegian side. Where the Norwegian dirt road ended a German road began - similar in appearance to the Speer Road on Kola. In other words it was superbly built and is in surprisingly good shape. To the south and alongside it, we found many remains of the Swedish- and Finnish-made collapsible huts that the Germans used as barracks.
The further up we got the more stone houses and gear lying about did we see. Among the more eerie were German mountaineering boots and 8mm film, sticking out of some house ruins. Might we have found a small cinema? The images were so faded we could only make out the outlines of the movie that was once shown here. Still, quite amazing that film lying in the open for sixty years can show anything at all.
Just before we turned around we found some remains of a Opel Olympia staff car made in 1938 or ī39. We could tell that the flashy chrome on the hood had been painted over, as there were still remains of olive green paint on it. Actually we could not identify the car model at the time, but as soon as I got this report on the net my friend Rolf Bergstrom told me that he recognized the parts easily - as it was one of the first vehicle types he learnt about. His family had one in the forties.
Some of the wreckage of the Opel staff car. There is green paint even on the chrome. It was lying on the surface virtually on the Finnish-Norwegian border, far from any wide road. We left it in situ. Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
After the immediate border area we drove to where we hiked last year: Kitdalen. First we examined the area where the Soviets who were forced to build the Lyngen line were housed. We found the foundations of their shelters, but not much more. However, reading the documents about their miserable existence among their traces was chilling enough in the warm summer evening.
Above the tree line we found some remains of the German overhead tramway that were not visible last year because of the snow. In 2002 we did this hike the first week of June, when there is more snow covering the history. In the ruins of the end station of the tramway system we found some field radio parts.
A bit further up we found a sewing machine. So, the troops up here didnīt have to send their torn uniforms down to the fjord, they had their own Gebirgs-tailor.
We found several items that the tailor may have done repairs on: the remains of anoraks and the mountain windjacket that was worn over the field blouse. In one of the bunkers at the top there was even a greatcoat and a pair of officerīs trousers. The climate and the good shelter have kept the material in an amazing condition.
Gas mask filter and one of several clogs we found on the Lyngen line. Would the Germans wear such slippery footwear in the mountains? We reckon they were worn by the Soviet prisoners, known to have made clogs, as shoes were not issued to them. Further research is necessary to say anything conclusive though. Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
But what about the pieces of naval, Kriegsmarine, uniform that Simon found up here, among the clouds? How should one explain them? In a letter I just received from Fritz Anker, a 6th GD veteran of Kitdalen, Anker writes that the Kriegsmarine indeed had some observers among the mountain troops of the Lyngen line. One may assume that their main task was to observe the fjords from above.Anker was a signals-trained forward observer of the mountain artillery. Having access to radios he was well-informed about what went on in the world: "[...] better informed than our officers [...]". But that did not mean that Anker also believed everything he could pick up from the BBC and Radio Beromuenster (Switzerland).
This sewing machine probably belonged to Kitdalenīs Austrian tailor. His shelter is high up on the mountain. Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
Doing a hike like this, one of course also sees some of Norwayīs most spectacular landscapes, rapids and wildlife. This year we got to see some reindeer on the run, way up in the valley.
Some of the stone-reinforced shelters at the top do actually give the impression that they have been untouched since the war. I guess the absence of proper paths and tough terrain have helped. This is of course exciting stuff for any sporty history-buff, but beware: although the area seems mine-free one should take EXTREME care with both any unexploded ordnance (ammunition), and the shelters themselves - that are collapsing one by one. Should you find yourself under a ton of rocks the nearest help is several hours away, even if you should manage to make a call with your mobile (BTW coverage is uncertain). Donīt say I didnīt warn you.
To find a German overcoat and a pair of officerīs trousers was also something we had not expected. They are lying in one of the bunkers at the very top of the Lyngen massif. Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
One of the last things we found was what probably used to be the gunsmithīs house and workshop as it had several remains of MG-accessories like cases and covers. Still, one of the most startling moments for yours truly was to bump into a complete gas mask case on the way down the valley. I had left the "path" and then, far from any ruin, there it was. It must have rolled down from the upper positions. I hope you too may bump into it...and will also leave it for the next visitor in this open-air museum.
I photographed this German gas mask container as I found it. Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
Driving to the capital of Troms: Tromsø, is also a bit dangerous as it is hard to keep oneīs eyes from gazing at all those beautiful fjords and fjells.
In the "Paris of the North", as Tromsø not without reason is called, one finds fresh shrimps, several nice restaurants, two Arctic museums, a good second-hand book store (but closed during part of the summer!) and the Tromsø Defence Museum, a.k.a. the Tirpitz Museum.
Since some five years the energetic enthusiasts of this museum and the Air Historical Forum of Tromsø have also been working to preserve and restore the Skattøra naval air station.
We saw plenty of German ski bindings lying about but only one more or less complete ski - this one. Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
In the war of 1940 aircraft from this station played a great role. In fact, it was from Skattøra that the Norwegian King left for England in June 1940.
The tenth of June the station was taken by an airborne company consisting of Austrian bicycle-infantry. They were dropped over Skattøra by Junkers Ju 52s together with parachutes burdened by bicycles and rucksacks.
Soon afterwards the Germans started developing this already modern infrastructure further, using it as their main naval aviation base. All in all some 1 500 people worked at and around the station when it was in German hands.
I understand this was used to treat frostbite. The small writing reads "Hauptsanitätspark Berlin", i.e. the main medical supply depot of the armed forces, in Berlin. Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
The impressive hangars once used by the Luftwaffe today contain a second-hand store and a workshop. Beside them are some wartime barracks still in good shape and a massive blast wall, again built by Soviet slave-workers. It is in the form of an ampitheatre and could thus be put to some good cultural use, if only the municipality of Tromsø someday realizes the great potential this area has a historical and cultural centre.
By the waterfront there is a stone commemorating the RAD-unit from Ostmark (Austria) that worked here during the war.
The Enigma machine of the Tirpitz Museum. Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
Leif Arneberg, the amiable director of the Tromsø Defence Museum/Tirpitz Museum, then proceeded to personally show us around his museum, which has expanded into a new building since my last visit. Yet another building will soon be added and it should soon also be possible to more frequently visit the command bunker that faces the fjord and the site where the Tirpitz itself lies.
The Enigma code machine, several larger and smaller items from the Tirpitz and now also much on the Arctic land war all makes this museum well worth the visit, even if one, like me, generally has a shallow interest in naval matters. The story of the Tirpitz and its end is intrigueing for just about anyone.
Simon Orchard then showed us the very moving Commonwealth graveyard in Tromsø. Among the dead there are some boys not even 18 years old and L.B. Whittam who attacked the Tirpitz with Her Majestyīs midget submarine X7.
Finally we walked on the beach closest to where the Tirpitz lies. To see the craters made by the British "Tall Boy" bombs is really something in itself. One of them is in the most peaceful field you can imagine, with grazing horses and all. Over the years many items from the ship have floated on to the beach, but most of what one finds is the result of certain divers who take up parts/uniforms and then tear off insignia/plates, leaving the remainder on the beach. It is clear from the uniforms that the insignia has been torn off.
The cemetery of Tromsø has a British Commonwealth section with different remarks on the individual graves, such as this one. Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
There is also a small monument by the site, commemorating the final raid the 12th of November 1944, consisting of part of the shipīs thick hull and an informative plaque.
The human mind is strange - it is only when I see the sailorīs jacket and the lone sailor shoe on the beach that the whole human side of the story becomes clear to me. The experience is as intense and horrifying as any examination of the Normandy beaches. Or perhaps even more actually - as there is so much more still lying about here. Well, should one compare tragedies?
A German sailorīs jacket on "Tirpitz Beach". Presumably this jacket and many other items on the beach have been deliberately taken out of the ship, which is still a war grave. The insignia has then been torn off and the jacket left behind. Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
After this sombre walk we set off for Setermoen and a midnight-sunny stroll about town. The next day we visited its Defence Museum, featured in previous reports, and then stopped at some roadside war of 1940 monuments on the way to the Georg Thiele destroyer, still lying halfway up a mountainside in the Rombakksbotn by Narvik. See the previous reports re. this vessel.
A sailorīs shoe on "Tirpitz Beach", 59 years after the ship was sunk. Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
Before revisiting the Narvik War Museum we walked in a forest northeast of Narvik and made an amazing discovery. We stumbled upon three mine (I reckon anti-tank) carriers (Minenkasten?), all made in 1937 and with unebelievably intact paintwork. Good the mines themselves were not in them.
The plain truth is that these carriers were lying completely uncovered on the surface. We understand from the terrain and the condition of the paint that they must have been unearthed quite recently during construction work nearby, and just chucked away by the workers. Who knows anything about these constructions and/or has ever seen them in a wartime photograph?
Going back to Sweden we made stops in Bjørnfjell and Vassijaure, checking out the current condition of Dietlīs HQ and the new war memorial on the Vassijaure railway station. The latter is to the memory of the only soldier in the Swedish Army who was killed by enemy fire during WWII.
We found three German mine carriers like this one, all made in 1937, just lying on the surface in a forest NE of Narvik. Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
Thus ended this summerīs history tour, but one can also make stops in Kiruna and Porjus when taking this route. Check out the Swedish section of the MAP & GUIDE if you are interested of the Lancaster and the Lapland Ranger Museum to be found in those places.
Last modified 18-08-2003
© Lars and Ann-Sofie Gyllenhaal