The Norwegian Legion
(As recounted by Jens Grini)
He volunteered in the summer of 1941 for the Legion and reported to Bjølsen School in Oslo. He did not go with the first contingent of the Legion that departed from Gulskogen, being sent instead to Kongsvinger for training under Captain Ragnar Berg. Not until the 1st of September, 1941, was he — together with several others and under Lindgren's command — sent by sea to Germany, more specifically to the Non-Commissioned Officers' School at Lauenburg in Pomerania. Shortly before Christmas 1941 he joined the Legion at Fallingbostel.
Captains Berg and Lindvig had selected 25–30 men for the contingent in which Jens travelled. In Norway he had attended recruit school as an artillerist; he was now trained as an infantryman and received at Lauenburg a reasonably solid foundation.
On joining the Legion, he was posted to 2nd Company, commanded by Captain Sveen from Biri. In January–February 1942 the Legion was sent by train to Stettin, where it was intended to remain for a time — though it lay there only two or three weeks, during which time a number of new men arrived from Norway.
"Perhaps the reason we did not remain longer in Stettin was that Himmler came and looked us over. Lindvig had had us on a march — it was snowing, wretched weather — and Himmler had turned up to see us. Lindvig spotted him, straightened himself up, and executed the finest march-past imaginable, which Himmler found extremely gratifying. He went round and spoke to the men and asked how the food was. They told him the honest truth — that the food was poor. Himmler tasted it and said: 'This is not good enough!' — and swung up into his car."
A couple of days later the order came to depart by air. The order came suddenly and we had to send out parties through the town to recall all men on leave. Then it was a matter of packing and preparing everything.
Next morning we took the tram to the airfield, where we were loaded, 12–13 men per aircraft. Off we went — the first day to Riga. The aircraft did not continue, as there was snow and fog. The following day we flew at low altitude over Lake Peipus. We were headed for Krasnoye Selo, but had to land short as the fog was extremely thick. Next day we made two attempts to fly on, but both times had to turn back; only on the day following — in a snowstorm and fog — did we reach Krasnoye Selo, or rather the area in which that town lies, the aircraft landing here and there across a wide area. No accidents occurred; only one aircraft made a crash-landing.
And so we were assembled. By lorry we were transported to the village of Pushkin, lying just behind the front. We were billeted in a palace — but within Russian artillery range. The front line was only about 500 metres forward.
I had been assigned to 2nd Company, comprising three platoons. I was in 3rd Platoon, and when we went into the line I was deputy platoon commander under Hervig. I later became section commander with the rank of Unterscharführer — ten men in my section. The spirit in the Legion was excellent. From our position we could see Leningrad.
We lay near Uritsk by the Gulf of Finland, having relieved a mixed German unit. It was a devilishly hard sector we had been given. The Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler had been there previously — we took over around the 5th of April.
It was extremely dangerous to look over the parapet, owing to Russian snipers. There was a great deal of snow when we arrived, so the trench parapets were some two metres high. But then there came a violent thaw, and within a couple of days we were standing in trenches only 70 cm deep.
The Germans who had preceded us had been rather restrained in their shooting so as not to provoke the Russians. We felt obliged to shoot. We engaged in sniping with rifles, and eventually got the upper hand of the Russians entirely. "We had them well under our thumb in the end."
I took part in a raiding party that, under Sveen's command, went out 12–13 km onto the Gulf of Finland to sever the communication line between Leningrad and Kronstadt. We were exhausted when we started, for the trenches stood under water while the Russians lay over us the entire time. There were three sections of us, and I commanded one.
We set out in the evening, after dark — around the 10th to 12th of April, 1942. This expedition was one of the most bloodless in the Legion's history. Tiring, but no combat.
We went on skis. It was raining, dark, and partially foggy. Close to shore we waded to the knee, but further out the ice was firmer. The snow was so thoroughly wet that the skis glided tolerably well.
We advanced with the three sections abreast, close enough that each could see its neighbour. I had one of the flank sections. We navigated by compass until we struck the road between Leningrad and Kronstadt, where the telegraph and telephone lines ran. There was no Russian sentry at the point where we arrived. We lay in position for an hour in case the Russians were about — none appeared — then cut the lines and returned. We could not remain on the ice any longer, being soaking wet and completely chilled through.
The expedition was a daring one, since we were in an area commanded by Russian artillery. Had the Russians spotted us, fire from the Leningrad mole could have made our situation decidedly uncomfortable.
We lay in this sector for some seven weeks and during that time were subjected to artillery fire alone. The Russians had, however, discovered that Norwegians were holding the position: Captain Ragnar Berg with some men had fallen on about the 19th of April, I believe. He had been out on patrol, completed his mission, but trod on a Russian minefield on the return.
On the 22nd of April, at 03.30, the Russians opened a artillery bombardment against the Legion. It lasted three hours, and for those three hours shells of every calibre rained down. The bombardment had been carefully prepared, the Russians having been ranging and registering since the 10th of April. It made it extremely difficult to evacuate the wounded from the trenches during the day; we had to lay smoke to get them to the rear.
German artillerists calculated that the weight of shells which had fallen on our sector amounted to thirty railway wagons. When the bombardment was over, the Russians attacked against 1st Company, possibly also against 3rd Company — but were repulsed.
The Legion held the front line from its arrival in February until the 1st of December. On the night of the 1st to 2nd of December it was relieved by the Dutch. The Legion had by then held these positions since the 24th of May and repulsed many attacks. When the Legion was taken back, it was to rest for two or three weeks; I received leave and departed on the 1st of December.
On the night of the 4th of December, the Russians attacked and drove the Dutch out of the position, which they then occupied. The Legion was ordered forward, went in to counter-attack, drove out the Russians, and held the position. I returned to the Legion at the end of January 1943 — to find that my company had suffered severely. Not enough men remained to fill more than one bunker.
In March 1943 the Legion was withdrawn to Latvia, where all were demobilised. The panzergrenadier regiment was then formed, and all who wished went into it.