You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons:

This IP address has been blocked from editing Wikipedia.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

The IP address or range 3.230.0.0/16 has been blocked (disabled) by ‪Blablubbs‬ for the following reason(s):

The IP address that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a web host provider or colocation provider. To prevent abuse, web hosts and colocation providers may be blocked from editing Wikipedia.
You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host or colocation provider because it hides your IP address, much like a proxy or VPN.
We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit. For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you are using a corporate internet connection, switch to a different Wi-Fi network. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in.
If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to request an IP block exemption.

How to appeal if you are confident that your connection does not use a colocation provider's IP address:
If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may appeal this block by adding the following text on your talk page: ((unblock|reason=Caught by a colocation web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. Place any further information here. ~~~~)). You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated. Your IP address can be determined here. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the unblock ticket request system. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host or colocation provider (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host or colocation provider.

Administrators: The IP block exemption user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and requests should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a CheckUser needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at SPI Quick Checkuser Requests. Unblocking an IP or IP range with this template is highly discouraged without at least contacting the blocking administrator.

This block will expire on 11:04, 19 October 2026.

Even when blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page, as well as email administrators and other editors.

For information on how to proceed, please read the FAQ for blocked users and the guideline on block appeals. The guide to appealing blocks may also be helpful.

Other useful links: Blocking policy · Help:I have been blocked
Your IP address is in a range that has been blocked on all Wikimedia Foundation wikis. The block was made by ‪Jon Kolbert‬. The reason given is Open proxy/Webhost: See the help page if you are affected .
- Start of block: 05:35, 21 February 2024
- Expiry of block: 05:35, 21 February 2029
Your current IP address is 3.230.118.156. The blocked range is 3.230.0.0/16. Please include all above details in any queries you make. If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the No open proxies global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please post a request for review on Meta-Wiki. You could also send an email to the stewards VRT queue at stewards@wikimedia.org including all above details.

You can view and copy the source of this page:

((Refimprove|article|date=August 2008))
((Infobox military conflict
|conflict = Battle of Gratangen
|image = 
|caption = 
|partof = the [[Norwegian Campaign]] of [[World War II]]
|date = 23–25 April 1940
|place = [[Gratangen]], Norway
|result = German victory
|combatant1 = ((flag|Norway))
|combatant2 = ((flagcountry|Nazi Germany))
|commander1 = Overall:<br>[[Kristian Løken]]<br>I/IR12 (1st battalion of Infantry Regiment 12):<br>[[Nils Christoffer Bøckman]]
|commander2 = 
|strength1 = I/IR12
|strength2 = 165 soldiers
|casualties1 = 34 killed<br/>64 wounded<br/>130 captured
|casualties2 = 6 killed<br/>16 wounded<br/>3 missing
))
((Campaignbox Norwegian Campaign))

The '''Battle of Gratangen''' occurred during the first Norwegian counter-attack in the [[Battles of Narvik|Narvik Campaign]]. The Norwegian 6th Division gathered forces to push the Germans out of the [[Gratangen]] area and back towards [[Narvik]]. The first attack failed disastrously when the Germans counter-attacked unprepared Norwegian forces, [[Wiktionary:rout#Verb|routing]] a [[battalion]] and blunting the first Norwegian advance.

==Background==
Gratangen was the site of some of the first battles between the [[German 3rd Mountain Division]] under [[Eduard Dietl]] and the [[Norwegian 6th Division]] under General [[Carl Gustav Fleischer]] after the [[Nazi Germany|German]] invasion of [[Norway]] on 9 April 1940.

After initial German success in surprising and routing a battalion from [[Trøndelag]], the tide turned and the German were pushed southwards in the direction of [[Narvik]].

==German invasion and Norwegian counter-attacks==
Transported by ten [[German World War II destroyers|destroyers]] from the ''[[Kriegsmarine]]'', the German Task Force under command of ''General der Infanterie'' Eduard Dietl had occupied Narvik and the important military depots at [[Elvegårdsmoen]] in the early hours of 9 April 1940. Sinking the outdated Norwegian [[coastal defence ship]]s ((HNoMS|Norge||6)) and ((HNoMS|Eidsvold||6)) with great loss of life and bluffing the Norwegian land forces into surrender.

The Allies counter-attacked by sea and, in the two naval battles of Narvik, the [[Royal Navy]] sank all ten German destroyers.
The approximately 2,900 shipwrecked German sailors were kitted out with captured Norwegian equipment from Elvegårdsmoen and employed as ground troops in support of Dietl's ''[[Gebirgsjäger]]''.

In the meantime, the Norwegians mobilised their forces under the leadership of General Carl Gustav Fleischer.

The Norwegian plan for a counter-attack on the German bridgehead around Narvik was based on pushing towards Elvegårdsmoen and [[Bjerkvik]] through [[Salangsdalen]] over the hill [[Lapphaugen]] with II/IR15 (Second Battalion/Fifteenth Infantry Regiment) in a frontal attack with artillery support on the German forward positions on Lapphaugen. Lapphaugen was believed to be held in company strength. I/IR12 (First Battalion/Twelfth Infantry Regiment) was planned to advance on the German main positions in [[Gratangsbotn]] by a surprise march over difficult terrain over [[Fjordbotneidet]]. [[Alta Battalion]] (an Independent Infantry Battalion) was in divisional reserve but positioned to support I/IR12.

==The battle==
On 24 April, the II/IR15 started its attack on Lapphaugen but due to extreme weather conditions and German resistance the attack was repulsed.

The Germans, however, decided to abandon their positions on Lapphaugen and Gratangsbotn. In the foul weather, this went unnoticed by the II/IR15. Consequently, this battalion did not push on with the advance.

In wind and heavy snowfall, the I/IR12 crossed the Fjordbotneidet and arrived at Gratangsbotn to find the area cleared of Germans. The soldiers were exhausted after the forced march and went to rest in the farmhouses and barns in Gratangsbotn. For reasons not fully explained, probably a misunderstanding by the battalion's commanding officer, the battalion failed to post a sufficient perimeter security; this was indeed critical as Gratangsbotn geographically is located at the bottom of a kettle with dominating high ground all around.

The Germans did not miss this opportunity and immediately counterattacked with a 165-strong force,<ref name="Jaklin34">((cite book|last=Jaklin |first=Asbjørn |title=Nordfronten - Hitlers skjebneområde |publisher=[[Gyldendal Norsk Forlag|Gyldendal]] |location=[[Oslo]] |year=2006 |isbn= 978-82-05-34537-9 |page=34 |language=Norwegian))</ref> using Norwegian civilians as a [[human shield]]s. Though inferior in numbers, the German attack suppressed the surprised Norwegians with superior firepower from mortars and heavy machine guns. Thirty-four Norwegian soldiers were killed, 64 wounded and 130 taken prisoners.<ref name="Jaklin34"/> Officer losses were heavy: three out of five company commanders were killed in action, one wounded, the fifth was ill with [[snow-blindness]] and did not take active part in the battle. The Germans suffered only six soldiers killed, 16 wounded and three missing.<ref name="Jaklin34"/>

The surviving Norwegians retreated from Gratangsbotn. The depleted battalion was later reorganised as a reduced battalion with two rifle companies and one support company and participated actively in the rest of the campaign.

==Aftermath==
Despite soundly defeating I/IR12, the Germans understood that their position in Gratangsbotn was untenable. The fresh Alta Battalion under [[Arne Dagfin Dahl]] pressed on from the north and II/IR15 resumed its advance over Lapphaugen.

The Germans therefore abandoned Gratangen soon after the battle.

For the Norwegians on the Narvik front, the battle of Gratangen proved their first serious lesson in the art of war. Before the battle, the inexperienced Norwegian soldiers often had hesitated to fire on the enemy. After Gratangen, the bitterness caused by the German ruthlessness—particularly the use of civilians as human shields—ensured that any such reservations were gone.

== See also ==

* [[List of Norwegian military equipment of World War II]]
* [[List of German military equipment of World War II]]

==Footnotes==
((Reflist))

((Coord|68.6686|17.6683|region:NO-54|format=dms|display=title))

((DEFAULTSORT:Gratangen))
[[Category:Norwegian campaign]]
[[Category:Battles of World War II involving Germany]]
[[Category:History of Troms]]
[[Category:Gratangen]]
[[Category:April 1940 events]]

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):

Battle of Gratangen (edit)
Template:!(( (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:))! (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Ambox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Campaignbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Campaignbox Norwegian Campaign (edit)
Template:Cite book (view source) (protected)
Template:Coord (view source) (protected)
Template:Country data Nazi Germany (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Country data Norway (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Flag (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Flag/core (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Flagcountry (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Flagcountry/core (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:HNoMS (view source) (semi-protected)
Template:Hlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:Infobox military conflict (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:More citations needed (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Refimprove (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:Ship (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Ship/maintenancecategory (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Sp (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Yesno (view source) (protected)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/blacklist (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/shared (view source) (protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Coordinates (view source) (protected)
Module:Coordinates/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Find sources (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/links (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/templates/Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Infobox military conflict (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Infobox military conflict/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Math (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/ambox.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Military navigation (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Namespace detect/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Unsubst (view source) (protected)
Module:WPMILHIST Infobox style (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

Return to Battle of Gratangen.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gratangen"