Jørstad River bridge sabotage
Encyclopedia
The Jørstad River bridge sabotage was an operation carried out on 13 January 1945 by members of the Norwegian Independent Company 1
during World War II
. The operation bore the code-name "Woodlark". The aim was to blow up a railway bridge in order to disrupt the railway Nordland Line in Snåsa
, Norway
. Six hours after the bridge had been destroyed, a military troop train unaware of the sabotage derailed and crashed into the river below, killing 70-80 people (among them two Norwegians) and injuring some 100 more. It remains the single most deadly rail incident ever in Norway.
In the aftermath of the disaster, there were fights between German and US soldiers in the Snåsa mountains, the only fights in Norway between these two countries during the occupation. A war memorial of the sabotage was raised in 1995 at the site. Four out of the five saboteurs who had participated in the sabotage were present at the dedication of the memorial.
Commanding officer Major William Colby
lead the NORSO I - troops which mainly where of Norwegian heritage.
Norwegian Independent Company 1
Norwegian Independent Company 1 was a British SOE group formed in March 1941 originally for the purpose of performing commando raids during the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany. It was organized under the leadership of Captain Martin Linge...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The operation bore the code-name "Woodlark". The aim was to blow up a railway bridge in order to disrupt the railway Nordland Line in Snåsa
Snåsa
Snåsa is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Innherred region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Snåsa. Other villages include Agle and Jørstad....
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Six hours after the bridge had been destroyed, a military troop train unaware of the sabotage derailed and crashed into the river below, killing 70-80 people (among them two Norwegians) and injuring some 100 more. It remains the single most deadly rail incident ever in Norway.
In the aftermath of the disaster, there were fights between German and US soldiers in the Snåsa mountains, the only fights in Norway between these two countries during the occupation. A war memorial of the sabotage was raised in 1995 at the site. Four out of the five saboteurs who had participated in the sabotage were present at the dedication of the memorial.
Commanding officer Major William Colby
William Colby
William Egan Colby spent a career in intelligence for the United States, culminating in holding the post of Director of Central Intelligence from September 1973, to January 1976....
lead the NORSO I - troops which mainly where of Norwegian heritage.