Skorpa prisoner of war camp
Encyclopedia
Skorpa prisoner of war camp was a facility built by the Norwegian 6th Division to hold German prisoners-of-war
during the 1940 Norwegian Campaign
of the Second World War
. Skorpa was the main PoW camp in Northern Norway and held around 500 civilian and military prisoners when it was shut down at the end of the Norwegian Campaign.
and Nazi Germany
following the German invasion of Norway
increasing numbers of German prisoners fell into Norwegian hands in the fighting that followed. While many of these were soon liberated by the advancing German forces, the situation for those captured in Northern Norway was different. The Germans fighting at Narvik
were on the defensive against superior Norwegian and Allied
forces. Prisoners taken during the fighting were sent behind Allied lines, outside the reach of the Wehrmacht
. After having first interned the German prisoners at various locations around the region the decision was made by the Norwegian 6th Division command to establish a central prisoner of war camp at the small and isolated island of Skorpa in Kvænangen
in Troms
county. Access to the island was by boat. The nearest Norwegian armed forces other than the guard force were 10 to 12 hours away from the camp.
s designed for 16 occupants each. By May the construction of wooden barracks had begun, with the prisoners providing the labour force under the guidance of civilian Norwegian craftsmen. Around 100 prisoners were at any time taking part in construction work, much of this outside the barbed wire
. The construction was overseen by a second lieutenant
of the Norwegian Army engineers
. The barracks were meant to provide proper accommodation for the prisoners in the next winter.
and the Luftwaffe
. In addition to the military prisoners there were also civilians from trawlers and merchant vessel
s sunk or captured off the Northern Norwegian coast. In all some 500 Germans were imprisoned at Skorpa. Because of the lack of an internment camp for civilian Germans the sailors were placed as an interim measure in the same camp as the military captives.
The senior German prisoner held at the camp was Fregattenkapitän
Alfred Schulze-Hinrichs
, who had been captured after his destroyer, the Erich Koellner
, was sunk on 13 April during the naval battles off Narvik
. Along with 154 other prisoners he had first been sent to an internment camp at Vardøhus Fortress
in Finnmark
on the 1,382 ton Norwegian steamship Nova. After having been held at Vardøhus from 24 April to 13 May, the 155 Germans were shipped to Skorpa, again on the Nova. On the way to Skorpa another 25 prisoners were picked up at the western Finnmark port of Hammerfest
. The prisoner transport from Finnmark to Skorpa was escorted by the patrol boat Ingrid – a captured German trawler operated by the Royal Norwegian Navy. Prisoners kept arriving at the camp until early June 1940; Germans that had been captured at the front-line near Narvik, shot-down pilots, and prisoners taken by the remaining pockets of Norwegian resistance on the coast of southern Helgeland
and smuggled past German lines to Skorpa. Eight of the German airmen at the camp had been captured when two German Heinkel He 115
s ran out of fuel on the return from an aborted mission to Narvik on 13 April 1940, landing at Ørnes
and Brønnøysund
respectively. The crews, led by Leutnant zur See
Joachim Vogler and Oberleutnant zur See
Bärner, where captured by local Norwegian militia forces and the aircraft transferred intact to the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service
.
The prisoners were guarded by 80 Norwegian soldiers, 45 of whom belonged to the Varanger Battalion from eastern Finnmark while the remaining 35 were troops that had escaped the collapse of the fighting in the southern parts of Norway and made their way to Northern Norway by way of neutral Sweden
. Command of the camp had been transferred to Captain Rei Sandberg by the commander of the Norwegian armed forces in Finnmark
, Edvard Os, after disturbances had broken out in the inmate population. During the camp's existence two prisoners died. One merchant navy sailor was killed by a stray warning shot
during a disturbance in the camp, and Oberleutnant Hans Hattenbach (the pilot of Oberleutnant zur See Bärner's He 115) was shot on 6 June by a Finnish volunteer soldier when he approached the camp fence and failed to heed orders from a guard to stop. Hattenbach was buried with full military honours
in the presence of 30 prisoners and a 14-strong Norwegian military honour guard.
for interrogation at the British headquarters in Norway there were 59 Luftwaffe personnel at Skorpa. District Command concluded that it was best to send the requested 40 prisoners, rather than to send all 59. The 40 sent from Skorpa were the highest ranking of the 59, including all the pilots. None of these prisoners ever reached Harstad, instead being embarked on Allied ships and taken to the United Kingdom
as the Allies evacuated Northern Norway
only days later. Shortly after the departure of the Luftwaffe prisoners orders came through for the southern Norwegian soldiers guarding the camp to be transferred for front service against the Germans. Before any of the soldiers could leave Skorpa, however, word reached the camp at 0130hrs on 8 June of the forthcoming capitulation of the Norwegian mainland.
Many of the Norwegian guards left Skorpa prisoner of war camp on 10 June 1940, being sent to Altagård army camp in Alta
on two fishing boats. The German prisoners were told of the capitulation, released and transported from the camp under the leadership of Schulze-Hinrichs in the late evening of 12 June, on the Norwegian steamships Barøy
and Tanahorn. The released prisoners were first sent to the port city of Tromsø
for bathing and delousing
. Tromsø was not occupied by German forces until two days later, on 14 June. The last guards, belonging to the Varanger Battalion, left the camp on 15 June, with the commander and administrative officers departing on 19 June.
. Captain Sandberg was arrested by the Gestapo
in Trondheim
on 28 June 1940, accused of mistreating the prisoners while in charge of Skorpa, but was released on 5 August 1940.
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
during the 1940 Norwegian Campaign
Norwegian Campaign
The Norwegian Campaign was a military campaign that was fought in Norway during the Second World War between the Allies and Germany, after the latter's invasion of the country. In April 1940, the United Kingdom and France came to Norway's aid with an expeditionary force...
of the Second World War
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...
. Skorpa was the main PoW camp in Northern Norway and held around 500 civilian and military prisoners when it was shut down at the end of the Norwegian Campaign.
Background
With the outbreak of war between NorwayNorway
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...
and Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
following the German invasion of Norway
Operation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...
increasing numbers of German prisoners fell into Norwegian hands in the fighting that followed. While many of these were soon liberated by the advancing German forces, the situation for those captured in Northern Norway was different. The Germans fighting at Narvik
Battles of Narvik
The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April-8 June 1940 as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian city of Narvik as part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War....
were on the defensive against superior Norwegian and Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
forces. Prisoners taken during the fighting were sent behind Allied lines, outside the reach of the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
. After having first interned the German prisoners at various locations around the region the decision was made by the Norwegian 6th Division command to establish a central prisoner of war camp at the small and isolated island of Skorpa in Kvænangen
Kvænangen
Kvænangen is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Burfjord. The European route E6 highway goes through the municipality and over the Sørstraumen Bridge, and most people stop at the mountain pass of Kvænangsfjellet to view the...
in Troms
Troms
or Romsa is a county in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten Län in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea...
county. Access to the island was by boat. The nearest Norwegian armed forces other than the guard force were 10 to 12 hours away from the camp.
Construction
When the first prisoners were sent to the camp they had to live in tentTent
A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles or attached to a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using guy ropes tied to stakes or tent pegs...
s designed for 16 occupants each. By May the construction of wooden barracks had begun, with the prisoners providing the labour force under the guidance of civilian Norwegian craftsmen. Around 100 prisoners were at any time taking part in construction work, much of this outside the barbed wire
Barbed wire
Barbed wire, also known as barb wire , is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand. It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property...
. The construction was overseen by a second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
of the Norwegian Army engineers
Military engineer
In military science, engineering refers to the practice of designing, building, maintaining and dismantling military works, including offensive, defensive and logistical structures, to shape the physical operating environment in war...
. The barracks were meant to provide proper accommodation for the prisoners in the next winter.
Camp population
All Germans captured in Northern Norway were supposed to be gathered at Skorpa, the main Norwegian PoW camp in the region. Amongst the inmates at the camp were military personnel belonging to all three services of the German Wehrmacht; the Heer, the KriegsmarineKriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
and the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
. In addition to the military prisoners there were also civilians from trawlers and merchant vessel
Merchant vessel
A merchant vessel is a ship that transports cargo or passengers. The closely related term commercial vessel is defined by the United States Coast Guard as any vessel engaged in commercial trade or that carries passengers for hire...
s sunk or captured off the Northern Norwegian coast. In all some 500 Germans were imprisoned at Skorpa. Because of the lack of an internment camp for civilian Germans the sailors were placed as an interim measure in the same camp as the military captives.
The senior German prisoner held at the camp was Fregattenkapitän
Frigate Captain
Frigate captain is a naval rank in the naval forces of several countries.It is, usually, equivalent to the Commonwealth/US Navy rank of commander.Countries using this rank include Argentina and Spain , France , Belgium , Italy ,...
Alfred Schulze-Hinrichs
Alfred Schulze-Hinrichs
Alfred Schulze-Hinrichs was a Kapitän zur See with the Kriegsmarine during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.1924 Oct.: Vermessungsschiff "Panther"....
, who had been captured after his destroyer, the Erich Koellner
German destroyer Z13 Erich Koellner
Z13 Erich Koellner was a built for the German Navy in the late 1930s. At the beginning of World War II, the ship was still working up. In early 1940 she made two successful minelaying sorties off the English coast that claimed six merchant ships...
, was sunk on 13 April during the naval battles off Narvik
Narvik
is the third largest city and municipality in Nordland county, Norway by population. Narvik is located on the shores of the Narvik Fjord . The municipality is part of the Ofoten traditional region of North Norway, inside the arctic circle...
. Along with 154 other prisoners he had first been sent to an internment camp at Vardøhus Fortress
Vardøhus Fortress
Vardøhus Fortress is located in Vardø municipality in the county of Finnmark on the Barents Sea on the mouth of the Varangerfjord in north-eastern Norway near the Russian border.-History:...
in Finnmark
Finnmark
or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...
on the 1,382 ton Norwegian steamship Nova. After having been held at Vardøhus from 24 April to 13 May, the 155 Germans were shipped to Skorpa, again on the Nova. On the way to Skorpa another 25 prisoners were picked up at the western Finnmark port of Hammerfest
Hammerfest
is a city and municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The municipality encompasses parts of three islands: Kvaløya, Sørøya, and Seiland. Hammerfest was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
. The prisoner transport from Finnmark to Skorpa was escorted by the patrol boat Ingrid – a captured German trawler operated by the Royal Norwegian Navy. Prisoners kept arriving at the camp until early June 1940; Germans that had been captured at the front-line near Narvik, shot-down pilots, and prisoners taken by the remaining pockets of Norwegian resistance on the coast of southern Helgeland
Helgeland
Helgeland is the most southerly district in Northern Norway. Generally speaking, Helgeland refers to the part of Nordland county that is located south of the Arctic Circle. The district covers an area of about , with nearly 79,000 inhabitants...
and smuggled past German lines to Skorpa. Eight of the German airmen at the camp had been captured when two German Heinkel He 115
Heinkel He 115
The Heinkel He 115 was a World War II Luftwaffe seaplane with three seats. It was used as a torpedo bomber and performed general seaplane duties, such as reconnaissance and minelaying. The plane was powered by two 720 kW BMW 132K nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engines...
s ran out of fuel on the return from an aborted mission to Narvik on 13 April 1940, landing at Ørnes
Ørnes
Ørnes is a small village in the municipality of Meløy, Norway. Its population is 1,538. It is a station on Hurtigruten between Nesna and Bodø.The place can be traced back hundreds of years, but the year 1794 is recognized as the beginning of Ørnes as we know it, when Elling Pedersen was allowed to...
and Brønnøysund
Brønnøysund
is a town and the administrative centre of the municipality of Brønnøy, Norway. It is also a former municipality in Nordland county. The village of Brønnøysund received town status in 2000. The city lies along the coast and is often called "the coastal town in the middle of Norway." Brønnøysund...
respectively. The crews, led by Leutnant zur See
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
Joachim Vogler and Oberleutnant zur See
Oberleutnant
Oberleutnant is a junior officer rank in the militaries of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In the German Army, it dates from the early 19th century. Translated as "Senior Lieutenant", the rank is typically bestowed upon commissioned officers after five to six years of active duty...
Bärner, where captured by local Norwegian militia forces and the aircraft transferred intact to the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service
Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service
The Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service was alongside the Norwegian Army Air Service the forerunner to the modern-day Royal Norwegian Air Force.- History :...
.
The prisoners were guarded by 80 Norwegian soldiers, 45 of whom belonged to the Varanger Battalion from eastern Finnmark while the remaining 35 were troops that had escaped the collapse of the fighting in the southern parts of Norway and made their way to Northern Norway by way of neutral Sweden
Sweden during World War II
Sweden during World War II maintained a policy of neutrality. When the Second World War began on September 1, 1939, the fate of Sweden was unclear...
. Command of the camp had been transferred to Captain Rei Sandberg by the commander of the Norwegian armed forces in Finnmark
Finnmark
or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...
, Edvard Os, after disturbances had broken out in the inmate population. During the camp's existence two prisoners died. One merchant navy sailor was killed by a stray warning shot
Warning shot
A warning shot is a military term describing harmless artillery shot or gunshot intended to call attention and demand some action of compliance...
during a disturbance in the camp, and Oberleutnant Hans Hattenbach (the pilot of Oberleutnant zur See Bärner's He 115) was shot on 6 June by a Finnish volunteer soldier when he approached the camp fence and failed to heed orders from a guard to stop. Hattenbach was buried with full military honours
Military funeral
A military funeral is a specially orchestrated funeral given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards of honor, the firing of volley shots as a salute,...
in the presence of 30 prisoners and a 14-strong Norwegian military honour guard.
Dissolution
On 5 June 1940, Captain Rei Sandberg, the commander of Skorpa prisoner of war camp from early May 1940, received a call from the district military command asking how many airmen were held at the camp. At that time the number was 40, however later that day another 51 prisoners arrived at the camp, 19 of whom were airmen. Thus, when the order came in the late evening to transfer the 40 airmen to HarstadHarstad
is the second largest city and municipality by population, in Troms county, Norway – the city is also the third largest in North Norway. Thus Harstad is the natural centre for its district. Situated approximately north of the Arctic Circle, the city celebrated its 100th anniversary in...
for interrogation at the British headquarters in Norway there were 59 Luftwaffe personnel at Skorpa. District Command concluded that it was best to send the requested 40 prisoners, rather than to send all 59. The 40 sent from Skorpa were the highest ranking of the 59, including all the pilots. None of these prisoners ever reached Harstad, instead being embarked on Allied ships and taken to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
as the Allies evacuated Northern Norway
Operation Alphabet
Operation Alphabet was an evacuation, authorized on May 24, 1940, of Allied troops from the harbour of Narvik in northern Norway marking the success of Nazi Germany's Operation Weserübung of April 9 and the end of the Allied campaign in Norway during World War II...
only days later. Shortly after the departure of the Luftwaffe prisoners orders came through for the southern Norwegian soldiers guarding the camp to be transferred for front service against the Germans. Before any of the soldiers could leave Skorpa, however, word reached the camp at 0130hrs on 8 June of the forthcoming capitulation of the Norwegian mainland.
Many of the Norwegian guards left Skorpa prisoner of war camp on 10 June 1940, being sent to Altagård army camp in Alta
Alta, Norway
-Birdlife:For those interested in bird watching, the river outlet, known locally as Altaosen is well worth a visit. This tidal area is used as a stopover for many wetland species.-Transportation:...
on two fishing boats. The German prisoners were told of the capitulation, released and transported from the camp under the leadership of Schulze-Hinrichs in the late evening of 12 June, on the Norwegian steamships Barøy
SS Barøy (1929)
SS Barøy was a 424 ton steel-hulled steamship delivered from the Trondhjems mekaniske Værksted shipyard in Trondheim in 1929. She had been ordered by the Norwegian shipping company Ofotens Dampskibsselskab for the local route from the port city of Narvik to the smaller towns of Lødingen and Svolvær...
and Tanahorn. The released prisoners were first sent to the port city of Tromsø
Tromsø
Tromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population...
for bathing and delousing
Louse
Lice is the common name for over 3,000 species of wingless insects of the order Phthiraptera; three of which are classified as human disease agents...
. Tromsø was not occupied by German forces until two days later, on 14 June. The last guards, belonging to the Varanger Battalion, left the camp on 15 June, with the commander and administrative officers departing on 19 June.
Aftermath
Following the release of the German prisoners from the camp many of the Norwegian guards made their way over the mountains to Sweden to escape the German occupation of NorwayOccupation of Norway by Nazi Germany
The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...
. Captain Sandberg was arrested by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
in Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
on 28 June 1940, accused of mistreating the prisoners while in charge of Skorpa, but was released on 5 August 1940.