Leif Welding-Olsen (15 August 1895 – 8 April 1940) was the

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

of the

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy () is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for navy, naval operations of Norway, including those of the Norwegian Coast Guard. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 i ...

patrol boat HNoMS ''Pol III''. He was the first Norwegian to be killed during the German invasion of Norway. On 8 April 1940, Leif Welding-Olsen raised the alarm as the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

navy ships moved past the guard lines in outer

Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; ) is an inlet in southeastern Norway. The fjord begins at the small village of Bonn in Frogn, Frogn Municipality and stretching northwards to the city of Oslo, and then curving to the east and then south again. It then flows s ...

. Norway had been attacked at 22:05 hrs that evening as German ships passed the Norwegian territorial borders. Captain Welding-Olsen had a brief conversation with the commander of one of the German

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

s, who demanded that he surrender, but Welding-Olsen refused. Realizing that the enemy would not turn away, and was going to violate Norwegian neutrality, ''Pol III'' fired flares to alert Norwegian

coastal batteries Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed Artillery battery, gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery ...

and rammed the ''Albatros''. From the ''Albatros'', it was clear that the guns on ''Pol III'' were manned and that the Norwegians intended to fight. The ''Albatros'' promptly hit the small Norwegian vessel with anti-aircraft fire, wounding Captain Welding-Olsen in the leg and starting several fires. As ''Pol III'' was burning, her crew abandoned the vessel. The lifeboat overturned, forcing them to cling to its sides. Leif Welding-Olsen, weakened by blood loss, let go from the boat and drowned, becoming the first casualty in the war between Norway and Nazi Germany. His last words were reportedly: "Bry dere ikke om meg gutter, jeg er ferdig likevel. Men kommer dere hjem, så hils fra meg!" This is roughly translated as: "Don't worry about me boys, I am done for anyway. (If) you make it back home, give them my regards".

Legacy

*SHV-205 ''Welding'', a vessel of Sea Home Guard was named after Leif Welding-Olsen * Welding Olsens vei was named after him. *Leif Welding Street in Horten (Welding's birthplace) is named after him

References

Other sources

*Dildy, Douglas C. (2007) ''Hitler's Boldest Operation; Osprey Campaign Series'' (Osprey Publishing) {{DEFAULTSORT:Welding-Olsen, Leif Royal Norwegian Navy personnel of World War II Norwegian military personnel killed in World War II People from Horten 1895 births 1940 deaths Deaths by drowning in Norway