Operation Weserübung - The battle at Gulsvik - 24-25 April 1940

Suggestions Maps/Missions/Events
1

THE BATTLE AT GULSVIK

INTRODUCTION
This is a suggestion for a new Ground forces map, which will take place in Gulsvik, Flå municipality in Buskerud Fylke. This is based on an incident during the Second World War, as a result of the German invasion of Norway “The Battle of Gulsvik”. These battles took place between 12 and 28 April as part of the main front of Operation Weserübung in the east.

Gruppe Ritzmann was then a German battle group that was organized at Hønefoss and whose purpose was to break through Hallingdal in order to get to Western Norway and fight there. This group was formed by one and a half infantry battalions, which then had 5x Tanks, 1x 7.5cm artillery and air support. The tanks were Panzer-Kampfwagen II, Panzer-Kampfwagen I, Panzer-Befahlswagen I and Neubaufahrzeug, might be another or one more of one of these i just listed

HISTORY
This area around Hallingdalsporten (tunnel name) is a steep and bumpy road. The road in this area is still in the same place as it was in 1940. Just north of this “Hallingdalsporten” tunnel there are two bridges Tuva stone vault bridge and Gulsvik suspension bridge. The Gulsvik Bridge was built in 1906 and was Scandinavia’s longest suspension bridge when it was completed. These bridges are more or less the key to the emergence here.

During the night of 12 April, occupied soldiers who had come in from the Voss area in Western Norway under the leadership of Captain Arthur Hauge, to occupy the area around the bridges and train tunnels. There was a long wait for the soldiers, and it was not until the morning of 24 April that the battle group Ritzmann reached Gulsvik with infantry supported by several tanks

The German advance that went from the railway underpass at Kittilsviken Gård, past the hammer at the train tunnel and up to the bridges was particularly open and exposed. The Norwegian reinforcements had had plenty of time to prepare for the battle, and the tunnels provided good cover. As a result, the German losses were very significant. On the Norwegian side, they had 8 injured and one dead (It was Sergeant Ingval Oppedal and he died of cardiac arrest or some similar natural cause).

On the night of 25 April, the Tuva stone vault bridge was blown up and the Norwegian forces then gained enough headway to retreat pressed back to Flå, which was then approximately 8.5 Kilometers further north-west. But here there was already a new battle on April 26! and in the evening of the same day, the Norwegian forces move further up to Nesbyen, which is then around 32 kilometres. (note that the distance is slightly different now on the new modern road).

The Tuva brigde was rebuilt during the war, now as a suspension bridge. To this day, between the bridges there are still depressions in the terrain, which are supposed to be remnants of the Norwegian trenches

THE MAP


In the picture above is a drawing/sketch that shows how it went. The middle German arrow below “Kittilsviken” are the railway tunnel, the further right are a flank that goes up to Kittilsvik farm and out into the terrain/mountain side. and the Far left arrow is towards the tunnel which will then be known as “Hallingporten”. Here we also see the direction of the German reconnaissance planes, and the bombers came from. next we see the Norwegian positions

GAMEPLAY & LAYOUT

As for gameplay, I thought this could be based on the lower tiers, maybe frea 1.0 to 6-7.0 in br. This map can then have several layouts, either that it is based on the area north of the bridges or around the Gulsviktjernet. something might have happened at the sawmill further south

I’m a bit unsure where the possible spawns can be placed best, so I think the developers will have to do that if this ever becomes something, the same with where any zones can be placed. one of the zones should be on the bridge, as it is very important in this battle

COORDINATES OF THE LOCATION
60.386884146093, 9.57705474375487

PICTURES OF THE LOCATION OLD AND NEW

Spoiler







Brigde after the destruction


SOURCES

Spoiler

Book: Tyske tanks var sør i dalen
Print: J.W.Eide Forlag Bergen , Norway
Bindage: Ed.B.Giertsens Bokbinderi, Bergen
1.4.75
ISBN 82-514-0114-3

POLL

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This post was made by
Til_Dovre_Faller
Also known as
Warthunder_Norway

2 Likes
2

Hello

I saw that i forgot to include a picturefolder from that time, so i have just added one above the sources folder

One thing that should be remembered is that in this area, there were never so overgrown and full of trees as it is today, in the old days (at least in Norway) we had much much less trees, both due to need of firewood and other products and the growth being held back due to grazing of animals. So most of the trees around the waterlines and there would not be there back then, giving a clearer view across the water/river. there will be few deciduous trees, but clumps of fir trees and most of the mountain sides will be covered with fir trees

Also, i got a handful of other possible locations, somewhat similar to this one, as one pair is connected to this match and further events :)

1 Like
3

Nice suggestion!

Do you know the width and or weight capacity of the two bridges? Would the german tanks had been able to pass over them if they weren’t blown? Which vehicles do you think they could support in-game?

Unreliability of the bridges (and potential destruction) could significantly impact the gameplay dynamics of the map, which is interesting IMO.

Also, are there alternative routes to cross the river in case the bridges aren’t an option?

Cheers!

1 Like
4

Thank you :)

The re are two brigdes, the stone vault brigde and the suspension brigde, they had to drive over both

The Gulsvik suspension brigde
Built in 1906
Length 97 Meter
Height 4.69 Meter (at regular water height)
Width i could not find
the deck of the bridge is made of wood
This was Scandinavia’s longest suspension bridge in its time

The stone vault brigde
I lack information about this one, but it is built in stone and is quite a bit shorter. But such bridges are very strong and should withstand the weight of these German tanks without any problem

The weight of the german tanks
Neubaufahrzeug - 23.41 Ton
Panzer-Kampfwagen II - 9.5 Ton
Panzer-Kampfwagen I - 5.8 Ton
Panzer-Befahlswagen I - 5.8 Ton

There is a railway tunnel, but i higly doubt they have driven there, i am not sure how they managed to cross this area, of they did not use the brigdes, as the river is quite deep, but i’ll see what i can find :)

I guess the deck on the bridge would give way with heavier wagons, like even heavier wagons, medum or heavy tanks or explosives (bombs, artillery, howitzers), so it could definitely be something, nice way to avoid spawn camping then haha, ​​drive over the brigde and fall straight into the water.