Looking for reindeer in Norway 1944
 

Quite an unusual entry in a german Flugbuch.

19.12.1944, Uffz Mayer takes the norwegian Lensman (police) Foerseth on board his Storch. They take off from Alta and so they go looking for reindeer...

Rather a risky endeavour, with the Soviets breathing down their back - wasn't Alta evacuated and destroyed at this time?
...and how often did it happen that a Luftwaffe pilot took a "native" from an occupied country on a flight trip?

Greetings

Hans

Re: Looking for reindeer in Norway 1944
 

Hans -

Alta (Land), a.k.a. Altengard, was ordered evacuated and demolished on 23 Dec 44 but it was still occupied on 30 Dec. Your Flugbuch show a flight from there on 4 Jan 45. When it was actually abandoned is a good question, but I'm guessing by 10 January at the latest. Perhaps some of our Norwegian members have more complete information.

L.

Re: Looking for reindeer in Norway 1944
 

Thanks Larry for those dates - still I wonder if they were really looking for reindeer, sounds quite adventurous, so close to the front...!?

By the way, the pilot's full name was Uffz Rudolf Mayer, from AufklärungsGruppe (H)32.

Regards

Hans

Re: Looking for reindeer in Norway 1944
 

Could be an official order , maybe some herd was lost or stolen , seems that in the last part of war nd so far in the north , german nd norwegian hv some interest to work together


Rémi

Re: Looking for reindeer in Norway 1944
 

Provided "Raindeer" is for real and not a cover name for something else, then Mayer and his passenger may have been looking for some to hunt for food purposes for their messhall. If this is true, then I am surprised fuel was made available for this purpose given how critical the fuel supply was by December 1944. His Staffel, 1.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 32, was based at Bardufoss at the time.

L.

Re: Looking for reindeer in Norway 1944
 

Up North and in December, maybe they were looking for Rudolph... or a stand-in for some celebration.

Re: Looking for reindeer in Norway 1944
 

Please be aware that the Soviets stopped after liberating Kirkenes. When the Germans pulled out of Finmark county they burned more or less everything and left a wacume not filled until the arrival of Norwegian Police troops from Sweden. The last German troops left Billefjord on 18. December 1944 and. Kautokeino was left on the same day. A small German detachment was kept in Alta up to February 1945.

Re: Looking for reindeer in Norway 1944
 

Quite an unusual german Flugbuch. Is there any flights at sola in it too?

Re: Looking for reindeer in Norway 1944
 

Ladies and Gents,

if it may be of interest, it concerns 1.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 32.
Of note is the strange call-sign "La Paloma" (Flugbuch entry No. 758).

Best Regards
Norbert

P.S. (edited): Hopefully there wasn't the singing Hans Albers aboard that flight of the Siebel :-))

Re: Looking for reindeer in Norway 1944
 

No flights from or to Sola are noted.

By the way, Uffz Mayer learned how to fly in Denmark, at Avnø in 1942.
He started his front-"career" in Finland in March 1944, flew mostly the Fw 189 and Fi 156 alternately, even learned to fly the Bf 109F in Pori. Then in October he moved on to Norway with some days and enemy encounters in Petsamo on his way.

He continued flying, for the British may we assume, up till 27.6.1945, moving Storchs and Ju 52s around in Norway.

...and yes, about the Si 204"La Paloma" - haven't found any information on the net about that one. Perhaps one of our Norwegian friends knows more...?

Greetings

Hans

Re: Looking for reindeer in Norway 1944
 

I've read in a book last year that when the Germans were to withdraw from northern Norway they told (ordered) the Same reindeer owners to drive their herds towards the west but they fooled the Germans and draw them towards the south and south-east instead, away from the Germans who retreated in a western direction along the northern coast road. It would have been near impossible for the Germans to track the reindeer herds in a terrain without roads while it would have been possible to find them from the air in good weather. They would still hardly be able to do much about where the reindeer were driven. This might be the reason for the flight note in the Flugbuch. I suppose the reason was to deny the Russians a potential food supply when retreating. Sadly the 'scorched earth' tactics were used by the Germans during the retreat in northern Norway, burning down the houses, farms and killing the farm animals. I don't remember the title of the book but I will remember it was in Norwegian language. It is probably still crated in my moving boxes.
BR
Göran

Re: Looking for reindeer in Norway 1944
 

It was the same for the Finnish Lapland during the Finnish-German Lapland War, BTW.

Kari

Re: Looking for reindeer in Norway 1944
 

So, in the end we can assume that what they were really doing was actually what it says - looking for reindeer...thanks for that Göran (if you find the name of that book...?).

Still, if you don't mind folks, I would love to have a professional opinion to my second question - "native" people of occupied countries taken on a flight by the German Luftwaffe...and mentioned in their Flugbücher. Wasn't that peculiar? Over the years checking hundreds and hundreds of those books, this is the first time I believe I've seen it. Lenzmann(sic) Toerseth for one and possibly Hauptmann Thomsen a couple of months later...

Greetings

Hans

Re: Looking for reindeer in Norway 1944
 

It is not that strange.

A "Lensmann" is more or less the same as a Sheriff and these were working in cooperation with the Germans, reluctantly, I might add, in many cases.
Having said that, in many areas, towards the end of the war, some of the policemen that were left were rather friendly towards the Germans. In quite a few areas the police were members of the Norwegian Nazi party, Nasjonal Samling. In some areas the Germans controlled the police, by having chosen German friendly Chiefs instated.
Policing Norway under the occupation was a difficult task and there are written several books about this. The policemen had to balance general law and order against being puppets for the Germans.

Re: Looking for reindeer in Norway 1944
 

An informative answer Kyrre...with some serious undertones - many thanks for your assessment of the situation at that time.

Perhaps knowing that the war was soon to come to an end, it was also easier to show some goodwill, and help each other where you could - like, in this case... together fly looking for reindeer;)...!

Greetings

Hans