Airfield Runways in Norway

[Larry deZeng]

Hoping our Norwegian members might take a look at the words below and provide a descriptive definition. On-line translators and Norwegian-English dictionaries don't seem to have these, all of which refer to types of construction of runways on Luftwaffe bases in wartime Norway. The first is undoubtedly a type of wooden plank runway, the second is some sort of solid or liquid covering applied over the top of concrete runways and the third is a complete mystery.

plankedekke
treseksjoner
trelemmer

Thanks,

L.

[F19Gladiator]

Hello L.
plankedekke = Wooden cover (As you write a "wooden plank runway"
treseksjoner= wooden sections
trelemmer= wood limbs

I guess you are at Trondheim Vaernes airport in April 1940?
Br/Goran

[Larry deZeng]

Thanks for that, Br/Goran. Actually, nearly all of the airfield runways in Norway had at least some connection with these materials in one way or another.

Could you please expand a little more on treseksjoner (wooden sections)? I am still unclear on this one. Many of the airfields had concrete runways with treseksjoner. Does this mean wooden sections were placed between the sections of concrete, probably to reduce or eliminate damage due to upheaval and cracking of the concrete during the bitter cold winters?

Thanks,

L.

[F19Gladiator]

Originally Posted by Larry deZeng

Could you please expand a little more on treseksjoner (wooden sections)? I am still unclear on this one. Many of the airfields had concrete runways with treseksjoner. Does this mean wooden sections were placed between the sections of concrete, probably to reduce or eliminate damage due to upheaval and cracking of the concrete during the bitter cold winters?

I believe the meanig in this context in the direction you indicate above; Namely that the runway was partly made of sections of wooden planking, possibly over areas soaked wet by the thaw of snow and consequently to soft for heavy aircraft to land on or take off from.
G.

[Seaplanes]

Wooden sections were more like wooden pallets as we know them today.

[Larry deZeng]

Thanks for the additional comments.

I was surprised to discover the number of wartime airfields in Norway that had concrete runways, sometimes 2 and 3 of them. The percentage was many times greater than for the airfields in Germany. The great majority of the larger airfields in the Reich had grass surfaces and only the hangar aprons and taxiways were paved.

This is why I was puzzled to read in the source noted below that Norway's concrete runways were almost all with treseksjoner. Why would you use wooden sections or pallets with a concrete runway? If they were placed on top of the concrete, aircraft could neither take off or land. Anyway, that's what the authors of the book say in their one-paragraph write-up for each of the 28 airfields described (pages 313-20).

Hafsten, Bjørn, Ulf Larsstuvold, Bjørn Olsen and Sten Stenersen. Flyalarm: Luftkrigen Over Norge 1939-1945. Oslo: Sem & Stenersen A/S, 1991. ISBN: 82-7046-058-3. Hb (oversize). Dj. 328p. Heavily illus. Maps. Tables.

Here's an example:

Kjeller: ".........Rullebanen ble utbygget til 1 200 x 100 meter og fikk betongdekke med treseksjoner."

So this is why I thought treseksjoner might be lengths of sawmill lumber inserted between the sections of poured concrete for the reasons I stated earlier.

L.

[Graham Boak]

Books on the Bf109T mention the aircraft being chosen for operation from Herla, with its short wooden runway. Possibly it was not the only one.

I suspect the ground conditions in northern Norway would make grass airfields unusable for much of the year, hence the need for solid runways.

[Larry deZeng]

Yes, that's right. There were a few wooden runways and a few grass runways, but the majority were concrete. Although the Norwegian book I cited did not specifically state that Herdla had a wooden runway, it evidently did as you noted:

Herdla (NOR) (60 34 N – 04 57 E)
General: airfield on an island 29 km NW of Bergen in SW Norway. Constructed during 1940-41 as a fighter strip and eventually had a 1,000 x 50 meter north-to-south runway and a 850 x 50 meter south-to-east runway. The units stationed there mainly flew fighter cover for shipping along Norway’s west coast. Ration strength 1 Mar 43: 161 Boden, 39 Ln., 433 Flak, 53 Wehrmachtgefolge.
Air Units:
Station Units: Fl.H.Kdtr. E Herdla (1941-42); Fl.H.Kdtr. E 15/III (1942-44); Fl.H.Kdtr. A(o) 104/III (1944-45).

L.

[F19Gladiator]

Can be worth trying sending a mail to Kjeller Flyhistoriske Forening (KFF): kff@luftnett.com
Homepage:
http://www.luftnett.org/index.php?op...tpage&Itemid=1

Br/Goran

[Larry deZeng]

Excellent, Br/Goran! I will send them an e-mail.

Thanks,

Larry