WW II Carl Gustav Fleischer Commander of Norwegian forces in Canada medal 60mm

Description

Shipping from Europe with tracking number
Carl Gustav Fleischer
KCB
(28 December 1883 – 19 December 1942
[2]
) was a
Norwegian
general
and the first land commander to win a major victory against the
Germans
in the
Second World War
. Having followed the Norwegian government into exile at the end of the Norwegian Campaign, Fleischer committed suicide after being bypassed for appointment as commander-in-chief of the
Norwegian Armed Forces in exile
and being sent to the insignificant post as commander of Norwegian forces in Canada.
Early and personal life
Fleischer was born in
Bjørnør
Rectory
(now
Roan
) in
Sør-Trøndelag
as the son of the
Church of Norway
pastor
Carl Edvard Fleischer (1843–1885) and Johanne Sophie Fergstad (1850–1926).
[1]
After his father died,
[3]
Fleischer moved with his mother to grow up in
Trondheim
. His childhood home was one characterized by
Christianity
,
simplicity
and
frugality
.
[4]
His ancestors had migrated from
Elbing
in
East Prussia
to Norway, first with Tobias Fleischer (1630–1690) who found a position in
Kongsberg
. The current lineage is descended from Tobias' nephew Herman Reinhold Fleischer (1656–1712),
[5]
who also had notable children in Denmark.
[6]
Carl Gustav Fleischer was a descendant of Herman's son Philip Johan Fleischer (1699–1763). Notable relatives include Philip's brother
Baltzer Fleischer
and grandnephew
Palle Rømer Fleischer
, and Carl Gustav's brother, bishop
Andreas Fleischer
. Carl Gustav Fleischer was also a more distant relative of
Carl August Fleischer
,
Nanna Fleischer
,
Agnes Fleischer
and
August Fleischer
.
[5]
Carl Gustav Fleischer married Antonie "Toni" Charlotte Hygen (1888–1947) in 1919 in
Kristiania
.
[3]
[7]
In his spare time Fleischer enjoyed
watercolor painting
and
trout
fishing.
[8]
Military career
Pre-Second World War
[
edit
]
Motivated by economic uncertainties, Fleischer joined the
Norwegian Military Academy
and graduated as the second best student in 1905.
[2]
The academy instilled in young Fleischer a strong belief in that the first task of a military officer was to defend his country and that regulations were to be considered standing orders in critical situations.
[4]
In 1917 Fleischer made the rank of captain.
[2]
In 1919-1923 he was the
staff officer
of the
Norwegian 6th Division
before becoming Commanding Officer of the
14th Infantry Regiment
(IR 14) in
Mosjøen
. While serving in
North Norway
Fleischer became an avid writer of military manuals and worked continually on developing the
Norwegian Armed Forces
in line with the special prerequisites caused by the Norwegian nature and society.
[4]
From 1909 to 1933 he held various positions in the Norwegian General Staff. In addition he served as a captain and commanded Company 4 of the
Norwegian Royal Guards
in 1926-1929, chief of the Commanding General's staff of
adjutants
in 1933-1934 and as a teacher at the Norwegian Defence Staff College in 1928-1934.
[2]
[7]
He also edited the military journal
Norsk Militært Tidsskrift
.
[3]
During his time at the General Staff Fleischer warned of the possibility of a surprise attack on central areas of Norway. He also stated that the best way of confronting such an attack was a combination of defending coastal outposts while the main forces mobilised in rear areas in the interior of the country.
[8]
In 1930 he was promoted to the rank of major, and in 1934 became a colonel, assuming command of the Sør-Hålogaland Regiment (Infantry Regiment 14).
[2]
Second World War
Background and strategy
hide
Norway
and
World War II
Key events
Operation
Weserübung
Norwegian Campaign
Elverum Authorization
Occupation
Resistance
Camps
The Holocaust
Telavåg
Martial law in Trondheim (1942)
Festung Norwegen
Heavy water sabotage
Liberation of Finnmark
Post-war purge
People
Haakon VII
Crown Prince Olav
Johan Nygaardsvold
Halvdan Koht
C. J. Hambro
Carl Gustav Fleischer
Otto Ruge
Jens Christian Hauge
Gunnar Sønsteby
Vidkun Quisling
Jonas Lie
Sverre Riisnæs
Josef Terboven
Wilhelm Rediess
Henry Rinnan
Nikolaus von Falkenhorst
Organizations
Milorg
XU
Linge
Osvald Group
Nortraship
Nasjonal Samling
Hirden
Statspolitiet
Sonderabteilung Lola
On 16 January 1939 Fleischer was made
Major General
(
generalmajor
) and Commanding Officer of the Norwegian 6th Division,
[4]
the position that would lead him to become the first allied general to defeat the
Wehrmacht
in a head-on land confrontation. January 1940 saw Fleischer appointed by royal resolution as commander-in-chief of North Norway in case of war.
[2]
After the
Winter War
between
Finland
and
Russia
broke out in November 1939 the 6th Division was mobilised and Fleischer repeatedly took the initiative to encourage the Norwegian government to increase the country's military readiness in North Norway. Included amongst these initiatives were wide-ranging measures against
the region's communists
. Fleischer's distrust of the
Soviet Union
continued to show itself throughout the following
Norwegian Campaign
in 1940, when he kept substantial forces at the Soviet border in eastern
Finnmark
despite a desperate need of reinforcements at the front line at
Narvik
against Maj. Gen.
Eduard Dietl
's
Gebirgsjäger
forces.
[9]
In 1940, following the
German invasion of Norway
General Fleischer was appointed commander-in-chief of the Norwegian armed forces in North Norway.
[9]
At the time of the attack on 9 April 1940 Fleischer was at
Vadsø
in Finnmark as part of an inspection journey together with his chief-of-staff, Major
Odd Lindbäck-Larsen
. When message of the invasion reached him the area was in the middle of a ferocious blizzard.
[8]
[10]
Due to the extreme weather Fleischer could not leave Vadsø either by
Hurtigruten
ship or
naval aircraft
, and had to stay overnight.
County Governor of Finnmark
Hans Gabrielsen
invited Fleischer to stay at the governor's mansion. After discussing the situation with Gabrielsen, Fleischer managed to set off for
Tromsø
the next day, arriving there by
M.F.11
naval aircraft after flying in terrible conditions.
[8]
[10]
[11]
[12]
From Tromsø he issued orders for a total civilian and military mobilization and declared Northern Norway a
theatre of war
.
[8]
He handed over most of the civilian powers to the respective
County Governors
in
Troms
and Finnmark, Hans Gabrielsen taking all civilian power in Northern Norway after the death of the
County Governor of Troms
a few days after the invasion.
[10]
Fleischer's strategic plan was to first wipe out the German forces at Narvik and then transfer his division to
Nordland
to meet a German advance from
Trøndelag
.
[8]
Fleischer valued offensive actions against enemy forces, using the unique nature of the Norwegian terrain to carry out attacks against an enemy's flanks and rear. General Fleischer had already in 1934 opposed the concept of fighting delaying actions while waiting for Allied reinforcements, a tactic on which General
Otto Ruge
relied during his defence of the vital
Eastern Norway
region.
[8]
Operations in 1940
Carl Gustav Fleischer in 1940
As commander of the 6th Division, Maj. Gen. Carl Gustav Fleischer coordinated Norwegian, French, Polish and British forces in the
recapturing of Narvik
on 28 May from Maj. Gen. Eduard Dietl's Austro-German
3rd Mountain Division
. The victory was accomplished despite shifting allied strategies and leadership. Following the evacuation of southern Norway Fleischer was embroiled in conflicts with the political and military leadership arriving from the abandoned southern parts of the country. The General's hard-headed and uncompromising style did not help in this regard.
[9]
Narvik was the first major allied infantry victory in the Second World War. Unfortunately for the Norwegians, following
the German invasion of France and the Low Countries
on 10 May 1940, the Allied task force was withdrawn in early June. Without the support from the Allies, the Norwegian Army alone would not be able to defend its positions and a capitulation agreement for mainland Norway was signed. The Germans reoccupied Narvik on 9 June.
As the Norwegian forces in mainland Norway were about to surrender, General Fleischer was ordered to follow
King Haakon VII
and the
Cabinet Nygaardsvold
into exile in the United Kingdom, having been made commander of the
Norwegian army in exile
on 7 June 1940.
[2]
[3]
In the company of his wife he left Norway on 8 June, on board the patrol vessel
Fridtjof Nansen
.
[13]
Exile
General Fleischer's gravestone at
Vår Frelsers gravlund
.
During his exile in the
United Kingdom
, General Fleischer quickly built up a Norwegian infantry brigade based in
Dumfries
,
Scotland
from June 1940. However, he soon got at odds with the Norwegian political leadership in exile due to his strong headed attitudes and unwillingness to compromise. He also became controversial in factions of the cabinet due to his support of
British commando raids
on the Norwegian coast, even stating his willingness to personally participate in the attacks on the
German occupying forces in Norway
.
[14]
While stationed in the UK, he received a number of allied awards. Among these were the Polish
Virtuti Militari
for bravery, the French
Croix de guerre
, and appointment by the British as a Knight Commander of the
Order of the Bath
.
[3]
Most likely because of a personal antagonism due to this fact, General Fleischer was bypassed when the exile government of prime minister
Johan Nygaardsvold
in 1942 decided to recreate the post of commander-in-chief of the
Norwegian Armed Forces
.
[14]
This post had existed temporarily during the 1940 campaign, but General
Otto Ruge
, who had been commander-in-chief during the campaign, stayed in Norway and surrendered with his troops. Instead of Fleischer, who was the obvious choice, the cabinet promoted
Major
Wilhelm von Tangen Hansteen
, the young
defence attaché
in
Helsinki
, Finland directly to
general
and gave him the post.
[4]
In response to this act Fleischer delivered his resignation.
[14]
The cabinet ordered General Fleischer to take up a new post as commander of Norwegian forces in
Canada
. Apart from the
Royal Norwegian Air Force
's training base
Little Norway
near
Toronto
, which was already headed by
Ole Reistad
, and a school for
merchant marine gunners
at
Lunenburg
near
Halifax
,
Nova Scotia
, there were no Norwegian forces in Canada. A plan to create a Norwegian Army in Canada of expatriate
Norwegian Americans
came to nothing.
[14]
Before leaving for Canada Fleischer inspected the Norwegian garrison on the distant Norwegian island
Jan Mayen
in the
Atlantic Ocean
. The General concluded that the garrison was too small to defend anything more than the midsection of the island, leaving several landing beaches open to the Germans during the relatively calm summer months. Based on his observations Fleischer reported that the garrison should be reinforced during the summer, a small garrison being sufficient during winter.
[15]
He also inspected the Norwegian forces based on
Iceland
.
[3]
Suicide and aftermath
Memorial to Fleischer and the 6th Division at
Lapphaugen
in
Troms
, Norway. The memorial stone is flanked by heavily modernized ex-German
10.5 cm leFH 16
field howitzers.
On 1 December 1942, General Fleischer was ordered to the position of Military Attaché to Washington D.C. This was another obvious humiliation, since usually officers of the ranks of Major or Lieutenant-Colonel served in this role. Being too much for him to swallow, he shot himself with his own gun through the heart on 19 December 1942. He was found by his adjutant Lieutenant Richard Brinck-Johnsen who brought the urn with the General's ashes to London in a
Liberator
aircraft. In London Brinck-Johnsen was ordered to keep the circumstances of Fleischer's death secret. Only in 1995 did Brinck-Johnsen speak out, stating that in his opinion Fleischer had taken his own life in sorrow of being set aside and not being needed by anyone.
[14]
Still disputed today, it is thought that one of the reason for sending him to Canada was that he favoured a series of coastal raids against Norway to hamper German use of the occupied nation. Fleischer also wanted to build substantial army forces abroad and employ them in active operations against the German occupying forces in Norway, something that was in direct conflict with the more passive strategy favoured by Cabinet Nygaardsvold.
[8]
The prevailing view in the rest of the Cabinet was to build air and naval forces that could be used directly with Allied forces, as they feared such raids would provoke the Germans into severe punitive actions against the local populace, such as they did after the
Telavåg
incident.
When General Fleischer's ashes were brought back to Norway after the war, the Labour cabinet denied him a state funeral.
[
citation needed
]
Despite the presence of
the King
,
the Crown Prince
, and representatives of all other parts of Norwegian society, no representatives of the cabinet or the Labour Party attended. When a monument to his honour was raised in
Harstad
at the headquarters of the 6th Division, which was also attended by the King, the same lack of respect was shown by the cabinet and the Labour Party.
Harstad
(Gen. Fleischers gate),
Bodø
(General Fleischers gate),
Bardufoss
(General Fleischers veg) and
Eiksmarka
(General Fleischers vei) all have streets named after the general.