In a sort of follow-up to the one-day 9 April 1940 invasion that saw an overwhelming German force steamroll the country by lunch, on 29 August 1943– some 80 years ago today– while we covered the actions of the Danish Navy already (see Copenhagen’s Finest), the Hæren made a final attempt to resist their unwanted neighbors to the south when the Germans made a move to stamp out a growing resistance and uprising through an armored fist.
The prelude included the famed Danish “cold shoulder” campaign, no less than 800 sabotage actions in the first eight months of 1943, and a series of strikes and public disorders in Esbjerg (9-11 August), Odense (18-23 August), Aalborg (23-29 August), and Århus (26-29 August), culminated with the Danish government submitting their resignation to the King on 28 August.
This led Gen. Hermann von Hanneken, the supreme commander of the German forces in Denmark, to declare martial law in an “emergency action” (Operation Safari) that led to the Danish military being disarmed and its personnel interned, at least briefly.
Unternehmen Safari: German panzers on the move in Copenhagen on the morning of 29 August 1943. FHM-170533
The pre-war left-socialist government had stripped the ostensibly 30,000-man two-division Danish Army by April 1940 to its bare minimum of just 15,000 then furloughing most of them until the force stood at just a 2,000-man cadre and about 6,600 conscripts on month two of their 11-month national service orders.
Even at this, post the German occupation, the Danish Army was paired down even further to just 2,200 men: the battalion-sized Royal Life Guards (Kongelige Livgarde) who were still allowed to protect the King, caretaker forces required for maintenance work at bases, and a small number of reserve officers and NCOs were allowed to train in the Army’s Kornet og løjtnantskole (Cornet and Lieutenant School).
Facing 60,000 panzer- and air-supported German troops, it was a no-win situation.
Still, there was resistance offered and the Danish army suffered about 60 casualties, inflicting roughly half as many on the Germans.
An understrength company-sized unit at the Holbæk Barracks on the island of Zealand took to the street…
Soldiers from Holbæk Barracks prepare for battle, on Aug 29, 1943. Note the Madsen LMG with its distinctive 40-round magazine forward, Krag rifles, and their iconic Danish M23/38 Staalhjelm. FHM-170147
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…Then, with German armor coming up, saw the futility of their actions and managed to turn the resulting hour-long stalemate into an opportunity to scrap their guns.
They even paraded with their broken weapons before stacking them.
Soldiers from the garrison in Holbæk 29 August 1943 parade with broken guns before the arrival of the Germans. FHM-170129
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Several period color images, snapped by Flemming Find Andersen, detailing the Army Officer’s School detachment at the Jægersprislejren training grounds in Horns Herred, about 50 km from Copenhagen, going on alert on 29 August 1943 endure in the collection of the Nationalmuseet.
Drink in that period Danish battle rattle including Krag rifles and a M35 Swedish-Danish 37mm antitank gun the distance. FHM-159177
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At one point in the morning, they loaded up in privately owned trucks and readied to rush off to meet the Germans. Some discussion was made about a trip into the capital to link up with the Life Guards.
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In the end, the prospect of a company or so of officer cadets facing off against a German division proved futile, and they were ordered to lay down their arms.
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They were interned at the Jægersprislejren until 31 October and then paroled, with most of the men going on to join the local resistance movements alongside the Freedom Council and donned their uniforms again during the final days of occupation, girded by both homemade STEN guns and weapons dropped via the SOE and OSS.
Flash forward to May 1945
The Hæren effectively reformed in the streets and countryside on 4 May 1945, when upwards of 20,000 armed Danes took their country back.
Old helmets and uniforms were taken out of attics, and new guns added to old stocks carefully put away, as “The Day” had come.
Meeting of Danish Resistance fighters in a farm in Rødvore just after the Freedom message aired on the BBC at 20:35 pm on the 4 of May 1945. (DINES BOGØ)
Rally of Danish Resistance fighters (Rødvore company) in the periphery of Copenhagen, days after the Freedom declaration of the 4th of May 1945. (DINES BOGØ)
Danish resistance fighters leading collaborators to the courthouse in Copenhagen, following the liberation of Denmark in May 1945. The resistance fighters are wearing black-painted Danish Army M23/40 Staalhjelms (without the front emblem) and are all armed with 9mm Swedish M37/39 Suomi pattern submachine guns.
Members of the Danish Resistance Movement (den danske modstandsbevægelse) photographed in Kalundborg in 1945. They are armed with Swedish-made 9mm Kpist M37/39 submachine guns (licenced-made variants of the Finnish Suomi KP/-31) and are wearing M23/40 Staalhjelms.
Freedom fighters in Aalborg after the liberation on 5 May 1945 FHM-238616
German soldiers surrendered to Danish Resistance FHM-218347
Danish resistance Frederiksberg Castle. Note the mix of Army, Navy, and police uniforms, helmets, and arms. FHM-320918
Battles in Odense 5 May 1945 FHM-239539
Resistance groups from Kulhuse, Kyndby, and Strandgården reoccupied the Jægersprislejren, on 6 May 1945, two days before VE-Day, and fired a salute on the parade ground as the Dannebrog was raised once again.
Today, the total strength of the Danish Army is approximately 9,000 professional troops, excluding conscripts undergoing basic training which brings total active strength to nearly 23,000, bolstered by some 60,000 reserves. Meanwhile, the Danish Home Guard counts some 40,000 members.
Training continues to be held at the Jægersprislejren.