The Viking Battalion (Hardback)
Norwegian American Ski Troopers in World War II
Pages: 384
Illustrations: 50 photographs
ISBN: 9781636243238
Published: 15th June 2023
(click here for international delivery rates)
Need a currency converter? Check XE.com for live rates
Hidden in the crevasses of World War II history is the story of the 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate). A small unit that rarely gets any attention, it is part of a fascinating story. Alongside battalions of Austrian, Greek, Filipino and Japanese Americans, the Army decided to create an all Norwegian American battalion, originally trained at Camp Hale, Colorado, along with the 10th Mountain Division, with the original mission of liberating Norway. Their exploits during training brought them enough notoriety that members of the 99th were recruited to start the First Special Service Force and a branch of the OSS. Although they were not initially sent to Norway, they would fight in Normandy, across France and Belgium, helped entrap the Germans at Aachen, protected the city of Malmedy during the Battle of the Bulge (where they stopped an attack by Skorzeny and a SS Panzer Division), helped liberate Buchenwald, guarded the Nazi treasures found in Merkers mine and finally served as the Honor Guard for King Haakon VII on his triumphant return to Norway.This book tells the story of the 99th Infantry Battalion through an anthology of rarely, if ever, previously seen memoirs, journals, letters and newspaper articles written by or about the Viking soldiers.
In the summer of 1942 the US War Department activated the 99th Infantry Battalion.
History Book Chat
Banded together were Norwegian men who had escaped the German Occupation of Norway, or men currently living in the United States who were of direct Norwegian descent.
Following initial fitness training, the men were tested to their limits with high altitude and mountain warfare training in the Colorado mountains. From here they would eventually sail to Britain and continue their training at camps near Salisbury and in a 'very wet and muddy' South Wales. Most expected this was in preparation for operations in Norway.
Some were selected for parachute training, but the rest of the Battalion sailed to France shortly after D-Day.
For many the first sight of France was landing at Omaha Beach and seeing the rows of white crosses marking the graves of fallen comrades. The 99ers themselves would soon be facing the enemy on the frontline.
From the summertime battles for the Channel ports, to the bitter Ardennes winter of the Battle of the Bulge. They would go on to witness the V-Missile attacks on Leige, the German concentration camps and also escort convoys of Nazi looted gold and art.
With the end of the war in Europe, survivors finally saw Norway again, their loved ones and the return of King Haakon VII.
Each chapter is a different veteran's story. Some accounts were written for publication, or shared in family letters. This is not just a book full of battles, but of places they visited and the people they met.
Few books ever cover the immediate post-war period in Norway. In one particularly fascinating chapter, one veteran describes his time guarding the German soldiers who were now in camps awaiting repatriation. Those identified as having committed crimes under the occupation, would not be going home.
Home for the men of 99ers was either Norway or back in the United States. The book closes with the list of commendations and individual medals earned by this remarkable Battalion.
A fitting tribute.