Norway Military Records

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Norway

Military

Introduction

Norway has been involved in several wars, and its first military force is as old as the country itself. In the late middle ages the military was dissolved. The Danish king (Christian IV) decided in 1628 that a Norwegian army was to be re-established. This was the beginning of a permanent Norwegian Army.

The Norwegian Army was reorganized in 1641 by Hannibal Sehested, governor-general of Norway, and a general war commissioner was chosen 1644. In the 1650s there were two general war commissioners in Norway, one for north of the mountains (nordafjelske) and one for south of the mountains (sønnafjelske). The army was later organized with a general war commissioner and several regional war commissioners. The number of war commissioners varied between seven and ten from 1880 to 1900.

Military records identify individuals who served in the military or who were eligible for service. Evidence that an ancestor actually served may be found in family records, biographies, census, probate records, civil registration, and church records. Other sources such as church and census records are more easily available and contain better genealogical information than the military records.

Military records include the following:

• Muster rolls
• Personnel files
• Regimental account books
• Lists of officers
• Accounts (officers)
• Probate records (officers)
• Naval records
• Second World War Dead

Records of military service in Norway were kept by the Department of Defense. These records are now at the National Archives. The FamilySearch Library has all the available military records for 1643 to 1909 on digitized microfilm. See the FamilySearch Catalog entry for Militærprotokoller, 1643-1909. For more information on these records and how to use them see the Norwegian Military Records class in the FamilySearch Learning Center.

Because the military records from Norway are sketchy and not indexed, they are difficult to work with. The early records only give the names of individual soldiers. Information about officers is easier to find. In the 1700s and 1800s, the records give more detailed personal information about each soldier that can sometimes be found in other records. You may find such information as a soldier's name; age; father's name and occupation; civil occupation; place of residence; marital status; wife's name; number of children; height; bodily peculiarities; illnesses or characteristics that made him unfit to serve; previous service; joining date; length of service; and status as a farm owner renter or cotter.

Determining the Unit

To use Norwegian military records, you will have to determine the specific unit that your ancestor served in. If you do not know the name of the unit, you may be able to find out which units were in the area where he lived. To do this, you must know the parish as well as the city or farm where the individual was living when he was of age to serve in the military. To determine what unit your ancestor belonged to, use these two helpful charts both digitized at www.digitalarkivet.no

1. Ovenstad, Olai - Den norske hær 1628-1900 This collection of oversized charts is broken up into 53 time periods from 1628 to 1900. Each chart displays a map of the organization of the army for that time period consisting of the infantry, cavalry, and artillery regiments. Each company in the regiment is mapped at the bottom of the regiment with the corresponding officers of that company listed above. Companies were usually formed by geography, so the company name is often the same as the parish or region of its members. For example, if an ancestor is from a farm within the Eidsvold parish in Akershus county, one might look under one of the Akershusiske regiments for a company associated with Eidsvold or the Eidsvoldske company. Each parish does not have its own company, also look for companies that share a name with a neighboring parish to the one in which an ancestor resided. Once a specific unit has been determined as a possibility for an ancestor, search for the regiment's microfilm above in the "Militærprotokoller" and the company's record within the microfilm. Physical copies of these oversized charts may be found in the FamilySearch Library. See the FamilySearch catalog entry for "Oversiktsplan : over den norske hars organisasjon 18/1 1628 - 30/9 1940."
2. Kiærland, Lars - Oversiktsplan over den norske hærs organisasjon fra 1628 til 1940 This collection consists of three oversized charts covering 12 time periods between 1628 and 1940. Each chart displays the division of the regiments over time into corps and companies. Identify the regiment (usually associated with a county or group of counties) and then the company (usually associated with a parish, group of parishes, or a geographical region like a valley). Physical copies of these oversized charts may be found in the FamilySearch Library. See the FamilySearch catalog entry for "Den norske Hær : 1628-1900."

Or check the FamilySearch Catalog under:

Norway - Military Records

A useful biography about Norwegian military officers from 1628 to 1814 is Olai Ovenstad's, Militœbiografier, den norske hœrs officerer fra 18 januar 1628 til 17 mai 1814. Oslo, Norway: Norsk Slektshistorisk Forening, 1948-19492. FS Library book 948.1 D3o.

A list of the regiments and companies for each county is listed. The main military records for Norway are to be found on the national level, but there are also a few listed under county and city. These can be found in the FamilySearch Catalog under:

NORWAY [COUNTY], - MILITARY RECORDS
NORWAY, [COUNTY], [PARISH] - MILITARY RECORDS

The Digital Archives has Lars Kiærland's Oversiktsplan over den norske hærs organisasjon fra 1628 til 1940 (RA-PA-0253/F/Fe/L0047) showing the organization of the Norwegian army.

Military Terms

Skipreie. A skipreie or skiprede was a coastal area assigned to build a ship and provide men and provisions for military use. Its size was determined according to the number of farms in the area and did not usually include the entire parish. A skipreie may have included a number of farms of a given parish while another skipreie included the remaining farms in the same parish. A skipreie was not confined to a parish border and may have included farms in several parishes. As the population grew, the area a given skipreie included became smaller. Today a skipreie is called Skipsrederi and is a factory in a city or town where ships are being built.

Fjerding. A fjerding is an old administrative jurisdiction that subdivided a county, district (herred), and sometimes also a skipreie or skiprede. Standardized spellings of place name (names) can first be found in the early 1900s in Norway. Therefore, these terms may be spelled several different ways.

The fjerding was not the only jurisdiction used in the middle ages, but it seems to have been an important one for the church and states. It is the remnant of an ancient system that was still being used in Rogaland County in conjunction with larger court district even in the 1700s and 1800s.

The term fjerding is mainly used in early records in Norway. It could also mean 1/4th of a county in western Norway, or in Iceland it could men 1/4th of the whole country. In the middle ages a fjerding could mean 1/4th of a large district or area.

Military Actions

Norway was involved in the following significant actions:

The Nordic Seven-Year War, 1563-1570 - War against Sweden waged by Frederic II of Denmark to win control of the Baltic Sea failed.

The Kalmar War, 1611-1613 - Denmark-Norway against Sweden.

The Hannibal Feud, 1643-1645. - Norway lost Jämtland and Härjedalen to Sweden.

The Krabbe War and Bjelke Feud, 1657-1660 - Norway lost Trondheim len and Romsdal to Sweden, but took back Jämtland and Härjedalen.

The Gyldenløve Feud, 1675-1679 - Norway's army went against Sweden. Also called the war of Skåne.

The Great Northern War, 1700-1720 - Denmark-Norway joined the conflict in 1709, and as part of the Treaty of Frederiksborg in 1720 Denmark-Norway gained full control over Schleswig. Small colonies were established in West Indies and Greenland.

Action against Sweden in Bohuslän, 1788 - Denmark-Norway tried to take the fortress Bohus in Bohuslän.

The Napoleonic War, 1807-1814 - Ended by treaty of Kiel in 1814 which forced Denmark to cede Norway to Sweden.

World War II, 1940-1945 - Norway was occupied by forces of Nazi Germany from 9 April 1940 to 8 May 1945.

For more historical information about the Norwegian military, see:

• Vårt Forsvars Historie, Bjørn Christophersen. Oslo, Norway: Gyldendahl Norsk Forlag, 1978. FS Library book 948.1 M2c
• Kilder til 2. verdenskrig, Slekt og Data Norge.
• For information about Norwegians who served in the 15th Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War, see the Norwegian-American Genealogical Center's 15th Wisconsin Regiment page.

More resources are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog under:

Norway - Military history

Historic Military Ranks

From the establishment of the Army until the end of the 19th century, the ranking system was fairly stable.

Menige (Enlisted)

• Menig/Gemen
• Under- og overkonstabel (Artillery)

Underoffiserer (Non-commisioned Officers)

• Korporal
• Bombarder (Artillery)
• Sersjant
• Fyrverker (Artillery)
• Furér
• Kommandersersjant
• Fanejunker
• Stykkjunker (Artillery, occasionally also the lowest officer rank)
• Standartjunker (Cavalry)

Offiserer (Officers)

• Fenrik
• Kornett (Cavalry)
• Stykkjunker (Artillery, occasionally also highest non-commissioned officer rank)
• Sekondløytnant
• Premierløytnant
• Kaptein
• Rittmester (Cavalry)
• Stykkhauptmann (Artillery)
• Major
• Oberstløytnant
• Oberst
• Generalmajor
• Generalløytnant
• General
• Feltmarskalkløytnant
• Feltmarskalk
• Generalfeltmarskalk