Lapphaugen is where the German advance northward from Narvik was permanently halted during the 1940 campaign. After taking Narvik on April 9, German troops pushed north through Gratangen towards Harstad, where the Norwegian 6th Division had its headquarters. At Lapphaugen, Norwegian forces stopped them. A blizzard reduced visibility to zero and the Germans could go no further. They never resumed the offensive here.
The Norwegian counter-attack that followed was coordinated by General Carl Gustav Fleischer, the first Allied land commander to defeat the Germans in World War II. His troops, together with French, British and Polish forces, eventually recaptured Narvik on May 28, 1940. But Fleischer's story ended badly. In exile in London, he clashed with the Norwegian government over strategy. He wanted active raids against occupied Norway; they preferred caution. In what he considered a deliberate humiliation, he was sent to command non-existent forces in Canada. On December 19, 1942, Fleischer took his own life. When his ashes were returned to Norway after the war, the Labour government denied him a state funeral.
A memorial at Lapphaugen commemorates the 1940 battle and General Fleischer. The nearby Lapphaugen Turiststasjon has a small museum about the war years in the region.
The Norwegian counter-attack that followed was coordinated by General Carl Gustav Fleischer, the first Allied land commander to defeat the Germans in World War II. His troops, together with French, British and Polish forces, eventually recaptured Narvik on May 28, 1940. But Fleischer's story ended badly. In exile in London, he clashed with the Norwegian government over strategy. He wanted active raids against occupied Norway; they preferred caution. In what he considered a deliberate humiliation, he was sent to command non-existent forces in Canada. On December 19, 1942, Fleischer took his own life. When his ashes were returned to Norway after the war, the Labour government denied him a state funeral.
A memorial at Lapphaugen commemorates the 1940 battle and General Fleischer. The nearby Lapphaugen Turiststasjon has a small museum about the war years in the region.
