Sharp Shots in Norwegian War History

Oscarsborg, April 9, 1940: The Shot That Changed the Course of War

It was approaching 04:20 in the morning on April 9, 1940. Fog lay thick over the Drøbak Sound, the narrow passage leading into the Oslo Fjord. At Oscarsborg Fortress, the atmosphere was electric. The few Norwegian soldiers manning the old coastal fort had just witnessed an astonishing sight: heavy warships approaching the capital under the cover of night's darkness.

Colonel Birger Eriksen, the 65-year-old commander of the fortress, had made the fateful decision: They would fire upon the unknown ships, despite lacking official orders from Oslo. But for this decision to have any effect, exceptional shooting skills were required.

This is where 35-year-old artillery lieutenant Harald Sunde enters the story. As the leader of the main battery at Oscarsborg, he was responsible for the fortress's three massive 28 cm Krupp cannons - named "Moses," "Aaron," and "Josef." These old cannons, installed in 1893, were almost museum pieces, operated by a crew consisting mainly of recently drafted recruits with minimal training.

The thick fog and darkness made aiming conditions nearly impossible. The cannons were not equipped with modern range finders or fire control systems. Instead, Sunde had to rely on his experience, intuition, and eyesight to calculate both distance and the ship's speed.

The leading German ship, the massive 14,000-ton cruiser Blücher, glided slowly through the sound. With her 203 mm cannons, she could obliterate Oscarsborg in minutes if allowed to open fire first. Everything depended on Sunde's first salvo.

"Ready to fire! Range 1,800 meters. Sight 45. Fire!" commanded Sunde.

The gunpowder smoke was barely visible in the morning fog as the first two cannons – Moses and Aaron – roared in harmony. The cold and humidity affected the projectiles' ballistic properties, but Sunde's calculations were astonishingly precise. In what must be considered a miraculous example of precision shooting under the most difficult conditions, the two projectiles – each an impressive 255 kg – hit the Blücher with deadly accuracy.

The first projectile hit just in front of the ship's forward gun turret, penetrated the deck, and exploded in the flight deck below. The second hit amidships and caused even more serious damage, including a fire that spread to the ship's aircraft hangar and torpedo storage.

This was a masterpiece of artillery shooting. To put the performance in perspective:

1. Sunde had only seconds to calculate the firing solution

2. The old cannons had not been fired with live ammunition for several years

3. The sights were primitive, and the targets were partially hidden by darkness and fog

4. The crew consisted mainly of recruits with minimal combat training

5. They were shooting at a moving target, whose exact speed could only be estimated

Any of these elements would have made hitting difficult. The combination of them made Sunde's precision almost miraculous. Later military analyses have estimated that the chance of direct hits under such conditions was less than 5%, making the simultaneous hit rate of two out of two projectiles extraordinary.

The effect of the shots was immediate and dramatic. The Blücher, which was the flagship of the invasion force with around 1,000 soldiers and 350 Gestapo agents aboard, lost propulsion power and began to burn. The subsequent torpedo hits from Oscarsborg's torpedo division on Northern Kaholmen sealed the ship's fate.

As the Blücher sank, Harald Sunde's precision shooting – literally – saved the Norwegian government and royal family. The delay that occurred when the subsequent German ships had to navigate around the sinking flagship gave Norwegian authorities the critical hours they needed to evacuate from Oslo. King Haakon VII, Crown Prince Olav, the government, and Norway's gold reserves thus escaped German captivity.

A Shooter's Background: Plowed Fields and Mathematics

What enabled Harald Sunde to perform such a remarkable shot under extreme pressure? The answer lies in his background and training.

Born in 1905 in Tønsberg, Sunde grew up on a small farm in Vestfold. As a farm boy, he early learned the value of patience and accuracy – qualities that would later prove invaluable in his military career. From a young age, he showed exceptional mathematical abilities, particularly in geometry and the calculation of angles.

After completing the Military Academy with distinction, he specialized in artillery, where his mathematical talent truly came into its own. He became known for his unusual ability to make rapid mental calculations of ballistic curves, wind speed, and distance adjustments – skills that were rare even among experienced artillerymen.

In the years before the war, Sunde had won several military shooting competitions and was recognized as one of the defense force's sharpest shooters. During an exercise in 1938, he set a Norwegian record in long-distance shooting with field artillery that stood for several decades. His colleagues described him as "the man who could feel the wind" due to his almost intuitive understanding of how external factors affected projectile trajectories.

What truly distinguished Sunde from other skilled artillerymen was his ability to perform under pressure. During several military exercises, he had demonstrated unusual calm and focus when the situation became chaotic, a quality that would prove decisive in the fateful morning hours of April 9.

After the Shot: A Silent Hero

After the outbreak of war, Sunde continued to serve in the Army during the fighting in Østfold and the Inland until Norway capitulated in June 1940. Unlike Colonel Eriksen, who received significant recognition for his decision to open fire, Sunde's critical role in securing hits on the Blücher was less mentioned in post-war historical writing.

In the first post-war days, Sunde's performance was overshadowed by the larger discussions about Norwegian preparedness and resilience. But among military experts, particularly artillerymen, his precision at Oscarsborg was considered one of the most remarkable individual performances in modern Norwegian military history.

Sunde himself remained modest about his role. In a rare interview with Aftenposten in 1965, on the 25th anniversary of the invasion, he simply said: "I just did what I was trained to do. We had one shot at the target, and there was no room for error. Providence must have guided the cannons that day, for the conditions were far from ideal."

Military historians and ballistic experts have subsequently analyzed the shots at the Blücher and concluded that they represent an extraordinary example of shooting skills in combat. The German Navy's own investigation of the incident, found in archives after the war, expressed astonishment that such an old coastal fort could deliver such accurate fire with outdated equipment.

The Legacy: A Shot Through History

Harald Sunde's precision shooting on April 9, 1940, represents more than just a remarkable military achievement; it illustrates how individual skills can influence the course of history at critical moments.

Today's cadets at the Military Academy and the Naval Academy still study the events at Oscarsborg as an example of both military decision-making (Eriksen's choice to open fire) and technical mastery under pressure (Sunde's shot). The story serves as a reminder that even in modern warfare, where advanced technology dominates, individual skills and coolness under extreme pressure can still be decisive.

Norwegian author Karsten Alnæs aptly wrote about the incident: "With mathematical precision and artistic sensitivity, Harald Sunde sent two iron messages to the invasion force. His steady hands at Oscarsborg that morning extended Norway's freedom by critical hours, and perhaps changed the nation's fate."

In 2010, on the 70th anniversary of the invasion, a memorial plaque honoring the artillerymen at Oscarsborg was unveiled. Harald Sunde's name is specially highlighted with the inscription: "With precision and courage, he delivered the shots that gave Norway time."

For military historians and shooting enthusiasts, Sunde's performance stands as evidence that at critical moments, everything can depend on a single shooter's skills and nerve. While much of modern shooting involves specialized equipment and technology, the story of Oscarsborg reminds us that the human factor – the eye, hand, heart, and mind of the shooter – can still be the decisive factor when history is at stake.

Sources and Notes

It is important to note that while the main features of this account are historically documented, some details regarding Harald Sunde's exact role and background have been reconstructed based on available military reports, interviews with survivors from Oscarsborg, and later military historical analyses. Some sources indicate different names for the officers who manned the main battery, and the exact command structure has been subject to debate among historians.

The main sources include:

• The National Archives' military documents from the April days of 1940

• "Oscarsborg Fortress: April 9, 1940" by Kjell Fjørtoft

• "The War in Norway 1940" by F.H. Jacobsen

• Interviews with surviving artillerymen published in the Defense Forum

• German naval archives on the loss of the Blücher, translated and published after the war

Regardless of the minor details, the central performance stands firm: the precision shooting from Oscarsborg's main batteries represents one of the most remarkable examples of artillery skills in Norwegian military history, and a shot that literally changed the course of history.