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The Capture of Egersund took place on 9 April 1940, and saw German soldiers of a bicycle squadron land at the Norwegian port town of Egersund, as part of the German invasion of Norway during the Second World War. The Germans seized the town without armed resistance, capturing the small Norwegian army and navy force there and achieving their main objective of cutting the undersea telegraph cable between Norway and the United Kingdom. By seizing control of Egersund, the Germans created one of several invasion beachheads in Norway. The landing at Egersund was an important factor in making Norwegian forces in the county of Rogaland pull back from the coast and confront the invading Germans further inland. By cementing their control of the Rogaland coastline, the Germans were free to use Stavanger Airport, Sola, as an important base for Luftwaffe operations in Norway. Although the civilian population of Egersund initially reacted calmly to the German invasion, panic broke out the following day and led to a mass exodus from the town, after unfounded rumours began to circulate about an incoming British bomber raid. ==Background== Following the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Norway declared herself neutral. Norwegian neutrality was repeatedly violated by both warring parties, including by way of German U-boat attacks on shipping within Norwegian territorial waters. The Norwegian Armed Forces were ill-equipped, only partially mobilized, and unable to efficiently protect Norwegian neutrality.〔Haarr 2009, pp. 15-21, 27〕 On 17 February 1940, the day after the Altmark Incident, where the British Royal Navy had ignored Norwegian neutrality in an operation to rescue 299 captive British sailors from the German auxiliary ''Altmark'' in Norwegian territorial waters, Adolf Hitler ordered the invasion of Norway. Hitler gave as his reasons for carrying out the invasion a need to pre-empt a potential British landing in Norway, to secure the iron ore and other natural resources originating in or being supplied through Norway, and to secure Germany's northern flank and giving the Kriegsmarine easy access to the Atlantic Ocean. General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst was given overall command of the invasion of Norway.〔Haarr 2009, pp. 6-8〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Capture of Egersund」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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