Fieldfare cabin (''Fieldfarehytta'') is a shelter built during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany. It is situated in the

Tafjordfjella Tafjordfjella or Tafjordfjellene ( en, The Tafjord mountains) is a mountain range in Møre og Romsdal and Innlandet counties, Norway. It is located in the municipalities of Fjord Municipality, Fjord, Stranda Municipality, Stranda, Rauma Municipali ...

mountains on the northern shore of the Lake Veltdalsvatnet in

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, en, South- Møre) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities ( no, kommuner) of Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Norddal ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The cabin was built during the spring of 1944 by the sabotage team of

Joachim Rønneberg Joachim Holmboe Rønneberg (30 August 1919 – 21 October 2018) was a Norwegian Army Officer (armed forces), officer and broadcaster. He was known for his Norwegian resistance movement, resistance work during World War II, most notably commandin ...

Birger Strømsheim Birger Edvin Martin Strømsheim, (11 October 1911 – 10 November 2012) was a Norwegian resistance movement, Norwegian resistance member during World War II, especially noted for his role in the Norwegian heavy water sabotage, heavy water sab ...

(1911-2012) and Olav Aarsæther (1918- 2006) of the

Norwegian Independent Company 1 Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NOR.I.C.1, pronounced ''Norisén'' (approx. "noor-ee-sehn") in Norwegian) was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) group formed in March 1941 originally for the purpose of performing commando raids during ...

(''Kompani Linge'') as part of Operation Fieldfare in Sunnmøre (''Fieldfare i Tafjordfjellene på Sunnmøre''). The location of the cabin is very remote, as it takes two or three days by foot on rough ground to get there. The team was dropped from

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Their assignment was to prepare attacks on German supply lines in valley of Romsdal. Additionally they were to establish a foothold in the mountains close to Dombås, one of the busiest railway-intersections between

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

and

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

. Situated under an overhanging rock to protect it from discovery by aircraft, they used the cabin as a shelter for more than a year during their sabotage actions. It was built with the over-stock of materials used for civil construction of Heimste at Veltdalsvatnet, which had been built in the thirties. The cabin was rebuilt by Joachim Rønneberg during the summer of 1990. The cabin has a part of the original radio equipment set up and a copy of the log book. The cabin was given to the Ålesund and

branch of the Norwegian Trekking Association and is open today to the public.

References

Other sources

*Ovrelid, Thor (2005) ''Operation Fieldfare. Britisk infrastruktursabotasje i Norge 1944-1945'' (Årbok for Sunnmøre) {{coord, 62.1597, N, 7.7019, E, source:wikidata, display=title Skjåk Military history of Norway during World War II Norway in World War II World War II sites in Norway