Lesjaskogsvatnet
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Lesjaskogsvatnet (literally: the
Lesjaskog Lesjaskog is a village in Lesja Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located at the west end of the lake Lesjaskogsvatnet about west of the village of Lesjaverk and about east of the village of Bjorli. The European route ...
lake) is a
lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
in
Lesja Municipality Lesja is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is village of Lesja. Other villages in the municipality include Bjorli, Lesjaskog, ...
in
Innlandet Innlandet is a county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (the municipalities of Jevnaker and Lunner were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken on the same date). The ...
county,
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 lake lies in the upper
Gudbrandsdalen Gudbrandsdalen (; en, Gudbrand Valley) is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer and the lake of Mjøsa, extending towar ...
valley, between the villages of
Lesjaskog Lesjaskog is a village in Lesja Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located at the west end of the lake Lesjaskogsvatnet about west of the village of Lesjaverk and about east of the village of Bjorli. The European route ...
(on the west end) and
Lesjaverk Lesjaverk is a village in Lesja Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It lies in the upper Gudbrandsdal valley approximately northwest of Dombås and about east of the village of Lesjaskog. The village lies along the European route E136 hig ...
(on the east end). The
European route E136 European route E 136 is a European highway located entirely in Møre og Romsdal and Innlandet counties in Norway. The highway begins in the town of Ålesund in Møre og Romsdal county on the west coast of Norway, and it goes east up through ...
highway and the
Raumabanen The Rauma Line ( no, Raumabanen) is a long railway between the town of Åndalsnes (in Rauma Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county), and the village of Dombås (in Dovre Municipality in Oppland county), in Norway. Running down the Romsdalen val ...
railway line both run along the north side of the lake. The lake is unusual by having two outlets, one in each end. It flows east into the
Gudbrandsdalslågen The Gudbrandsdalslågen (or simply ''Lågen'') is a river which flows through the Gudbrandsdal valley in Innlandet county, Norway. The long river runs through a large valley in Eastern Norway before emptying into Mjøsa, the largest lake in Nor ...
river and it also flows out to the west into the
Rauma river The Rauma is a river that runs through ''Romsdalen'', a valley in Møre og Romsdal and Innlandet counties in Norway. It runs for from ''Lesjaskogsvatnet'', a lake in the municipality of Lesja, to the town of Åndalsnes in the municipality of R ...
in the
Romsdal Romsdal is a traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal comprises Aukra, Fræna, Midsund, Molde, Nesset, Rauma, Sandøy, and Vestnes. It is named after the val ...
en valley. This
bifurcation lake A bifurcation lake is a lake that has outflows into two different drainage basins and thus the drainage divide cannot be defined exactly because it is situated in the middle of the lake. Examples Vesijako (the name ''Vesijako'' actually means "d ...
serves as the headwaters for two major rivers:
Gudbrandsdalslågen The Gudbrandsdalslågen (or simply ''Lågen'') is a river which flows through the Gudbrandsdal valley in Innlandet county, Norway. The long river runs through a large valley in Eastern Norway before emptying into Mjøsa, the largest lake in Nor ...
(flowing south/east) and for
Rauma River The Rauma is a river that runs through ''Romsdalen'', a valley in Møre og Romsdal and Innlandet counties in Norway. It runs for from ''Lesjaskogsvatnet'', a lake in the municipality of Lesja, to the town of Åndalsnes in the municipality of R ...
(flowing west). Gudbrandsdalslågen (also known as ''Lågen'') flows through the
Gudbrandsdalen Gudbrandsdalen (; en, Gudbrand Valley) is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer and the lake of Mjøsa, extending towar ...
valley, ending when it flows into the lake Mjøsa. The lake sits on the watershed in the north-western corner of
Glomma The Glomma, or Glåma, is Norway's longest and most voluminous river. With a total length of , it has a drainage basin that covers fully 13% of Norway's surface area, all in the southern part of the country. Geography At its fullest length, the ...
drainage system that includes large parts of eastern Norway. The lake was
dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
med to serve the
Lesja Iron Works Lesjaverk is a village in Lesja Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It lies in the upper Gudbrandsdal valley approximately northwest of Dombås and about east of the village of Lesjaskog. The village lies along the European route E136 hig ...
in the 1660s. The dam raised the water level on the east end of the lake by . The west end of the lake that flows into the Rauma was raised a little when a small stone wall was built. Before the dam was built, the lake was shorter and concentrated in what is now the west end of the lake. About 67% of the water flows to the river Rauma and when the water level is low, nearly 80% of the lake flows to the Rauma river. Rotting plants and fish on the bottom produces gas that in winter is captured under the ice. The watershed has over thousands of years shifted east because rivers and glaciers to west dig more into the bedrock, notably in the upper part of Rauma river near the village of
Verma Varmā, Verma, Varman, or Burman are surnames found in India and South-East Asia. Indian traditional usage According to Ayodhya Prasad Sah, the title was also used by some Brahmins in parts of Odisha, although it is recommended historically fo ...
.


Norwegian campaign 1940

No. 263 Squadron RAF No 263 Squadron was a Royal Air Force fighter squadron formed in Italy towards the end of the First World War. After being disbanded in 1919 it was reformed in 1939 flying mainly strike and heavy fighter aircraft until becoming No 1 Squadron ...
operated with 18
Gloster Gladiator The Gloster Gladiator is a British biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) (as the Sea Gladiator variant) and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. Developed private ...
biplane fighters from a landing strip on the frozen Lesjaskogsvatnet in late April 1940 as part of the Norwegian campaign. The British air force chose Lesjaskogsvatnet because of the relatively short distance to the front line in the Gudbrandsdalen Valley as well as proximity to the British base at
Åndalsnes is a town in Rauma Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Åndalsnes is in the administrative center of Rauma Municipality. It is located along the Isfjorden, at the mouth of the river Rauma, at the north end of the Romsdalen valley. ...
. The British also planned to bring in large amounts of explosives from
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
to blow up the railway tunnels at
Dombås is a village or small town in Dovre Municipality in northern Innlandet county, Norway. The village serves as the commercial centre for the upper Gudbrandsdalen valley. It lies at an important junction of roads with the European route E6 highway ...
(this would block railway connections to Åndalsnes and Trondheim), but the German forces advanced too fast. The ice was covered by at least of snow and a few hundred locals cleared a long and wide runway. Snow clearing began on April 20 and the same day Norwegian Fokker C.V surveillance planes landed with skis. The workers on the ice were attacked by German fighter planes, and most snow clearing was then done during night. Some 100 ground crew arrived on April 23. The runway was used on April 24 and the 18 planes completed about 40 flights and attacked 37 enemy planes. That same night was extremely cold and engines did not start. Early morning April 25 the makeshift airfield was attacked by
Heinkel 111 The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a " wolf in sheep's clothing". Due to restrictions placed on Germany after t ...
og
Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II ''Luftwaffe'' twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called '' Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") that would be too fast ...
. Two British plane that were unharmed but unable to fly were burned by the crew. At the end only five planes survived and were moved to Setnesmoen camp at Veblungsnes on April 26.Øystein Mølmen: ''Krigen 1940-45''. Lesjaskog, 1996


Media gallery

Lesjaskogsvatnet Rauma.JPG, Outflow to Rauma and dam Lesjaskogsvatnet Bryggeosen.JPG, Bridge at Bryggeosen, outflow from eastern to western part of the lake Lesjaskogsvatnet Lågen.JPG, Lågen outflow at
Lesjaverk Lesjaverk is a village in Lesja Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It lies in the upper Gudbrandsdal valley approximately northwest of Dombås and about east of the village of Lesjaskog. The village lies along the European route E136 hig ...
Lesjaskogsvatnet mot øst.JPG, Eastern part at Bryggeosen


See also

*
List of lakes in Norway This is a list of lakes and reservoirs in Norway, sorted by county. For the geography and history of lakes in that country, see Lakes in Norway, including: * List of largest lakes in Norway * List of deepest lakes in Norway Akershus *Bjørk ...


References

{{use dmy dates, date=April 2022 Lesja Lakes of Innlandet Reservoirs in Norway