The Danish Brigade in Sweden ( da, Den Danske Brigade i Sverige) or in short, the Danish Brigade (''Den Danske Brigade''/''DDB'') (also referred to as Danforce) was a military unit made up of Danish refugees 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 opposing ...

. Trained and supplied by Sweden, the brigade was created to help liberate

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. Ultimately it was only deployed on the day of the German surrender in the country and was involved in very little fighting.

Background

On 9 April 1940

was

invaded An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and quickly surrendered. Most of the Danish Army followed the order to capitulate. Colonel Helge Bennike, the commander of the 4th Regiment based at

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

, believed that the order to surrender had been forced on the government by the Germans and that Sweden had also been attacked. Instead of surrendering, Bennike and his unit boarded the ferry in Elsinore to Sweden and went into exile. After the misunderstanding was later cleared up, most Danish soldiers stayed in Sweden while others returned to Denmark. Following the transit of German troops through Sweden, Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson pushed for the training and equipping of 7,500 Danish "police troops." This was met with opposition in his cabinet, but a plan was eventually agreed upon in December 1943.

History

The Swedish government loaned 25 million kroner to the Danish legation to fund the training and arming of the Brigade. Enrollment was on a voluntary basis. The Danish soldiers from Roskilde formed the nucleus of the new force. Almost 5,000 Danes, including around 750 Jews who had escaped occupied Denmark, enlisted. The Danish soldiers were equipped with Swedish Mauser m/96 long rifles and bayonets. Danish Brigade in Helsingør, May 1945

In the fall of 1944 the Swedish Air Force oversaw the training of Danish pilots at

Såtenäs Såtenäs () is a smaller locality situated in Lidköping Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. Såtenäs is located at Vänern's southwestern part about 32 kilometers from Lidköping and 32 kilometers from Trollhättan. Most of Såte ...

, who were subsequently organized into a squadron equipped with

Saab 17 The Saab 17 is a Swedish single-engine monoplane reconnaissance dive-bomber aircraft of the 1940s originally developed by ASJA prior to its merger into Saab. It was the first all-metal stressed skin aircraft developed in Sweden. Design and de ...

bomber-reconnaissance aircraft.

The Danish Flotilla

The Danish Flotilla (Danish: ''Den Danske Flotille'') was formed with ships of the

Danish Royal Navy The Royal Danish Navy ( da, Søværnet) is the sea-based branch of the Danish Defence force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Danish territorial waters (incl. Faroe Islands and Greenland). Oth ...

that had escaped to Sweden.

Liberation of Denmark

The Swedish government delayed the deployment of the Brigade to Denmark so as to not complicate the surrender of German forces there. Most of the German occupation force surrendered without incident to Allied troops on 5 May. However, three Danish soldiers were killed, and 26 were wounded, by snipers and ambushes as they marched into Copenhagen.

Legacy

Most of the officers of the Brigade were influenced by the Swedish military doctrine (which was based on German strategy) they learned during their exile and carried their knowledge over into the restructured Danish Army following the war. On the anniversary of Operation ''Safari'' in 1947, veterans of the Brigade erected a monument to the three soldiers killed during liberation near the Provincial Archive of Zealand in Copenhagen.

Notable members

Jørgen Hviid Jørgen Alfred Hviid ( lv, Jergens Alfreds Hvīds; 1 September 1916 – 5 September 2001) was a Danish and Latvian multi-sport athlete, and an officer in the Royal Danish Navy. He was primarily an ice hockey player, but also competed in speed sk ...

Gregers Münter Gregers Christian Münter (18 December 1907 – 31 March 1988) was a Danish Officer and later sports shooter. He participated in the Danish resistance against the German forces during Operation ''Safari'', afterwards he was part of the Da ...

Herbert Pundik Herbert Pundik or Nahum Pundak ( he, נחום פונדק; September 23, 1927 – December 8, 2019) was a Danish-Israeli journalist and author. He worked for the newspaper Information and as a correspondent for Danmarks Radio. Since 1965, he worked ...

Citations

References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Danish Brigade in Sweden Military history of Denmark during World War II Danish resistance movement Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945