Leif Welding-Olsen
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| Leif Welding-Olsen | |
|---|---|
| 1895 - 8 April 1940 | |
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| Place of birth | Horten, Norway |
| Allegiance | Norway |
| Commands held | HNoMS Pol III |
| Battles/wars | World War Two: German invasion of Norway |
Leif Welding-Olsen (born 1895 in Horten) was the commander of the Royal Norwegian Navy guard ship HNoMS Pol III on April 8, 1940. He raised the alarm as the German navy ships moved past the guard lines in outer Oslofjord. Norway had been attacked at 2205 that evening as German ships passed the Norwegian territorial borders. Captain Welding-Olsen had a brief conversation with the commander of one of the German torpedo boats, who demanded that he surrender, but Welding-Olsen refused. Realising that the enemy would not turn away, but was going to violate Norwegian neutrality, Pol III fired flares to alert Norwegian coastal batteries and rammed the Albatros in the side in an attempt to sink her. From the Albatros it was quite clear that the guns on Pol III were manned, and that the Norwegians intended to fight. The Albatros promptly hit the small Norwegian vessel with anti aircraft fire, wounding Captain Welding-Olsen and starting several fires. As Pol III was burning, her crew abandoned the vessel and were captured. Leif Welding-Olsen, weakened by blood loss, did not manage to enter the lifeboat and drowned, becoming the first casualty in the war between Norway and Nazi Germany.
