Koldinghus Castle

Koldinghus Castle on the East coast of Jutland in the town of Kolding, it was for many years an important castle in Denmark serving both as border defence against the Duchy of Schleswig and as a royal residence.

 

Officially founded in 1268 by Danish king Erik V it is not unlikely that the site had been fortified earlier times. Names such as Arenborg, Ørneborg and Middelorg has also refered to the site.

During the troubled times of the early 14th century there were a number of rebellions and the nobility forced the king to demolish a number of castles in Jutland to restrict his power however the castle in Kolding was saved due to its role as border protection. In 1451 it was renamed as Koldinghus. But the castle had with more closer integration of the Duchy of Schleswig and Denmark lost much of its military value and the moat was given up.

 

In 1710-1712 when pox raged in Copenhagen the royal family took up residence in Koldinghus. As the fortification was no longer considered adequate the king decided instead to turn the castle into a proper baroque residence which meant a radical change such as the many big windows and a park.

The castle burned down in 1808 when Spanish troops were billetted in Denmark as part of Napoleon´s support to the Danish planned invasion of southern Sweden to retake provinces lost in . The Spanish troops unused to the Danish cold weather heated up the stoves so much that fire caught on into the roof beams next to the chimneys. The main focus in the night of March 29th 1808 was saving the men in the castle rather than the castle itself and thus the castle was severely damaged and it was assessed it was too costly to restore and with the Duchy of Schleswig at that time being much closer tied to Denmark had little use as border garrison.

 

For a long time the castle was left in ruin but during the 19th century some attempts were made to rebuild parts of it. But in the 1930s rebuilding reall picked up and the castle can now be visited.

Finnish Armour in the Winter War of WWII

I always have had great admiration for the Finnish fighting spirit during World War II, it has very much been a David versus Goliath fight between Finland and The Soviet Union. A much smaller force with obsolete weaponry fighting against the might of the Red Army in the face of impossible odds and managing to keep their independence although at a high cost. In terms of machines of war was this disparity very clearly highlighted so this post covers Finnish armour in World War II.

 

Finland’s War

Finland in WWII can best be described as having three phases: The Winter War (1939-1940), where the Soviet Union invaded Finland to impose their will and redraw the map, while the Finns fought with determination the Soviets did manage to secure peace a peace terriorial claims on Finland and displacing some 400,000 people but ultimately failed in conquering the whole country. The second phase which the Finns call the Continuation War (1941-1944) followed in the wake of the German invasion of Russia. With the Russians occupied by the Germans Finland made a bit to regain the terriroty lost however as the war turned against the Germans so did it for the Finns and the Soviets launched a massive assault in August 1944 aimed at knocking Finland out of the war. While the Finns were forced back and ultimately had to negotiate peace the independence was secured through an almost superhuman effort by the Finnish people. The last phase of the war is the Lapland War. As part of terms of the peace treaty Finland was forced to expel German forces that had attacked the Soviet Union through Finland from Norway. This was a task Finnish forces were very relunctant to do as that meant fighting against former brothers in arms.

 

Finnish Armour

Like so many smaller European nations Finland did not have a military budget that allowed for a well equipped armoured force. During the Winter War a single armoured battalion was fielded on paper with two companies of the WWI vintage Renault FT-17 and two companies of Vickers 6-ton tanks however only a single Vickers company ever saw any action. During the Winter War the Finns captured a number of Soviet tanks including 34 T-26s, 30 T-37, and 2 heavy T-28s with their multi-turret design in addition to a  number of armoured cars and BT fast tanks. In between the wars the Finns also added Landsverk II AA tanks bought from Sweden and converted a number of BT tanks to assault guns by adding a British QD 18 pounder gun to a casemate built on top on the hull, naming it the BT-42 variant. The Continuation War saw captures of more modern Soviet tanks such as the T-34/76 and TW-34/85 variants, KV-1 tanks as well as German supplied Panzer IVs and Stug IIIs. As I hope to cover Soviet and German armour in future posts I will cover only the Finnish conscious choices.

 

Vickers 6-tons Tank

Vickers 6-ton tank or mark E was acquired for testing in 1933. Following testing Finland ordered 32 Vickers tanks in 1936 however without weapons or radios as these would be provided cheaper by Finnish companies. Delays in the production line meant however that only a single tank company was equipped with 13 combat ready tanks at the outbreak of the war.

This was a tank designed by the Vickers company but rejected by the British army so export or production licensing became the main thing. Multiply countries bought the Mark E including USSR, Poland, Japan and Finland. Each country used it to study design and used it to build their new versions or inspired designs. USSR used it, standardizing it as the T-26 in various versions but generally armed with a 45 mm gun. Poland acquired a production license and produced their own version known as the 7TP and sported a 37 mm version of the Bofors anti-tank gun. Japan bought an example of the Vickers and it is claimed that it served as inspiration for the Type-95 Ha-Go tank. It is said that after the Spanish Civil War the Italians having captured Soviet versions sent to bolster the Republican Army designed their own medium tank based on the T-26. The Finnish version being armed with a lighter 37 mm Bofors gun was later upgraded with Russian 45 mm guns taken from captured T-26s effectively converting the Vickers into a hybrid known as the T-26E (E for English) not to be confused with the Soviet T-26E (with E for armour screened).

 

Renault FT-17

The FT-17 was leftover from WWI and did not see any action although some may according to some sources have been dug-in in as immobile bunkers on the Mannerheim line for the Winter War.

 

Landsverk II AA tank

6 Landsverk II AA tanks were acquired by Finland during the war. These were built by Swedish Landsverk and delivered in the beginning of the Conituation War. During 1944 They accounted for 11 confirmed kills. The tank is an interesting hybrid as it was using components of Hungarian Toldi tanks and Swedish design and gun to be built specifically for Finland. In the original design the Hungarians wanted a dual purpose anti-tank and tank destroyer vehicle and this it was lightly armoured with an open fighting compartment to take advantage of the 40mm Bofors gun. While in 1938 when first delivered it could have been a viable tank destroyer by the time it arrived in Finland it could only be used in its anti-aircraft function.

The Hungarian version is often known as 40M or Nimrod and has a redesigned turret but is basically the same vehicle.

Denmark and the Roman Empire

I was back in my photo archives of places I have visited to dig out something I could do a small post on while working offshore. With work being extremely busy over the summer to exploit the long day light hours and good weather to perform maintenance work I will probably not have too much time for researching and reading so expect some shorter posts until we are out of August.

 

This  post will be a bit of a commercial for Hjemsted Oldtidspark. Hjemsted in Southern Jutland is home to a living history site known as Hjemsted Oldtidspark (Ancient Period Park) and is known for its Iron Age museum and living history site but also for its Roman reenactment. I have always found it a little strange to reenact Roman period in a country that was not part of the Roman Empire but having dug a bit into it, Denmark actually had visits from Rome and so reenactment here could actually have good reasons.

 

Iron Age Denmark

Iron Age in Danish history is generally divided into three periods: Pre-Roman or Celtic, Roman and Germanic Iron-Age. For an area that did not share any immediate borders with the Roman Empire it is remarkable that it does play such a big part that it even defines the Iron Age classifications in Denmark.

 

Approximately 500 BC to 0 AD is what is defined as Pre-Roman Iron Age. There was at the time no such thing as a kingdom of Denmark and the country was split into a number of smaller chief-doms and kingdoms. The society was in rapid change as iron was replacing bronze and by 500 BC was the prominent material. In the preceding Late Bronze Age period trade had first shifted from trade routes down central Europe but towards the end of the period trade routes were disrupted and trade moved down Western routes allowing Denmark to adapt iron technology which in turn allowed the agriculture production to increase. Influence was redominantly Celtic but Roman ironware have found their way to Danish grave gifts. It was marked by indirect influence from the Roman Empire but towards the 1st century BC trading really picked up as Rome grew in size and power.

1st century BC the Roman Empire had moved closer and the Celtic culture had suffered at the hands on Julius Caesar and the Danish area was all of a sudden was Roman area of influence.Depending on different the writers the Roman period starts either at 100 BC or Year 0. The Roman Empire was expanding northwards and The Elbe River was likely to be the new frontier.

In 5 AD Tiberius and the Roman navy even made a reconnaissance around the peninsula of Jutland and could very well had been a pre-cursor for an invasion had the Romans not been defeated in Teutoburg Forest 4 years later. Later in the period the Romans were divided by internal strife and trade and contact became more rare.

The museum at Hjemsted which also houses living history events are based somewhat around Tiberius’ naval recon. While a settlement at Hjemsted did exist the museum plays very much with the idea that a Roman force could have landed and encamped for the night before travelling on. I very much recommend visiting the site during one of the living history events.