Küstensicherungsverband Westküste

Formed in Bergen in May 1940 for the area of the Admiral der norwegische Westküste. The Staff Quarters were on the Wohnschiff 'Tan' then 'Westwärts'. In May 1944 it was divided into the 5. & 6. Küstensicherungsverbande.

Known war crimes

During a raid against a farm house in the Norwegian fishing village of Telavåg 26 April 1942, two SOE agents (Arne Vaerum and Emil G Hvaal) were surprised, one captured and the other killed, and two Gestapo officers (Kriminalrat Gerhard Berns and Kriminalsekretär Henry Bertram) killed. In retaliation for the actions of SOE agents and the help they received from the local population the village was burned to the ground, 18 men shot, 76 men deported to German camps, 260 interned in Norway, cattle killed and fishing vessels sunk. Soldiers from Küstensicherungsverband Westküste took part in this action. (1)

Footnotes

1. Deutsche Zeitung in Norwegen, 1 May 1942 and "The Bitter Years: The Invasion and Occupation of Denmark and Norway, April 1940-May 1945" by Richard Petrow.

Sources used

Deutsche Zeitung in Norwegen, 1 May 1942

Richard Petrow - The Bitter Years: The Invasion and Occupation of Denmark and Norway, April 1940-May 1945