Birger Eriksen
| Birger Kristian Eriksen | |
|---|---|
Birger Eriksen some time after 1945
|
|
| Born |
17 November 1875 Flakstad, Lofoten, Norway |
| Died | 16 July 1958 (aged 82) Oslo, Norway |
| Buried | Vår Frelsers gravlund, Oslo |
| Allegiance |
 Norway
|
| Service/branch | Norwegian Army |
| Years of service | 1893–1940 |
| Rank | Oberst (Colonel) of the Norwegian Army |
| Commands held |
Coastal fortresses:
|
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards |
War Cross with sword Croix de guerre Légion d'honneur
|
| Spouse(s) | Christiane Sæhlie (m. 1903) |
| Relations | Hans Eriksen (grandfather), Casper Eriksen (father) Andreas Olsen Sæhlie (father-in-law) |
Coastal fortresses:
Birger Kristian Eriksen (17 November 1875 – 16 July 1958) was a Norwegian officer (with the rank of Oberst) who was instrumental in stopping the first wave of Gruppe 5 of the German invasion force outside Oslo.
Eriksen was the commander of Oscarsborg Fortress when Nazi Germany attacked Norway in the early hours of 9 April 1940. He gained lasting recognition for ordering the fortress under his command to open fire on the vanguard forces of Operation Weserübung and sinking the 14,000 ton heavy cruiser Blücher.
Born on 17 November 1875 to merchant and ship captain Caspar Edvard Eriksen and his wife Jensine Petrine Arentzen in Flakstad in present-day Moskenes in Lofoten, Birger Eriksen left home early, at age 12, to go to Kristiania (as Oslo was known as at the time) to study. Nonetheless, he would return home to Moskenes every summer to visit his mother until she died in 1936, having been a widow for fifty years.
On 21 November 1903 in Vang, Eriksen married Christiane Sæhlie (b. 1874 in Vang). The married couple had one son and two daughters by 1930.
After Eriksen graduated from high school in 1893, he attended a technical college in Charlottenburg in Berlin, Germany for three months before returning home. In 1896 he started his military career by graduating from the Norwegian Military Academy. By 1901 he had reached the rank of Kaptein (Captain) in the Norwegian coastal artillery, and by 1915 the rank of Major. In 1915, Eriksen was also made commander of Agdenes Fortress off Trondheim.
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Wikipedia