Battle of Haglebu

The Battle of Haglebu (26 April 1945) was a skirmish towards the end of the German occupation of Norway in the Second World War. A patrol of German and Norwegian police troops had been tipped off that weapons were hidden in Haglebu and came up from Eggedal on a search. On the southern shore of Haglebuvannet, the German force divided to search both sides of the lake. On the western side, the Germans received machine-gun fire from the Norwegian resistance movement (Milorg) and soon the Germans came under attack on the eastern side as well. After about four hours, during which the Norwegians repulsed the German assaults, Milorg carried out an orderly withdrawal before German reinforcements arrived.

Albeit a small battle and local in nature, the Battle of Haglebu had a large effect on the course of the war in Norway. The battle marked a defeat for Norwegians who collaborated with the Germans. This may have contributed to the collaborators' acceptance of the German surrender, which prevented further fighting between Milorg and the collaborators. The resistance allegedly committed a war crime by executing a prisoner; the Norwegian Waffen SS soldier Tom Henry Zakariassen (21) was shot after surrendering. Zachariassen was allegedly executed by Lieutenant Peter Fredrik Holst, who was never prosecuted for the alleged war crime.