Wilhelm Mohr

Reconnaissance Wing at Værnes
Lieutenant Wilhelm Mohr was Deputy
Commander of the Reconnaissance
Wing of Trøndelag Air Unit at
Værnes. The Wing numbered nine
Fokker aircraft, a model from 1924.
The alert of the German attack sounded
at 03:30 on the morning of 9 April
1940. They knew operations from
Værnes would be impossible, so they
put skis on the airplanes to enable
operations off base, and took off for
Selbu.
Mohr leaves for Scotland
Mohr left for Scotland from Molde on 2 May
1940, together with Major Øen. The city had
been bombed by the Germans and was burning
when they left. A German bomber attacked them,
and they had to steer the fishing boat zigzag to
the shoreline outside Molde. The boat sank, but
they found another and set course for Scotland.
Reconnaissance Wing at Selbu
When the Wing reached Selbu,
they saw a stream of German aircraft
heading for Værnes. Because
of easy road access between
Stjørdal and Selbu, they knew they
could not stay there, and flew
down to Aursunden.
Mohr at Lesja Woods Lake
On 24 April 1940, Mohr landed on Lesja Woods Lake
to link up with Major Øen, who had established an
HQ for the remnants of the Air Force at Lesja. Mohr
landed shortly after the British 263 Sqn. of 18 Gladiators
had been attacked on the lake, of which 13 were
destroyed. Once landed, he spotted three German
Heinkels heading for his Fokker. He jumped out of the
Trondheim
aircraft, only to find himself in deep snow, unable to
move. The Heinkels made three runs, but missed
Mohr and the Fokker. He managed to re-enter the aircraft
Molde
Røros
and take it to a more secure location.
NORWAY
Mohr meets General Ruge (ChoD)
at Otta
Tynset
Upon meeting Major Øen, Mohr was sent to
the commanding general to seek approval of
the plan to leave for the UK to start training
there. He was said to be ‘somewhere in the
Gudbrands Valley’. Mohr found General
Ruge on a farm close to Otta, and discussed
the issue for about an hour. Ruge told him
that the British forces would have to be Bergen
withdrawn from South Norway. Overwhelming
German airpower would make
reinforcement and supplies impossible. The
King, the government, and he himself would
shortly leave for North Norway. The plan to
go to the UK was approved. Ruge told Mohr
that it was important to make ‘identiable Stavanger
Norwegian units’ in the Allied effort to fight
the Germans, as it would be important when
the reckoning after the war was to be made.
0 50 100 Kilometres
Kristiansand
0 50 100 Miles
Figure 1: Map – Wilhelm Mohr, April 1940.
Reconnaissance
Wing at Aursunden
Because they learned that an
army unit had established
some sort of HQ at Røros,
they flew down to the west
side of Aursund Lake. Mohr
took command of the Wing
on 13 April 1940 — at 22
years old. They operated
from there until later that
month, performing re-connaissance
missions to map
out the German advances on
the ground. Assessing the
Wing’s operations, Mohr
himself — in his usual modest
way — said ‘I would not
say it had any signicant
usefulness.’
SWEDEN
Mohr’s emergency landing at Fokkstua
By late April, it became clear that South
Norway would have to be surrendered to the
German forces, and it was decided that each
pilot could choose if they wanted to continue
their fight against the Germans in North
Norway, or go to Lesja to start preparing for
the journey over to the UK and continue the
fight from there. Mohr chose Lesja. By now,
the Germans had advanced to Tynset. On his
low-level flight towards Lesja from Aursunden,
a german bullet went through the wing
of his Fokker, and petrol started to pour out
of it. He performed an emergency landing
just north of Fokkstua. After fixing the aircraft
and getting fuel by snow-sledge, he set
course for Lesja.
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