Fetsund Battery

Coordinates: 59°55′45″N 11°09′19″E / 59.92917°N 11.15528°E / 59.92917; 11.15528

View from the Fetsund Battery to the south. In the foreground: firing positions, covered chambers with ammunition niches in the parapet, and the parapet topped by a railway rail.
View over the parapet toward the Fetsund Bridge, a combined rail and road bridge that the battery protected.

The Fetsund Battery (Norwegian: Fetsund batteri or Fetsundbatteriet) is an artillery battery in Fetsund in Akershus county, Norway.[1] Locally, the battery is also known as Vilbergfestningen 'the Vilberg fortress'.[2]

As part of the arming of Norway and the Glomma Line in the years up to 1905, a battery was installed in Fetsund for four Ehrhardt 7.5 cm and four Cockerill-Nordenfeldt Model 1904 10.5 cm field cannons from the Norwegian Field Artillery (Norwegian: Posisjonsartilleriet). The installation was started in December 1898 and was completed in April 1900.[1] It is located on the Vilberg farm on a hill west of Fetsund Station.[1] Below the Fetsund Battery, a forward battery was built during the same period, the Høgås Battery at Fjellsrud.[3][4]

The battery is designed as a long arch with a low parapet with ammunition niches and shallow covered chambers for the crew. Behind the battery's left wing stood a small ammunition building, which no longer exists.

From the battery there is a broad view of the center of Fetsund and the east side of the Glomma River. The purpose of the battery was to prevent any military advances southward from Sørumsand or northward from Fjellsrud crossing the Glomma over the Fetsund rail and road bridge. At that time, these were the only two roads from the east. County Road 170 from Aurskog was built in the 1960s after the closure of the Urskog–Høland Line.[5]

On September 13, 1905, mobilization orders were issued, and the Fetsund and Høgås batteries were manned with 1,450 men from the Valdres Battalion and an squadron of militia dragoons.[3] This is the only time the battery was mobilized.

Depot camp

Canon shed (red building to the right), arsenal building (two stories, to the left), ammunition shed (in the middle), and armory at far right.

In a sheltered area behind the hillside there are several storage buildings belonging to the battery. There is a cannon shed, an ammunition shed, an armory, and a regimental arsenal building that was moved here from Enebakk Church in 1907.[6] The fact that the battery's buildings still exist and are close to their original condition makes the Fetsund Battery unique among Norway's smaller border fortifications.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Askheim, Svein. "Fetsund". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  2. ↑ Prosjekt: Rv. 22; kryssing av Glomma (PDF). Lillehammer: Statens vegvesen Region øst. 2015. p. 51. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Høgås batteri". Fet kommune. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Høgås batteri". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  5. ↑ Hansen, Lars MJ (May 13, 2016). "'I'll be back' er ingen tom trussel fra råkjørernes terminator". Romerikes Blad. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Telthus og teltbuer på Romerike". Fet Historielag. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
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