The main task at hand for the German troops was the destruction of the railroad, as well as blocking any Allied advance inland, particularly south through the Gudbrandsdal valley.

[16] At around 17:00 Norwegian time on 14 April, fifteen Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft took off from Fornebu Airport near Oslo in hail and sleet with low cloud cover.

[3] The mission the German Fallschirmjäger embarked on was the second opposed paratroop attack in history, the first had occurred five days previously when the Norwegian airbase of Sola near Stavanger was captured during the 9 April invasion of Norway.

[3] When the German aircraft arrived over their target area, after a 275 km (171 mi) flight, small breaks in the cloud cover enabled most of the Ju 52s to drop their sticks (loads) of paratroopers.

[3] To the misfortune of the German paratroopers, their target area was coincidentally also the temporary base and encampment of the 2nd Battalion of the Norwegian Army's Infantry Regiment 11 (II/IR 11).

[1] The deployment had been made in preparation for what the Norwegian Army High Command expected would be a major attempt at reconquering Trondheim in cooperation with Allied forces.

[3] The arrival of the German aircraft over Dombås came as a surprise to the Norwegian forces who nonetheless soon opened fire on the Ju 52s with all available arms.

With this straitened force, Schmidt began carrying out the assigned task of blocking the Norwegian rail and road network.

After capturing a Norwegian taxicab and putting as many of his men as he could in and onto the vehicle, Schmidt drove north toward Dombås, stopping at regular intervals to make forward observations.

Following a short fire fight during which Schmidt was severely wounded and the Norwegians pushed back, the paratroopers abandoned their advance on Dombås.

Schmidt—although seriously wounded in the hip and stomach—never relinquished command and ordered his men to use sand to write messages in the snow to the Luftwaffe asking for supplies of provisions and ammunition.

As soon as news of German paratroopers landing spread, the gold was put on a train and brought to Åndalsnes from where it was evacuated by way of British cruisers and Norwegian fishing boats.

[22] King Haakon VII of Norway and his son, Crown Prince Olav were both at Dovre, near the drop zone and only 30 minutes from the nearest groups of paratroopers when the attack began on 14 April.

Austlid was only 8–10 m (8.7–10.9 yd) below the first German machine gun nest when he was struck down by a bullet to the chest and the counterattack faltered without its leader.

[4] This was probably based on a misunderstanding between the Norwegian POW and Oberleutnant Schmidt, the real meaning most likely being that the prisoners held were endangered by the mortar fire that the German positions were subjected to.

The arrival of the two Norwegian mortars had completely changed the tactical situation and the German force's supply of ammunition was also running dangerously low.

[4] As negotiations collapsed, the Norwegians opened fire again, but a sudden ground blizzard blinded the gunners and allowed the Germans to make a counterattack and break out of their encirclement.

The paratroopers formed a fighting column with hand grenade armed soldiers at the front followed by the wounded and the POWs on trucks with a rearguard at the end.

[4] At Landheim road bridge, a 25-strong Norwegian force blocked the way, but was quickly thrown back to Dovre Church by a night attack with hand grenades.

The German force took up temporary positions at Einbugga road bridge, midway between the village of Toftemo to the north and Dovre to the south.

North Lindse—with its stone barn—became the strong point of the defence, with South Lindse being used to keep Norwegian prisoners; 15 military personnel and 40 civilians.

Help, however, arrived that very morning when a Junkers Ju 52 air dropped ammunition, warm clothing, provisions, medical supplies and the radio frequency for communicating with headquarters.

[5][29] By evening the Germans had all sought shelter in the farm houses as these could not be bombarded directly due to the Norwegian prisoners being held there.

During the night, a final reinforcement had reached the Norwegians; a rail-mounted howitzer manned by a gun crew of Royal Marines that had arrived from Åndalsnes.

Soon after another Ju 52 transport arrived carrying supplies to the beleaguered Germans but turned around without making its drop after receiving a radio message from Schmidt informing that the paratroopers were going to surrender.

Sunde told Mössinger that unless the Germans announced their surrender within 10 minutes by launching three flares the British and Norwegian artillery would recommence bombarding Lindse Farm.

[35][38] The intention of Norwegian authorities was to first keep the prisoners for interrogation and then ship them to the United Kingdom, but in the chaos of the collapse of resistance in the southern parts of Norway and the Allies' evacuation from Åndalsnes in late April/early May the German POWs were left behind to be freed by elements of the Luftwaffe's General Göring Regiment.

[41] In the aftermath of the German attack on Dombås, efforts were made by Norwegian military authorities to prevent further Fallschirmjäger landings by organizing volunteers into anti-paratroop ski patrols.

[43] Most of the freed paratroopers soon after volunteered to jump into the isolated Narvik front in North Norway to help the hard pressed Gebirgsjägers of the German 3rd Mountain Division fighting under the command of Generalleutnant Eduard Dietl from 16 May.

[10] He later recovered from the wounds he had suffered, and in 1941 wrote a book detailing his experiences during the battle called Die Fallschirmjäger von Dombaas.