What Norwegian/Swedish Uniform is this?

**OsiusGaming** · 08-05-2019, 12:19 AM

Hello everyone! Recently I have been getting very interested in the history of Norway and Sweden during WW2 and I have a few questions. But first, some history!

During the Nazi occupation of Norway, around 50,000 people fled to Sweden to seek refuge. Many of these were soldiers who happened to escape from the oncoming German forces.

As the amount of Norwegian refugees increased, and the war started to take a turn for the Allies, an agreement was made between The Norwegian Government in Exile and the Norwegian Legation in Stockholm that Norwegian soldiers would begin training in Sweden. However, to keep Sweden as a neutral state, these soldiers were labeled as "police troops".

In secrecy, even to most of the Swedish government, about 15,000 "police troops" were trained to be used after the war's end to help quell riots throughout Norway. These men were given Swedish equipment. In 1945, these soldiers helped regain Finnmark and were also in charge of arresting collaborators. There is much more to their history as this was just a sample.

Now here is where my question comes in. What uniform are these "police troopers" wearing?

All these photos supposedly come from 1945

Several sources I have read through stated that the Norwegian troops from Sweden were issued the m39 uniform. I really believe these are not m39's.

I have also read that Norwegian police troops were issued Dark-blue British CD uniforms after the war. Again, I really believe these are not them.

Lastly, I have even seen 1 source label this as the Swedish m44 uniform. The problem with this is that no other sources confirm this claim. Also, illustrations of the Swedish m44 uniform that I have seen look similar but not identical to this.

I have searched up and down warrelics and WAF forums and still couldn't find an answer.

This leaves me confused as to what this uniform actually is. I believe most likely that it is of Swedish origin given these troops' history, but I could very well be wrong. Like I said before, there probably is an easy answer to the more experienced people here.

The reason I would love to know the Identity of this uniform is because I would love to use it in a display. I have saved multiple more pictures of this uniform, but these were some of the better ones. Any help at all is appreciated. Thanks for reading!

**kradman** · 08-05-2019, 07:03 AM

The guy at the front in the second photo looks to have a Suomi KP31 machine gun with coffin magazine i know Sweden had some of these guns and the first photo looks to have a German truck in the back ground , the helmets also look Swedish made so you would think the uniforms would be Swedish made? interesting photos and thank you for showing

**OsiusGaming** · 08-05-2019, 03:04 PM

You are absolutely correct! The soldiers here are wearing the Swedish m26 helmet with a white N to designate the police troops.

This helmet mostly saw little use by the military, but when WW2 rolled around, I believe it eventually made its way into several departments.

Something I also found interesting in that several of the photos, some of these helmets are glossy! And even have nets.

I mean it makes sense, several countries had glossy helmets when it came to their Civil Defense or post war troops. But I have yet to see a modern picture of one of these helmets that are glossy or have a net.

Another reason as to why I believe this uniform is of Swedish origin is because the trooper all the way to the right, leaning on the railing appears to be wearing a Swedish Mauser belt.

**37Webbing** · 10-21-2019, 12:06 PM

I know I am bit late to the game - but I know what uniform you are looking for!

The confusion arises because there was not only one exile army in Sweden - but two!
The Danish army in exile (DANFORCE, 1943-45) used several uniforms, but the most "iconic" was the M/44 uniform.

Danish uniform (jacket):

The Norwegian volunteers used a number of uniforms, but the ones in the photos are the uniform the Swedes made especially for the Norwegians. When it was introduced I cannot remember. But if it was introduced simultaneously with the Danish uniforms it is most likely in 1944.

**OsiusGaming** · 10-21-2019, 01:07 PM

Thanks for this added information, but alas, I am not sure if we truly found the final answer. The uniform you posted certainly looks mighty close, but the pockets shape and design seem to be different. Maybe I'm just looking at it wrong? I'm not too sure.

As far as the Danforce stuff goes, I've been trying to research them too for the better part of two months and part of my quest has finally been solved thanks to you. I've gathered quite a few PDFs and images of them but could never find with 100% certainty whether their uniform was British modified or Swedish made! Thank you for this information!

Now onto my third quest, finding good modern images of the Swedish m37 used by Danforce. I had a picture somewhere but can't seem to find it.

It's crazy to think how close Sweden could have been to joining the war in the later months, and yet finding info on these subjects is such a hassle. Especially for someone like me who only knows English!

**37Webbing** · 10-21-2019, 02:23 PM

by OsiusGaming

Thanks for this added information, but alas, I am not sure if we truly found the final answer. The uniform you posted certainly looks mighty close, but the pockets shape and design seem to be different. Maybe I'm just looking at it wrong? I'm not too sure.

As far as the Danforce stuff goes, I've been trying to research them too for the better part of two months and part of my quest has finally been solved thanks to you. I've gathered quite a few PDFs and images of them but could never find with 100% certainty whether their uniform was British modified or Swedish made! Thank you for this information!

Now onto my third quest, finding good modern images of the Swedish m37 used by Danforce. I had a picture somewhere but can't seem to find it.

It's crazy to think how close Sweden could have been to joining the war in the later months, and yet finding info on these subjects is such a hassle. Especially for someone like me who only knows English!

The above photos are from the Swedish Army Museum in Stockholm.
I am 100% certain that it is the uniform you are looking for. The individual pieces are labelled as issued to the Norwegian Police Forces, and have been gifted by the Norwegian Army Museum in Oslo to the Swedish museum. I am fairly certain, as I used to be an employee of an army museum in Scandinavia myself, that the informations are true.

I have a tremendous amount of digitalized photos from DANFORCE. The uniform used by the Danes is the M/44 (among others). But DANFORCE used a large number of different uniforms between 1943 and 1945. As is evident from photographic evidence and the source material. Several books have been published the last three decades or so. Both memoirs from the members themselves and books by historians.

Small taste: