Hi, AskHistorians has a page on our wiki with information on uniforms and on how to find out more about military records from a variety of countries - hopefully there might be helpful information for you there.

when you say that he served in the north of norway in ww2 do you mean before Norway surrendered or during the recapture of Finmark in 1944-1945?

edit: realised afterwards that it probably was number 1

The Norwegian government were in London during the war. A lot of Norwegian refugees were in Sweden.

The government wanted to train the men there as soldiers, but Sweden refused - not wanting to piss off Germany. When there war started going badly they found a compromise: they trained the men as "police officers" they were actually called Politisoldater (police soldiers). They were crucial in winding down the German forces in Norway in 1945.

Some of the below may double with what others have already pointed out, but I can go into a little more detail.

Provided the information given in your overhead is correct, it is likely that your grandfather served in two separate forces during WW2, although both would have been under Norwegian command. The first of these are the pre-war Norwegian armed forces. The second, the Norwegian "reserve police" in Sweden.

Part I – Narvik and the Norwegian interwar army

In the decades during leading up to 1940 Norway, like many other European nations, maintained an army based around conscription. In theory service was a requirement for all males from the age of 18, unless ruled unfit for service due to physical or mental disabilities. During the 1920s and 1930s the majority of young Norwegian men would have been listed on the establishment rolls of the armed forces. Your grandfather would no doubt have been one of them. Some of these conscripts would have served with in the navy, but the majority would have gone into the army. Again, given his history of service it is likely that your grandfather would have been one of the latter.

The pre-war Norwegian army was organised into regimental districts, in turn made up of regional battalions and local companies. Almost uniquely in European terms, there were next to no professional standing forces. Conscripts were called up for service with with their local units as per requirement. As young first-timers they would have completed a period of basic training, ranging from a period of weeks to several months in length. Thereafter they would have called up for refresher training exercises what was known colloquially as "reps" (shorthand for "repetition exercise") until they reached their 40s. Local requirements and availability of funding determined the length and frequency of such repetition exercises. They could be held as often as several times per year, but usually more rarely. Repeated cuts to army budgets in the 1920s and 1930s meant that some units received next to no training at all. However, the army plans of 1909, 1927 and 1933 all prioritised the defense of the eastern border - i.e. the land border with Sweden and Russia/Finland. Thus army units located in northern, central and eastern Norway were more likely to be allocated training funds than units in the west and south.

There is also the possibility that your grandfather was an NCO or officer, in which case he would have received more training than the average private. As a force based around conscription, the army was dependent on maintaining a large cadre of trained officers and NCOs. Conscripts could apply for officer candidate training, or be recommended for such by their commanding officer. If they were accepted for such, they would undergo much more extensive basic training than that given to ordinary privates, including a period of mandatory service at one of the regiments. Having completed their mandatory service a few would have been offered permanent positions. However, due to lack of funding and the conscript nature of the armed forces, the majority would have rejoined civilian society, instead serving as "reserve officers". Some of these might be assigned part time positions at their local conscript formations, in which case they might have received some form of half-pay. Many more would have been assigned directly to reserve units, taking command positions at "reps" when called up alongside their ordinary conscripts colleagues.

The interwar Norwegian army was divided into three main branches: infantry, cavalry and artillery. Of these, the infantry force was by far and away the most numerous. There were no armored vehicles or anti-tank branches, beyond a few experimental units, and the army air force was relatively small. In addition there were also numerous smaller support branches, such as signals and engineers.

So to the historical event in which your grandfather was involved in 1940.

I'm not going to go into great detail about Operation Weserübung or the Narvik campaign beyond what concerns your grandfather, as you can easily read up on them elsewhere. Suffice it to say that he German invasion of Norway in April 1940 took place in the form of naval landings at Narvik, Trondheim, Bergen, Egersund, Kristiansand, Arendal and Moss/Oslo, together with airlandings at Stavanger and Oslo. At Narvik German destroyers steamed into the harbour early on the morning of 9th April and landed around 2000 soldiers of the 3rd Mountain Division. The local Norwegian commander in Narvik promptly surrendered the city. The German destroyers would later be sunk and their surviving crews joined the mountain soldiers as infantry. Later reinforcements of paratroopers brought the total German force at Narvik up to upwards of 5 000 men.

In the hours and days following the initial invasion, Norwegian forces sought to mobilise at their local assembly areas as best they could. Given that the German invasion force was concentrated in the south of the country, the mobilisation of forces in northern Norway was by far the most organised and comprehensive. As German forces were also active further south, the Norwegian commander-in-chief in the north could only call on his own regional forces, organised as the 6th Division. The majority of 6th Division soldiers were infantrymen belonging to the 14th (Søndre Haalogaland), 15th (Nordre Haalogaland) and 16th (Tromsøy) infantry regiments, elements of the 12th (Søndre Trondhjems) and 13th (Nordre Trondhjems) regiments, and local battalions from the northernmost county of Finnmark (which wasn't organised under the regimental system). These were in turn supported by artillery and other divisional units, for a total of around 11 000 soldiers.

Your grandfather would in all likelihood have been a member of one of these units. Knowing where in Norway he lived should give you a decent idea of which outfit he served with. A more comprehensive, well sourced and easily accessible OOB can be found at this local history wiki.

The Norwegian 6th Division forces assembling in the mountains and fjords around Narvik began offensive operations against the German forces from mid-April, and were soon joined by French, British and Polish reinforcements. The fighting was some of the most intense of the entire 1940 campaign, often taking place in deep snow and difficult terrain. Operations continued until the beginning of June, by which time Narvik had been recaptured and the German defenders forced into a small pocket in the mountains on the Swedish border. However, German successes in France and the Low-Countries forced the allied forces to withdraw their forces from Norway. Unable to stand alone against German troops moving up from southern Norway, the Norwegian high command reluctantly decided to surrender the troops around Narvik.

The surrender at Narvik, taking place on 10th June 1940, ended organised resistance in mainland Norway, but did not equate to the complete surrender of all Norwegian armed forces. Some forces were able to evacuate to Britain with the retreating allies, while others chose to cross the border to neutral Sweden. Once in Sweden the soldiers would have been disarmed and interned. The vast majority of these would be allowed to return to Norway over the following weeks and months, if they so desired.