Two World Wars

The history of the Bergen line spans two world wars for better and for worse. Norway was neutral during the First World War; however there were still train transportations of goods and soldiers passing through from England to Russia. During the 2nd World War, Norway and the larger cities were occupied on the 9th April 1940. In Vaksdal the Norwegians held strong a few weeks longer and gave the enemies resistance in the tunnels and hills along the railway line. But in the end the enemy power was too great and a short time after, Voss was in ruins after 2 days of intense air raids. Despite skirmishes along the whole of the Bergen line up to Myrdal station in the end the Norwegian forces had to surrender. King Haakon VII and the government refused to capitulate, but after two months the Germans had conquered the whole country and from then until its liberation in 1945 Norway was under German occupation. The King and the government fled to London and continued the battle from there. Out of the war arose the Norwegian resistance movement which was controlled from London. Together with the allies the Norwegian fleet participated throughout the war and were a strong force in the liberation of Europe. On Norwegian soil there were spectacular sabotage missions which stopped Hitler from obtaining vital Norwegian resources.