Royal Norwegian Navy since 1914) One Hotchkiss m/1896 65 mm cannon One Maxim m/1898 37 mm autocannon Initially one heavy machine gun of unknown make, several more added to the arsenal during the campaign Two m/1915 Madsen machine guns in 6.5×55mm Krag calibre During the evening of 9 April 1940 Captain Basilier received orders to mobilize a small number of additional soldiers to guard the fortress. With the announcement of general mobilization on 11 April further troops were called in for service. Captain Basilier, who had been suffering from poor health since Easter that year, took sick leave on 13 April and was replaced by Navy Lieutenant B. Bjerkelund. From this date a full mobilization was carried out in the Vardø area, in addition the members of the local rifle association were deployed to guard duty at important objectives. Soon the entire island was under guard, and coast guard and air observation posts were operational. All the different outposts were connected to the fortress via telephone lines. The machine guns at the fortress were readied for use with improvised anti-aircraft mounts produced by a local blacksmith. A few days after the full mobilization began a force of 150 men were at the disposal of the commander of Vardøhus and by the 10 June cease-fire around 215 men sorted under Vardøhus Fortress. POW camp On 20 April 1940 the commander in chief of Northern Norway, General Carl Gustav Fleischer, issued orders to the 3rd Naval District that an internment camp for German prisoners of war was to be established at Vardøhus. Four days later, on 24 April, the 1,382 ton steamer Nova arrived in port with 155 German POWs. Most of the German prisoners were crew members from the Kriegsmarine destroyer Erich Koellner, sunk at Djupvik on the southern side of the Ofotfjord during the Battles of Narvik. The prisoners included the destroyer's commander, Fregattenkapitän Alfred Schulze-Hinrichs. The prisoners were housed under guard at the Quarantine Detention building. The POW camp at Vardøhus was closed down after a central POW camp for German detainees was established at Skorpa in Troms county and the 155 prisoners shipped to Skorpa on Nova on 13 May. Nova was escorted southwards by the patrol boat Ingrid – a captured German trawler operated by the Royal Norwegian Navy. The prisoners were released from Skorpa on 12 June 1940, after the mainland Norwegian capitulation. Other military activities