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Gunnar Fridtjof Thurmann Sønsteby - also known under his war time cover names “Kjakan” and “Number 24” – is a leading figures in the Norwegian resistance, and Norway’s highest decorated war hero from the struggle against the Nazi occupation regime between 1940-45, has been removed from the scene.
Sønsteby, who was born in Rjukan on 11 January 1918, studied economics and was working as an auditor at the time of the Nazi attack on Norway on 9 April 1940. In the wake of the invasion, he quickly joined the Norwegian resistance in eastern Norway. In 1941, he was recruited by the secret British military unit, the Special Operations Executive (SOE), via its office in Stockholm. In 1943, he was included in the Linge Company, an independent unit of Norwegian commandos under the SOE.
During the last years of the Nazi occupation, he led the so-called Oslo Gang, a sabotage unit of Norwegian participants under British command, which included Gregers Gram and Max Manus. The Oslo Gang is thought by many to have been the single most effective sabotage unit in Europe during the war.
Sønsteby was involved in a number of spectacular resistance activities during the Occupation period. In the autumn of 1942, he was central to the smuggling of Norges Bank’s money printing plates via Sweden to the Norwegian government in London. Among the several acts of sabotage, he executed with the Oslo Gang, were the sinking of the German transport ship Donau outside Drøbak in 1945 and the bombing of the Employment Office’s archives, to prevent the forced mobilization of Norwegians to the Eastern Front.
Operating in occupied territory, and being high on the Gestapo list of wanted men, Sønsteby became a master of disguise. He operated under 30 to 40 different names and identities, and the Germans did not acquire his real name until near the end of the war. They were never able to catch him.-
After the war, Sønsteby devoted much of his time to lecturing on the war and the need to fight for democratic values in the future. In many ways, he became the personification of the Norwegian resistance movement against fascism in the 1940s and was an active voice against the fascist and anti-democratic tendencies until his death.-
hopenothate.org.uk
wiki
Sønsteby, who was born in Rjukan on 11 January 1918, studied economics and was working as an auditor at the time of the Nazi attack on Norway on 9 April 1940. In the wake of the invasion, he quickly joined the Norwegian resistance in eastern Norway. In 1941, he was recruited by the secret British military unit, the Special Operations Executive (SOE), via its office in Stockholm. In 1943, he was included in the Linge Company, an independent unit of Norwegian commandos under the SOE.
During the last years of the Nazi occupation, he led the so-called Oslo Gang, a sabotage unit of Norwegian participants under British command, which included Gregers Gram and Max Manus. The Oslo Gang is thought by many to have been the single most effective sabotage unit in Europe during the war.
Sønsteby was involved in a number of spectacular resistance activities during the Occupation period. In the autumn of 1942, he was central to the smuggling of Norges Bank’s money printing plates via Sweden to the Norwegian government in London. Among the several acts of sabotage, he executed with the Oslo Gang, were the sinking of the German transport ship Donau outside Drøbak in 1945 and the bombing of the Employment Office’s archives, to prevent the forced mobilization of Norwegians to the Eastern Front.
Operating in occupied territory, and being high on the Gestapo list of wanted men, Sønsteby became a master of disguise. He operated under 30 to 40 different names and identities, and the Germans did not acquire his real name until near the end of the war. They were never able to catch him.-
After the war, Sønsteby devoted much of his time to lecturing on the war and the need to fight for democratic values in the future. In many ways, he became the personification of the Norwegian resistance movement against fascism in the 1940s and was an active voice against the fascist and anti-democratic tendencies until his death.-
hopenothate.org.uk
wiki