Bjarne Thorsen

Bjarne Winter Thorsen (9 January 1922 – 15 February 2001) was a Norwegian resistance member during World War II and later a naval officer.

World War II

When World War II reached Norway on 9 April 1940, with the German invasion, Thorsen was a student in secondary school.[1] As early as 1940, he got together with friends and decided to take up resistance work. The group was self-initiated, but they lacked contacts, knowledge and materials to actually conduct intelligence work.[2][3] Two of them were sent to the United Kingdom: Bjarne Thorsen and Leif Utne. Utne travelled via Sweden, while Thorsen crossed the Norwegian Sea on the vessel Duen.[2] After five weeks of training in radio, telegraphy, and secret codes, he returned to Norway with a transmitter.[1] He landed on Sotra and went from there to Bergen.[4] The radio communication post "Theta" was established on 4 December 1941, with its headquarters at the famous seaside location Bryggen. The radio was operated out of a secret room in a house owned by the Dahm family; Jan Dahm came to be the main operator.[5] Thorsen returned to England when "Theta" was up and running. He had to return in early 1942 with new radio gear to make tracking by German intelligence harder.[4] In total, he crossed the Norwegian Sea six times during this period.[1]

Among other things, "Theta" identified the presence of the German battleship Tirpitz in Norwegian waters, a highly important contribution to the Battle of the Atlantic.[1] Tirpitz was located near Trondheim, far from Bergen, but "Theta" got the information from a scout travelling with the Hurtigruten.[3] The message was sent on 17 January 1942, and spurred a series of Royal Air Force attacks on the battleship. "Theta" later sent information about the German cruiser Prinz Eugen.[6] Kristian Ottosen was also a member of the group running "Theta",[2] as was Helmer Dahl. After a request from Edward Victor Appleton,[7] Thorsen helped Dahl and his family flee to the United Kingdom in April 1942 on the vessel Borghild.[4]

The Abwehr quickly became suspicious of "Theta" and tried to pinpoint its exact location.[4] They managed to interfere with a transmission, attempting to trick the resistance members with a fake message.[5] German authorities finally unveiled "Theta" in October 1942, while conducting a razzia towards Bryggen, but most of the members managed to flee.[4] Kristian Ottosen had already been captured, imprisoned, and tortured for information. Another member died in German captivity, while a third group member died elsewhere as a pilot.[6] Thorsen continued his Allied war service as a telegrapher, and also attended the Norwegian Naval Academy.[1]

He was decorated with the St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch, reportedly as the youngest Norwegian. He also received the King's Medal for Courage.[1]

Later career

After the war, Thorsen served in the Royal Norwegian Navy. He reached the rank of commander. He also spent some time working for the Governor of Svalbard.[8]

From the 1980s, he was a part of a project group aiming to register imprisoned Norwegian war sailors.[4] In 1990, he published the book Usynlige soldater, about the Secret Intelligence Service agents of Norway, together with Bjørn Rørholt. It was considered as providing hitherto unknown information.[9] Thorsen lived in Eiksmarka,[1] and died in February 2001.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ottosen, Kristian (8 January 1992). "70 år". Bergens Tidende (in Norwegian). p. 51.
  2. 1 2 3 Ask, Øyvind (9 September 2004). "Spilte gal for å overleve". Bergens Tidende (in Norwegian). p. 33.
  3. 1 2 Rørholt, Bjørn (30 April 1998). "Med radio som våpen mot tysk krigsmakt". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). p. 25.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ottosen, Kristian (22 February 2001). "Minneord". Bergens Tidende (in Norwegian). p. 26.
  5. 1 2 "Dagen i dag – lørdag 4. desember" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 2 December 1993.
  6. 1 2 Hauge, Jens Chr. (29 November 1983). "Boken om Theta". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). p. 2.
  7. ↑ Kirkeeide, Norman; Valaker, Tormod (31 March 1999). "Forsker, humanist og elektronikkfadder". Bergens Tidende (in Norwegian). p. 39.
  8. ↑ Ottosen, Kristian (8 January 1992). "Høyt verdsatt veteran". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). p. 10.
  9. ↑ Vikdal, Berit (18 September 1990). "Viktig del av krigshistorien". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). p. 51.
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