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229:, was compromised when Baalsrud and his fellow soldiers, seeking a Resistance contact, accidentally made contact with a civilian shopkeeper who had taken over the store run by their intended contact and had the same name. Fearing for his life and suspecting it was a test by the Germans, he reported them to the local police office, which notified the Germans.
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Not long after that, Baalsrud was left on a high plateau, on a stretcher in the snow, where he was supposed to be collected by the
Norwegian resistance. Due to weather and German patrols in the town of Manndalen, KĂ„fjord, he was there for 27 days and was close to death for lack of food. It was during
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It was during this time, that he hid in a wooden hut at Revdal, which he called Hotel Savoy. Baalsrud operated on his feet with a pocket knife, as he suspected he had gangrene in two toes, resulting from the frostbite. Fearing it would spread, he cut off his big toe and the infected bit of the index
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After a long struggle to learn to walk without his toes, Baalsrud eventually was sent to Norway as an agent at his request. He was still in active service at the time of the war's end, in 1945. That ended German occupation, and
Baalsrud traveled to Oslo to reunite with his family, whom he had left
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What happened over those nine weeks remains one of the wildest, most unfathomable survival stories of World War II. Baalsrud's feet froze solid. An avalanche buried him up to his neck. He wandered in a snowstorm for three days. He was entombed alive in snow for another four days and abandoned under
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intended to destroy the air control tower – was attacked by a German vessel. The
Norwegians scuttled their boat by detonating the explosive using a time-delay fuse and fled in small boats, but they were promptly sunk by the Germans.
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295:). While driving their reindeer on spring passage, they pulled him on a sled across Finland and into neutral Sweden. From KilpisjÀrvi, in northern Finland, Baalsrud was collected by a Red Cross seaplane and flown to
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After the war, Baalsrud contributed to the local scout and football associations. In addition, he was chairman of the
Norwegian Disabled Veterans Union from 1957 to 1964. In 1962, he moved to
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this time, while he lay behind a snow wall built around a rock to shelter him, that
Baalsrud amputated nine of his toes to stop the spread of gangrene. This action saved the rest of his feet.
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Piece details HS 2/161âSpecial
Operations Executive: Group C, Scandinavia: Registered FilesâNorwayâOperation MARTIN; list of Norwegian refugees; Lt Jan Siguard Baalsrud's report
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is misleading, other honours listed in this recommendation were gazetted on that date, but honorary appointments to the Order of the
British Empire are not gazetted.
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waters. Baalsrud was the only commando to evade capture and, soaking wet and missing one sea boot, he escaped into a snow gully, where he shot and killed a German
214:. In early 1943, he, three other commandos, and a boat crew of eight, all Norwegians, embarked on a mission to destroy a German airfield control tower at
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aircraft. He soon went to
Scotland to help train other Norwegian patriots, who were going to enter Norway to continue the fight against the Germans.
264:. He spent the last several weeks tied on a stretcher, near death, as teams of Norwegian villagers dragged him up and down hills and snowy mountains.
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open skies for five more. Alone for two more weeks in a cave, he used a knife to amputate several of his own frostbitten toes to stop the spread of
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In 1941, Baalsrud reached Great
Britain after having travelled through the Soviet Union, Africa and the US. He joined the Norwegian
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A 30 minutes audio programme by Jim Mayer retracing Jan's route, including interviews with some of those who helped him escape.
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219:
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30:
344:, in a grave shared with Aslak Aslaksen Fossvoll (1900â1943), one of the local men who helped him escape to Sweden.
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Fellow
Norwegians transported Baalsrud by stretcher toward the border with Finland. He was put in the care of some
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in the early 1930s. He lived there until the 1950s. He graduated as a cartographical instrument-maker in 1939.
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Baalsrud spent seven months in a Swedish hospital in Boden before he was flown back to Britain in an RAF
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337:, where he lived for most of the remainder of his life. He returned to Norway during his final years.
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https://web.archive.org/web/20120205182131/http://www.godoy.no/weber/2verdskrigweb/Sara03/index.htm
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276:. His deteriorating physical condition forced him to rely on the assistance of Norwegian patriots.
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He lived there until his death on 30 December 1988, aged 71. His ashes are buried in
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Operation Martin; List of Norwegian Refugees; Lt Jan Siguard Baalsrud's Report
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536:"Recommendations for Honours and Awards (Army)âImage detailsâBaalsrud, J S"
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An annual remembrance march in Baalsrud's honour takes place on 25 July in
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539:(fee usually required to view pdf of full original recommendation)
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is named Jan Baalsruds plass (Jan Baalsrud's Place) in his honor.
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The morning after their blunder, on 29 March, their fishing boat
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He evaded capture for approximately two months, suffering from
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Chairman of the Norwegian Disabled Veterans Union (1957 â 1964)
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Honorary members of the Order of the British Empire
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84:
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753:Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal with Oak Branch
255:Kolker summarises what happened next as follows:
399:We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance
236: – containing around 100 kilograms of
748:Norwegian Special Operations Executive personnel
183:(now Oslo), Norway and moved with his family to
617:"(+) Hemmelig avduking av Jan Baalsrud-bysten"
366:In 2020, a bust in bronze created by sculptor
418:Defiant Courage - Norway's Longest WW2 Escape
8:
244:Baalsrud and others swam ashore in ice-cold
154:(13 December 1917 â 30 December 1988) was a
420:. Olympia, Washington: Nordic Adventures.
416:Scott, Astrid Karlsen; Haug, Tore (2001).
29:
18:
389:. London: UK National Archives. HS 2/161.
315:Member of the Order of the British Empire
127:Member of the Order of the British Empire
743:Norwegian Army personnel of World War II
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321:by Norway. He was a Second Lieutenant (
558:The date given for publication in the
401:. Guilford, Connecticut: Lyons Press.
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16:Commando in the Norwegian resistance
317:by the British. He was awarded the
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705:Kolker, Robert (16 March 2016).
484:Kolker, Robert (16 March 2016).
319:St. Olav's medal with Oak Branch
313:Baalsrud was appointed honorary
291:(the native people of northern
132:St Olav's Medal with Oak Branch
692:Brooks, David (2 March 2010).
162:trained by the British during
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220:Norwegian resistance movement
763:Norwegian resistance members
738:Military personnel from Oslo
370:on commission was unveiled.
199:in 1940, Baalsrud fought in
711:The New York Times Magazine
587:About the remembrance march
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663:A school paper on Baalsrud
615:Rian, Vivi (2020-11-08).
252:officer with his pistol.
197:German invasion of Norway
179:Jan Baalsrud was born in
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335:Tenerife, Canary Islands
510:Horwath, David (1955).
490:New York Times Magazine
385:Baalsrud, Jan (1943).
266:
218:, and recruit for the
203:. He later escaped to
687:The National Archives
598:"Jan Baalsruds plass"
547:The National Archives
329:Later years and death
304:de Havilland Mosquito
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95:Years of service
160:Norwegian resistance
53:(today Oslo), Norway
368:HÄkon Anton FagerÄs
310:five years before.
148:Jan Sigurd Baalsrud
698:The New York Times
521:978-1-84767-845-4
293:Fenno-Scandinavia
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98:1940 – 1945
79:Manndalen, Norway
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61:30 December 1988
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768:Sole survivors
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707:"The Fugitive"
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666:(in Norwegian)
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657:External links
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623:(in Norwegian)
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585:on 2006-05-15.
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561:London Gazette
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486:"The Fugitive"
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466:) – 2017
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454:) – 1957
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225:This mission,
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683:The Catalogue
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625:. Retrieved
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583:the original
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550:. Retrieved
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512:We Die Alone
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493:. Retrieved
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464:The 12th Man
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459:Den 12. mann
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359:A street in
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191:World War II
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164:World War II
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63:(1988-12-30)
23:Jan Baalsrud
733:1988 deaths
728:1917 births
646:nvg.ntnu.no
579:karlsoy.com
495:29 November
395:Howarth, D.
195:During the
68:Kongsvinger
722:Categories
627:2022-04-19
575:"Baalsrud"
552:15 January
471:References
452:Nine Lives
238:explosives
181:Kristiania
175:Early life
85:Allegiance
51:Kristiania
44:1917-12-13
694:"Opinion"
342:Manndalen
270:frostbite
234:Brattholm
216:Bardufoss
170:Biography
642:"Ni Liv"
397:(1955).
374:In media
262:gangrene
201:Vestfold
156:commando
70:, Norway
250:Gestapo
185:Kolbotn
158:in the
518:
443:Ni Liv
424:
405:
348:Legacy
323:Fenrik
246:Arctic
205:Sweden
123:Awards
107:Fenrik
89:Norway
75:Buried
462:(En.
436:Films
379:Books
354:Troms
297:Boden
280:toe.
129:(MBE)
554:2010
516:ISBN
497:2020
422:ISBN
403:ISBN
289:Sami
272:and
113:Unit
103:Rank
58:Died
38:Born
325:).
152:MBE
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448:En
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
