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[[Category:Commanders of the Order of St. Olav]]
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[[Category:Recipients of the Special Operations Command Medal]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Special Operations Command Medal]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal]]


[[da:Gunnar Sønsteby]]
[[da:Gunnar Sønsteby]]

Revision as of 13:29, 20 May 2012

"The Chin" redirects here. For other uses, see Chin (disambiguation).

Gunnar Fridtjof Thurmann Sønsteby
Nickname(s)Kjakan, No.24 among others
Born(1918-01-11)11 January 1918
Rjukan, Norway
Died10 May 2012(2012-05-10) (aged 94)
Oslo, Norway
AllegianceNorway
Years of service1940–1945
RankCaptain
Commands heldKompani Linge
Awards
NorwayWar Cross with three Swords[1]
NorwayCommander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav[2]
NorwayNorwegian Police Cross of Honour[3]
NorwayNorwegian Defence Cross of Honour
NorwayNorwegian Defence Medal with laurel branch[3]
NorwayDefence Medal 1940–1945 with rosette.[4]
NorwayH. M. The Kings Commemorative Medal in Silver[4]
NorwayHaakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal
NorwayMedal of St. Hallvard (2009)
United KingdomDistinguished Service Order[4]
United Kingdom1939–45 Star
United StatesMedal of Freedom with silver palm[4]
United StatesUnited States Special Operations Command Medal[3]
United StatesAssociation of Former Intelligence Officers Freedom Award
PolandPro Memoria Medal[5]
Honorary member of the Student Society in Trondheim (2008)
Citizen of the Year in Oslo (2007)
Honorary student of Rjukan High School (2005)
Honorary citizen of Tinn (2002)
Honorary member of the Norwegian Defence Association
Other workAuthor, War information work

Gunnar Fridtjof Thurmann Sønsteby DSO (11 January 1918 – 10 May 2012) was a member of the Norwegian resistance movement during the German occupation of Norway in World War II.[6] He is also known for being the most highly decorated citizen in Norway, including being the only one to have been awarded the War Cross with three swords.[7]

Second World War

Sønsteby was decorated for his work as a Norwegian resistance fighter during World War II. Known also as Kjakan (The Chin) and No. 24, he participated in the resistance effort from 1940. At the time of the German invasion of Norway in April 1940, Sønsteby was living in Oslo and fought in Philip Hansteens Skiløperkompani.

Norway's regular armed forces surrendered on 10 June 1940, after two months of fighting, and the country was subsequently occupied by the Germans. Sønsteby then became involved in the underground resistance, both through Milorg and the illegal press. In 1942 he became "Agent 24" in the Special Operations Executive. After saboteur training in England in 1943, he became the contact for all SOE agents in eastern Norway and head of the Norwegian Independent Company 1 group in Oslo. This group performed several spectacular acts of sabotage; among them smuggling out plates for the printing of Norwegian kroner from the Norwegian Central Bank and blowing up the office for Norwegian forced labour, thereby stopping the Nazis' plan of sending young Norwegian men to the Eastern Front.[3]

In addition to the attack on the labour office the recommendation for this award mentions the theft of 75,000 ration books, which allowed pressure to be placed on authorities, stopping a threatened cut in rations; the destruction of sulfuric acid manufacturing facilities in Lysaker; destroying or seriously damaging over 40 aircraft, and related equipment which were being repaired at a tram company depot in Korsvoll; destroying a railway locomotive which was under repair at Skabo; destroying a number of Bofors guns, a field gun and vital machine tools at the Kongsberg arms factory; and starting a large fire in an oil storage depot at Oslo harbour which destroyed large quantities of lubricating oil and other specialist oils.[8]

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.

Post-war activities

Sønsteby pictured in 2008

After the war Sønsteby moved to the United States where he enrolled in Harvard Business School. He also worked in the oil business before returning to Norway where he continued a career in private business. Throughout the post-war years and particularly after reaching retirement age Sønsteby has engaged in an extensive information and lecturing activity to pass on the lessons of the Second World War to future generations.[3]

Captain (Kaptein) Sønsteby is the only person awarded the War Cross with Three Swords. All three awards were made in 1946.[1][9]

In 1945, Sønsteby was awarded the British Distinguished Service Order and the U.S. Medal of Freedom with Silver Palm.

In 2001 he was awarded the American-Scandinavian Foundation's culture award.[9]

On 13 May 2007, a statue of him was erected on Solli Plass in Oslo. The statue was sculpted by Per Ung and portrays a 25-year-old Sønsteby standing next to his bicycle. The statue was unveiled by King Harald of Norway.[10]

As Sønsteby celebrated his 90th birthday on 11 January 2008 he was honoured with a reception at Akershus Fortress attended by King Harald V of Norway and the other members of the Royal Family.[9]

In 2008 he was the first non-American awarded the United States Special Operations Command Medal.[3]

Sønsteby together with his wife had offices at Akershus Fortress (in a brakke—a type of building) for a "number of years",[11] He stopped receiving visitors at the office, in the autumn of 2011.[12] It was located in building "number one", as of 2012—and it included a safe (with a "Jøli" logo).[13]

Assasinations of informants

When Sønsteby was 80 years old, he said "Of course wrong decisions were made, also by the Resistance Movement. But one must remember that war was going on. It did happen that we had to kill without being sure that the person concerned was an informant (angiver). But the decisions were right (riktige), there and then."[14]

Said about Sønsteby

On May 11, 2012 Cato Guhnfeldt (journalist/author) wrote that "Some will claim that he [Sønstebye] went quite far (vel langt) in publicizing—and achieving publication about his contributions".[15]

Legacy

There are monuments of him in Oslo (at Solli Plass) and in Rjukan.

A book of condolences at Armed Forces Museum in Oslo, has been open to the public since May 11, 2012.[16]

In popular culture

Gunnar Sønsteby and Knut Joner being interviewed by Nettavisen on location in Oslo for the film Max Manus
  • Gunnar Sønsteby is portrayed by Knut Joner in the 2008 Norwegian World War II-biopic Max Manus.
  • In 2010 an anonymous donor commissioned a portrait of Sønsteby from the well-known Norwegian artist, Knut André Vikshåland. The portrait was unveiled at Grev Wedels Plass Kunsthandel on 8 September 2010 by Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, and will hang in the prominent Frognerseteren restaurant in Oslo alongside others such as Wenche Foss and Helge Ingstad.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b The War Cross: The War Cross with swords Template:No icon
  2. ^ StOlav.com: The Statutes of the Order of St. Olav Template:En icon&Template:No icon
  3. ^ a b c d e f Jensen, Finn Robert; Gunnar "Kjakan" Sønsteby Om samhold og innsatsvilje; Pantagruel forlag; Oslo; 2008
  4. ^ a b c d Moland, Arnfinn; Gunnar Sønsteby – 24 kapitler i Kjakans liv; Orion; Oslo; 2004.
  5. ^ Dagbladet article
  6. ^ "Gunnar "Kjakan" Sønsteby er død" (in Norwegian). Aftenposten. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  7. ^ "Gunnar Sønsteby: Hero of the Norwegian Resistance". Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 15 October 2008.
  8. ^ "Recommendations for Honours and Awards (Army)—Image details—Sonsteby, Gunnar". Documents online. The National Archives. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  9. ^ a b c Aftenposten Newspaper: War hero turns 90
  10. ^ "Levende legende på sokkel" (2007) Norwegian Armed Forces Template:No icon. Retrieved 26 July 2007.
  11. ^ Verdens Gang. 11 May 2012. p. 11. En episode som illustrerer dette fant sted i den gule, trekkfulle brakken på Akershus festning hvor ekteparet Sønsteby hadde sine kontorer i flere år {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ^ Dagbladet. 11 May 2012. p. 6. Det var kø av besøkende på kontoret: skoleelever, militære, diplomater og andre som ville møte ham. I fjor høst måtte han avvikle besøkene på kontoret, sier Ringen Johannessen. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); line feed character in |quote= at position 100 (help)
  13. ^ Bakkeli, Tom (12 May 2012). "Røpet ikke vennene". Verdens Gang. p. 6. Hva som skjuler seg i safen på Sønstebys kontor i Bygning 1 på Akershus festning, vet bare et fåtall mennesker.
  14. ^ Guhnfeldt, Cato (11 May 2012). "Krigeren med de ni liv". Aftenposten. p. 4. Det er klart man tok gale avgjørelser også innen motstandsbevegelsen. Men man må huske på at det var krig. Det hendte vi måtte drepe uten å være sikker på at vedkommende var angiver. Men avgjørelsene var riktige der og da.
  15. ^ Guhnfeldt, Cato (11 May 2012). "Krigeren med de ni liv". Aftenposten. p. 4. Noen vil hevde at han gikk vel langt i å omtale og få omtalt egen innsats.
  16. ^ http://www.dagbladet.no/2012/05/11/nyheter/innenriks/gunnar_sonsteby/21549224/
  17. ^ "Har malt "Kjakan"". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 7 September 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2012.

External links

Signatories of the book of condolences at Armed Forces Museum (Norway) :

Template:Persondata

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