Jan baalsrud and those who saved him book

Commando in the Norwegian resistance

Jan Sigurd Baalsrud, MBE (13 December 1917 – 30 December 1988) was a commando in the Norwegian resistance trained by the British during World War II.

Biography

Early life

Jan Baalsrud was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway and moved with his family to Kolbotn in the early 1930s. He lived there until the 1950s. He graduated as a cartographical instrument-maker in 1939.

World War II

During the German invasion of Norway in 1940, Baalsrud fought in Vestfold.

Jan baalsrud family

He later escaped to Sweden, which was neutral, but he was convicted of espionage and expelled from the country.

In 1941, Baalsrud reached Great Britain after having travelled through the Soviet Union, Africa and the US. He joined the Norwegian Company Linge.

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 Bardufoss, and recruit for the Norwegian resistance m