Martin Linge

Martin Jensen Linge, DSC (11 December 1894 – 27 December 1941) was a Norwegian actor who, in World War II, became the commander of the Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NOR.I.C.1) (pronounced as Norisen by the Norwegians), formed in March 1941 for operations on behalf of the Special Operations Executive.¹²

Biography

Martin Linge was born in Norddal Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. In 1915 he graduated as a non-commissioned officer from the military school in Trondheim. He subsequently studied at the Trondheim Theatre (1917–1918). He debuted on the stage at the Central Theatre in Oslo in 1921 and appeared in both theatre and films during the 1920s and 1930s.

Martin Linge was father of Jan Herman Linge, an engineer and boat designer. He was also the grandfather of Norwegian novelist Espen Haavardsholm, who wrote about his grandfather in Martin Linge – min morfar. Familieroman med fotografier (Gyldendal norsk forlag. 1993).³

Military career

Shortly after the German attack on Norway on 9 April 1940 he traveled to Åndalsnes to join his regiment. He had previously attained the rank of Lieutenant (in the reserve forces), and was also one of the first Norwegians to obtain a pilot's licence. When British troops landed at Åndalsnes from 17 April, Linge became liaison officer between the local regiment and the British. Åndalsnes (and other towns in Møre og Romsdal county) was at this time still unoccupied territory and the only port with railway connections to East Norway and the campaign there. The , the crown prince, the , Norway's , and finally Commander-in-chief of the Norwegian armed forces general with staff, escaped through Åndalsnes. in his memoirs recalls meeting Linge at Åndalsnes. During German air bombing of a makeshift airfield at , he was wounded and evacuated by boat to Britain. He was the first wounded Norwegian soldier to arrive in Britain.