The military resistance against the
German occupation,
mere called "the Milorg".
It's also been called "the home-forces".
MORE
COMPANY
LINGE
Milorg
and compani Linge
cooperated on several missions all over Norway.
MILORG
From a modest beginning
in the fall of 1940, the Milorg grew nation wide into
14 districts.
It's work consisted mainly of intelligence, transport
of people to Sweden and England, building up supplies
of weapons, espionage against German military fortification
and cover-ups.
The Milorg managed to establish contact
with England summer of 41, trying to get its organization
official, and it succeeded. In spite of several shakedowns,
executions and torture by the hands of the Gestapo, the
Milorg grew to incredibly 40 000 members by 45..
Early in the war, the Shetland gang transported weapons
over the North-Sea, using fishing boats. It was a very
dangerous affair. It wasn't until after the invasion of
the continent, because of heavy air-supply from Great
Britain, that the Milorg was sufficently equipped. But
the air-drops over Norway on dark nights were a dangerous
task. 23 British and 5 American planes were lost during
these operations.
At
the end of 1943, Jens Christina Hauge, played an important
role, and finally became the head of the organization.
He left Norway on several occasions to participate with
the exiled Norwegian government in conferences regarding
the resistance work. One of the best known persons in
the resistance is Gunnar Sønsteby. Nicknamed
number 24 or "kjakan" (the jaw)
He carried out resistance work against the Wehrmacht
even before the word "Home-front" had any
meaning. In 1940 he got his legs badly frozen on an
illegal trip returning from Sweden. But he recovered
and started the resistance work that would take 5 years
of his life. He had a number of secret apartments and
hide outs. As a rule, he never used the same hideout
twice. Sønsteby was included in the famous "Linge
Company" and participated in a series of incredibly
daring sabotaging operations as a leader of "the
Oslo gang".
