Odd Starheim

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Odd Starheim
Born(1916-06-14)14 June 1916
Lista, Vest-Agder
Died1 March 1943(1943-03-01) (aged 26)
North Sea
Buried
Lista, Vest-Agder
AllegianceNorway
Service/branchSOE
Years of service1940–1943
RankCaptain[1]
UnitNorwegian Independent Company 1
Battles/warsSecond World War
AwardsNorway War Cross
United Kingdom Distinguished Service Order

Odd Kjell Starheim, DSO (14 June 1916 – 1 March 1943) was a Norwegian resistance fighter and SOE agent during the Second World War. He died when a Norwegian ship he had captured off the coast of Norway was sunk by German bombers on its way back to the United Kingdom.

Early life

Born in

Norwegian Merchant Navy.[1][2] During his childhood Starheim was a Scout, idolizing Scout Movement founder Robert Baden-Powell and Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen.[3]

Second World War

When

opposing the invasion, but was soon captured. He later went to Sweden and attempted to make his way to the United Kingdom from there, but could not find a way to do so. He returned to Norway, and after slowly accumulating enough fuel, made his way to the United Kingdom on the boat Viking from Rauna, near Farsund, together with two other men. The boat set off on 11 August 1940, but was forced back the next day by bad weather. On 13 August Viking set off again, and reached Aberdeen on 17 August despite encountering another storm during the voyage across the North Sea.[2][4]

He was among the pioneer members of the

occupied Norway.[9] This time he was aiming to re-establish radio contact between the Norwegian resistance and the United Kingdom as the radio operator left behind after his previous mission had stopped transmitting.[2]

While in Oslo he was captured by the Gestapo, during his interrogation, he managed to snatch back his identity papers and jump from a second storey window to make his escape. He signalled to the United Kingdom that he needed to be extracted, but an attempt to take him off in a fishing boat failed. Not wishing to risk an escape to Sweden for a third time, he came up with daring plan for which he is best known, the hijacking of the coastal steamer SS Galtesund in Flekkefjord on 15 March 1942. He brought her over to the UK, together with a small group of people. Amongst the group was Einar Skinnarland, who was in possession of important information on the heavy water plant at Vemork.[2][10] The capture of Galtesund was aided by a secret radio transmitter in Norway which radioed London, requesting air support for the vessel. The air support arrived on 16 March and the ship made it safely to Aberdeen.[11] Starheim had not received permission from his superiors in the United Kingdom to capture Galtesund, and carried out the operation entirely on his own initiative.[12] On 2 July 1942, his British superiors in the SOE recommended him for the British Military Cross, in the end he was awarded the higher-level Distinguished Service Order on 2 July 1942.[2]

He also organized the failed Operation Carhampton in 1943, an attempt to take over a German shipping convoy. The success of the Galtesund operation helped persuade the British in approving of the new, more ambitious plan.[12] In the operation Starheim and 40 Norwegian soldiers were landed near Abelsnes in Vest-Agder by the Norwegian patrol boat Bodø. Thirty of Starheim's men were from NOR.I.C.1, while the remaining 10 belonged to the Royal Norwegian Navy. The first attempt, on 10 January, at capturing a convoy failed when the coordination of the various groups was lost. A second attempt on 17 January ended in a gunfight between the commandos and German guards. The group's cover blown, the Norwegians were hunted by large German forces and had to be assisted by local resistance people in order to survive. After an aborted attempt at attacking the strategically significant mines at Knaben the whole operation was called off.[13] The leadership in London had not supported the plans to attack Knaben, instead approving of an attack on the titanium mine Titania in Sokndal, and the capture of a 10,000-ton ship in the Jøssingfjord. The commandos were supposed to have escaped Titania by using the mine trolleys.[12] Starheim and 12 other Carhampton members hijacked the Norwegian coastal passenger/cargo steamship SS Tromøsund on 28 February in an attempt to bring the ship over to Scotland, but Tromøsund never reached the UK, being sunk by German aircraft.[14] All those on board, including the 13 commandos, the 26 crew, two passengers and three German prisoners of war, lost their lives when Tromøsund sank. Starheim and the ship's captain were the only ones whose bodies were recovered, drifting ashore on Tjörn near Bohuslän.[1][6][14][15][16] Of the members of the operation who did not sail on Tromøsund 16 made their way to West Hartlepool in North East England by fishing boat, four men were given new missions in Norway and the rest made their way to neutral Sweden.[17] Starheim was buried in his birthplace Lista. In addition to his British DSO, he was awarded the Norwegian War Cross.[1][18]

Biography

  • Hauge, Eiliv Odde (1955). Mannen som stjal Galtesund (in Norwegian). Also published as Salt Water Thief (in English).

References

  1. ^
    Våre falne 1939-1945
    (in Norwegian). Vol. 4. Oslo: The State of Norway. p. 199. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Recommendations for Honours and Awards (Army)—Image details—Starheim, Odd Kjell" (fee usually required to view full pdf of original recommendation). DocumentsOnline. The National Archives. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
  3. ISBN 978-0-7100-0573-1
    .
  4. ^ Lawson, Siri Holm. "Boats escaping from Norway - WW II starting with V". Warsailors.com. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  5. ISBN 82-7010-245-8
    .
  6. ^
    Store norske leksikon
    (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  7. ^ Voksø 1994: 95
  8. ISBN 978-1-84603-276-9
    .
  9. ISBN 978-0-7100-0573-1
    .
  10. ^ Lawson, Siri Holm. "D/S Galtesund". Warsailors.com. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  11. ^ Voksø 1994: 221
  12. ^ a b c "Gerilja på Sørlandet". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 20 November 2001. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  13. ^ Voksø 1994: 299, 314
  14. ^ a b Lawson, Siri Holm. "D/S Tromøsund". Warsailors.com. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  15. ISBN 82-02-14138-9
    . Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  16. ^ Risnes, Birger. "Odd Kjeld Starheim". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  17. ^ Voksø 1994: 314
  18. ^ "Krigskorset". Webstaff.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 16 January 2010.

External links

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