Anders Frederik Emil Victor Schau Lassen, VC, MC & Two Bars (22 September 1920 – 9 April 1945) was a highly decorated Danish soldier, who was the only non-Commonwealth recipient of the British

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' (E ...

awarded the United Kingdom's highest gallantry award for his actions during

Operation Roast Operation Roast was a military operation undertaken by British Commandos, at Comacchio lagoon in north-east Italy, during the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, part of the Italian Campaign, during the final stages of Second World War. Background T ...

on 8 April 1945 at Lake Comacchio in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in the final weeks of the Italian campaign. The Danish officer was ordered to lead a raid that would give the impression that a major landing was being undertaken. Lassen fulfilled his mission in the face of overwhelming enemy numbers by single-handedly taking out three enemy positions before being mortally wounded. As his men's lives would be endangered in the withdrawal, he refused to be evacuated from the area.

Early life and background

Anders Lassen was born on the Høvdingsgård estate near Mern,

Vordingborg Municipality Vordingborg () is a municipality ('' kommune'') in the Sjælland Region, which is on the southeast coast of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in south Denmark. It was established in 2007. The municipality covers an area of 621 km2. It ha ...

, the son of estate owners Emil Victor Schau Lassen and Suzanne Maria Signe Lassen. Lassen's paternal grandfather A. F. J. C. Lassen, made his fortune as the owner of a tobacco plantation on

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. In 1917, Lassen's father took over the Høvdingsgård estate. Lassen was a first cousin of Axel von dem Bussche, a

German Resistance German resistance can refer to: * Freikorps, German nationalist paramilitary groups resisting German communist uprisings and the Weimar Republic government * German resistance to Nazism * Landsturm, German resistance groups fighting against France d ...

member who unsuccessfully tried to kill Adolf Hitler in 1943.

Military career

While serving in Denmark's merchant navy, he came to the United Kingdom shortly after the start of the

where he joined the

British Commandos The Commandos, also known as the British Commandos, were formed during the Second World War in June 1940, following a request from Winston Churchill, for special forces that could carry out raids against German-occupied Europe. Initially drawn ...

in 1940, serving with No. 62 Commando (also known as the Small Scale Raiding Force). The unit was formed around a small group of commandos under the command of the

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

(SOE). He was commissioned in the field on the

General List The General Service Corps (GSC) is a corps of the British Army. Role The role of the corps is to provide specialists, who are usually on the Special List or General List. These lists were used in both World Wars for specialists and those not allo ...

and awarded an immediate

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

for his part in

Operation Postmaster Operation Postmaster was a British special operation conducted on the Spanish island of Fernando Po, now known as Bioko, off West Africa in the Gulf of Guinea, during the Second World War. The mission was carried out by the Small Scale Raiding F ...

, the capture of three Italian and German ships from the

neutral Neutral or neutrality may refer to: Mathematics and natural science Biology * Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity Chemistry and physics * Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction in ...

Spanish colonial island of Fernando Po, now known as Bioko, in the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in the ...

. In early 1943, No. 62 Commando was disbanded, and its members were dispersed amongst other formations. Lassen was among a number who went to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

to serve in the

Special Boat Section The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the special forces unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The SBS can trace its origins back to the Second World War when the Army Special Boat Section was formed in 1940. After the Second World War, the Roya ...

, then attached to the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

. Others joined the 2nd SAS under the command of

Bill Stirling William Stuart Stirling (19 March 1891 – 18 July 1971) was an Australian cricketer active from 1908 to 1921 who played for South Australia and the Australian Imperial Force Touring XI. He was born in Jamestown, South Australia and died in Ade ...

, elder brother of

David Stirling Sir Archibald David Stirling (15 November 1915 – 4 November 1990) was a Scottish officer in the British army, a mountaineer, and the founder and creator of the Special Air Service (SAS). He saw active service during the Second World War. ...

. During his time in the SBS, Lassen rose in rank to become a Major by October 1944. During his service he fought in North-West Europe, North Africa,

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

, the Aegean islands, mainland

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Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

and

. He was awarded two further bars to his Military Cross on 27 September 1943 and 15 February 1944. On 24 April 1944, he led a successful SBS

raid on Santorini The Raid on Santorini took place on 24 April 1944 as part of the Mediterranean Campaign in World War II. It was conducted by the British Special Boat Service, against the mixed German and Italian garrison on the island of Santorini (Thera) in t ...

, taking out the garrison on the island and blowing up the building housing the radio installation with time bombs. Lassen and the force, with only two casualties, successfully withdrew on two

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

Victoria Cross

Lassen, who was 24 years old, was serving as a temporary Major in the British

when he was awarded the

. The citation published in the ''

London Gazette London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

'' on 4 September 1945 gave the following details:

Commemoration

Lassen is buried at the Argenta Gap War Cemetery grave II, E, 11. His VC medal is on display at the ''Frihedsmuseet'' (Museum of Danish Resistance) in Copenhagen, Denmark. A bust of him was installed in the Churchill Park outside the museum in 1987.

Awards and honours

Gallery

File:2015-09-01 16.00.19. Major Anders Lassens grav, Argenta Gap War Cemetery, øst for Argenta. (3).jpg, Major Anders Lassen's grave at Argenta Gap War Cemetery, east of Argenta, 1 September 2015. File:2015-09-01 16.00.37. Dansk heder på major Anders Lassens grav, Argenta Gap War Cemetery, øst for Argenta..jpg, Miniature insignia of the Danish Dannebrog Order on Major Anders Lassen's

gravestone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...

at Argenta Gap War Cemetery, 1 September 2015. Text: "Gud og Kongen" - "God and the King". File:Anders Lassen's bench @ Glenfinnan.jpg, English: Anders Lassen's bench donated at the Glenfinnan monument in Scotland File:Anders Lassen - The Holy Legion.jpg, Greek !The Holy Legion" memorial badge awarded to Lassen and now in the collection of the Museum of Danish Resistance in Copenhagen.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * *

External links

Anders Lassen Fonden
– The Danish Anders Lassen Foundation *
Commonwealth War Graves Register Entry for Lassen

Article on Anders Lassen by Thomas Harder, author of "Special Forces Hero: Anders Lassen VC, MC**"

Video talks on Anders Lassen by Thomas Harder, author of "Special Forces Hero: Anders Lassen VC, MC**"

Articles and other material on Anders Lassen by Thomas Harder, author of "Special Forces Hero: Anders Lassen VC, MC**"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lassen, Anders 1920 births 1945 deaths British Army Commandos officers British Army General List officers British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross British Army personnel killed in World War II Burials at Argenta Gap War Cemetery Danish recipients of the Victoria Cross Danish resistance members Danish sailors People from Copenhagen People from Vordingborg Municipality Recipients of the Military Cross Recipients of the War Cross (Greece) Special Air Service officers Special Boat Service officers