Birger Rasmussen MC & Bar (23 August 1920 – 6 December 2007) was a Norwegian businessman, director of Katfos Fabriker, manager of

Borregaard Borregaard is a Norwegian company, established in 1889 in the southeastern town of Sarpsborg in Østfold county. Its main products were traditionally pulp and paper. The company later started producing chemicals based on timber as a raw materi ...

's pulp and paper section, director of Follum Fabrikker, and president of the

Federation of Norwegian Industries The Federation of Norwegian Industries ( no, Norsk Industri) is an employers' organisation in Norway, organized under the national Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise The Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise ( no, Næringslivets Hovedorganisa ...

. During 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 opposi ...

, Rasmussen was member of the British

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) group

Kompani Linge Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NOR.I.C.1, pronounced ''Norisén'' (approx. "noor-ee-sehn") in Norwegian) was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) group formed in March 1941 originally for the purpose of performing commando raids during ...

, and eventually the sabotage group Oslogjengen. He received both British and Norwegian decorations for his war contributions.

Personal life

Rasmussen was born in

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such as Konne ...

to Birger Rasmussen and Lilly Bruusgaard, and

finished Finished may refer to: * ''Finished'' (novel), a 1917 novel by H. Rider Haggard * ''Finished'' (film), a 1923 British silent romance film * "Finished" (short story), a science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp See also *Finishing (disa ...

his secondary education in 1939. He was married to Anne Sophie Braathen, daughter of

Ludvig G. Braathen Ludvig Gustav Braathen (17 March 1891 – 27 December 1976) was a Norwegian entrepreneur that founded the shipping company Ludvig G. Braathens Rederi and the airline Braathens SAFE. He was CEO of both companies until his death. Biography Braath ...

Career

World War II

During the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

, Rasmussen received military training with the

Norwegian Independent Company 1 Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NOR.I.C.1, pronounced ''Norisén'' (approx. "noor-ee-sehn") in Norwegian) was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) group formed in March 1941 originally for the purpose of performing commando raids during ...

(Nor.I.C.1) in Scotland. In 1941 he joined a group of people sailing from Norway to Shetland, and was recruited to the Nor.I.C.1 by

Martin Linge Martin Jensen Linge, (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 19 ...

. In November 1943 he parachuted over Norway, together with his companions Edvard Tallaksen and Armand Trønnes. On 21 November, they accomplished "Operation Company", where several

transformer A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...

s at Arendal Smelters were blown up. He then joined "Operation Goldfinch" and trained local

Milorg Milorg (abbreviation of militær organisasjon – military organization) was the main Norwegian resistance movement during World War II. Resistance work included intelligence gathering, sabotage, supply-missions, raids, espionage, transport of ...

troops. From 1944 Rasmussen was part of the sabotage group called Oslogjengen, and took part in many operations in the

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

district. He was leading an operation in

Hønefoss __NOTOC__ Hønefoss is a town and the administrative center of the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2008 ...

against labour duty () during the night between 4 and 5 May 1944. He further took part in follow-up operations to destroy machinery for sorting registration cards located at the insurance company Norske Folk. During a sabotage operation against Skabo Jernbanevognfabrikk in September 1944, where a special locomotive designed for the

Thamshavn Line , logo = , logo_width = , logo_alt = , image_name = Bårdshaug stasjon.jpeg , image_width = , image_alt = , caption = Passenger train at Bårdshaug Station in 191 ...

had been repaired (a follow-up on the previous Thamshavn Line sabotage), Rasmussen broke his arm in a fall accident. In January 1945 he led a sabotage operation destroying a large supply of stored ball bearings, and later the same month he took part in an operation which resulted in destruction of a storage of 1,800 barrels of special oil. When Rasmussen was injured in a gunfight in Oslo in March 1945, he subsequently received undercover treatment.

Post war

Rasmussen was assigned with Hunsfos Fabrikker from 1946 to 1948. He spent the period from 1948 to 1950 as a student in the United States and France. From 1951 he was assigned with Katfos Fabriker in Modum, and was leader of the factory from 1956 to 1968. He was then manager of

's pulp and paper section for seven years, and from 1975 to 1987 he was director of Follum Fabrikker in

. From 1985 to 1987 he chaired the

Honours and awards

Rasmussen was awarded the highest Norwegian military award, the

War Cross with sword The War Cross with Sword (Norwegian Bokmål: ''Krigskorset med sverd, '' Norwegian Nynorsk: ''Krigskrossen med sverd'') is the highest ranking Norwegian gallantry decoration. It is awarded for extraordinary brave actions or extraordinary leadersh ...

. In addition to the British

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 ...

and

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

, he also received St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch, the Defence Medal 1940 - 1945, and Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal. He died on 6 December 2007.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rasmussen, Birger 1920 births 2007 deaths People from Drammen 20th-century Norwegian businesspeople Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom