Jens-Anton Poulsson DSO, (27 October 1918 – 2 February 2010) was a Norwegian military officer. During

World War II 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 a

Norwegian resistance The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled government, ...

member, especially noted for his role in the heavy water sabotage 1942–1943. He continued his military career after the war, and was appointed

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in 1968.

World War II

Heavy water sabotage

Poulsson served as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in 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 ...

( no, Kompani Linge) during

. As a leader of the ''Grouse'' team he parachuted onto the

Hardangervidda Hardangervidda ( en, Hardanger Plateau) is a mountain plateau (Norwegian: ''vidde'') in central southern Norway, covering parts of Vestland, Vestfold og Telemark, and Viken counties. It is the largest plateau of its kind in Europe, with a cold ye ...

plateau on 18 October 1942, along with

Arne Kjelstrup Arne Kjelstrup, MM (30 October 1913 – 5 May 1995) was a Norwegian resistance member during World War II, especially noted for his role in the heavy water sabotage 1942–1943, and for being military leader of Milorg section D-161 (Ko ...

Knut Haugland Knut Magne Haugland, DSO, MM, (23 September 1917 – 25 December 2009) was a resistance fighter and noted explorer from Norway, who accompanied Thor Heyerdahl on his famous 1947 ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition. Early life and World War II Haugland, bo ...

and

Claus Helberg Claus Helberg (31 January 1919 – 6 March 2003) was a Norwegian resistance fighter and mountain guide. He was a member of Company Linge, a resistance commando unit that was best known for carrying out Norwegian heavy water sabotage during World Wa ...

. The team landed at Fjarefit in Songadalen, and prepared to receive British troops of

Operation Freshman Operation Freshman was the codename given to a British airborne operation conducted in November 1942 during World War II. It was the first British airborne operation conducted using Airspeed Horsa gliders, and its target was the Vemork ''Nor ...

at Møsvassdammen. The Freshman operation was a failure, as the two gliders crashed. Another operation, called

Gunnerside Gunnerside is a village in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the B6270 road, east of Muker and west of Grinton. The village lies between the River Swale and its tributary, Gunnerside Beck, in the Swale ...

, was successful. The Gunnerside team joined the Grouse (later renamed Swallow), and the combined team succeeded in the destruction of heavy water equipment and stock at

Vemork Vemork is a hydroelectric power plant outside Rjukan in Tinn, Norway. The plant was built by Norsk Hydro and opened in 1911, its main purpose being to fix nitrogen for the production of fertilizer. At opening, it was the world's largest power pl ...

in February 1943. After the sabotage Poulsson escaped to Oslo, and later via Sweden to the United Kingdom. Poulsson was awarded Norway's

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 leadershi ...

, after his return to United Kingdom in 1943. It was presented to him by King Haakon at a ceremony at the training school STS 26 in Scotland, near

Nethy Bridge Nethy may refer to: *Nethy Bridge, village in Strathspey in the Highland council area of Scotland *River Nethy The River Nethy ( gd, Neithich / Abhainn Neithich) is a right bank tributary of the River Spey in northeast Scotland. It rises as the G ...

. Also Rønneberg, leader of the ''Gunnerside'' team, received the War Cross with sword at this ceremony, while the other participants in the heavy water sabotage received the St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch.

Operation Sunshine

Poulsson returned to Norway in 1944, participating in

Operation Sunshine Operation Sunshine was an anti-demolition operation in occupied Norway from October 1944 to May 1945. It was planned by Norwegian military personnel in the United Kingdom in cooperation with British forces, and part of an effort to protect essent ...

led by major

Leif Tronstad Leif Hans Larsen Tronstad DSO, OBE (27 March 1903 – 11 March 1945) was a Norwegian inorganic chemist, intelligence officer and military organizer. He graduated from the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1927 and was a prolific research ...

. Nine SOE agents, among them several from the heavy water sabotage team, were paradropped over Ugleflott in

Øvre Telemark Upper Telemark ( no, Øvre Telemark) is a Norwegian region comprising the inland of the traditional district Telemark in Vestfold og Telemark county. More than two thirds of the total area of Telemark, or above 10,000 square kilometres, belong to ...

5 October 1944. Their mission was to establish fighting groups at

Rjukan Rjukan () is a town and the administrative centre of Tinn municipality in Telemark, Norway. It is situated in Vestfjorddalen, between Møsvatn and Lake Tinn, and got its name after Rjukan Falls west of the town. The Tinn municipality council grant ...

Notodden Notodden () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold og Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Øst-Telemark. ...

and

Nore The Nore is a long bank of sand and silt running along the south-centre of the final narrowing of the Thames Estuary, England. Its south-west is the very narrow Nore Sand. Just short of the Nore's easternmost point where it fades into the cha ...

. Poulsson, along with

as wireless operator, was responsible for the Rjukan section. In the mountains surrounding Rjukan a military force consisting of 300 soldiers was built up, and the troops were supplied with provisions and weapons from allied aircraft. The part of Telemark which was covered by ''Sunshine'' was called

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 ...

district 16 (D-16). When Tronstad was killed in a shooting episode 11 March 1945, Poulsson took over as leader of the ''Sunshine'' operation (Milorg D-16).

Awards

For his war contributions Poulsson was decorated with the Defence Medal with rosette and Haakon VIIs 70th Anniversary Medal, in addition to the War Cross. He was also decorated with the British

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

(DSO) as well as the St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch.

Post war

In 1960 Poulsson was leading the Danish–Norwegian battalion (Danor) in the UN force

UNEF UNEF may refer to: * United Nations Emergency Force, a UN force deployed in the Middle East in 1956 * UNEF, a designation for Extra-Fine thread series of Standard Unified Screw Threads (ANSI B1.1) * Union Nationale des Étudiants de France (Natio ...

in Gaza. From 1961 he held various leading positions in the Norwegian Army, and has been a colonel since 1968. He headed His Majesty The King's Guard from 1961–1965, he was second in command for

Brigade Nord Brigade Nord (Brig. N.; Northern Brigade) is the major combat formation and only brigade of the Norwegian Army. The Brigade will raise 1 new Armoured Battalion in 2026-32. 2nd Battalion are converting to Armoured Battalion from 2020. It is mostly ba ...

from 1967–1968 and he headed the

3rd Infantry Regiment The 3rd United States Infantry Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army. It currently has three active battalions, and is readily identified by its nickname, The Old Guard, as well as Escort to the President. The regimental motto is ' ...

from 1980–1982. Poulsson died early February 2010 aged 91. In his funeral, King Harald V participated, in addition to historian Knut Werner Hagen, who is about to write a book about Poulsson in the near future.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poulsson, Jens-Anton 1918 births 2010 deaths People from Tinn Recipients of the War Cross with Sword (Norway) Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal with Oak Branch Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Norwegian Army personnel of World War II Norwegian resistance members Norwegian Special Operations Executive personnel