Knut Lier-Hansen (8 September 1916 – 28 March 2008) was a Norwegian

resistance Resistance may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm: ** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title ** ''T ...

member 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 born and grew up in Rjukan. Around 1940 he was a sergeant in the Norwegian Army, and tried to repel the German invaders in April 1940, among others in a skirmish at

Gransherad Gransherad is a former municipality in Telemark county, Norway, located north-west of the city Notodden. ''Grandsherred'' was created in 1859 by the merger of the parishes Hovin in Tinn and Gransherad in Hjartdal. On January 1, 1886 Hovin was se ...

. He later joined the more irregular

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...

. His most notable mission was the sinking of SF ''Hydro'' as a part of the

Norwegian heavy water sabotage The Norwegian heavy water sabotage ( nb, Tungtvannsaksjonen; nn, Tungtvassaksjonen) was a series of Allied-led efforts to halt German heavy water production via hydroelectric plants in Nazi Germany-occupied Norway during World War II, involvi ...

. After placing explosives below deck in the ferry, the saboteurs had to wait until the ferry's departure in the morning to oversee that nothing went against the plan. After witnessing the ferry leave harbor in a normal way, Lier-Hansen fled the scene for

Einar Skinnarland Einar Skinnarland DCM (27 April 1918 – 5 December 2002) was a Norwegian resistance fighter during the Second World War. Einar Skinnarland was born in Vinje, in Telemark county, Norway. Skinnarland graduated from Telemark Engineering ...

's house. The ferry went down in the middle of

Lake Tinn A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

, and in addition to sabotaging the heavy water program, eighteen lives (fourteen civilians) were lost. When the war between Germany and Norway was over, on

8 May 1945 Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...

, Lier-Hansen was dispatched together with Henry Johansen and another person to arrest ''

Reichskommissar (, rendered as "Commissioner of the Empire", "Reich Commissioner" or "Imperial Commissioner"), in German history, was an official gubernatorial title used for various public offices during the period of the German Empire and Nazi Germany. Germa ...

für die besetzten Norwegischen Gebiete''

Josef Terboven Josef Terboven (23 May 1898 – 8 May 1945) was a Nazi Party official and politician who was the long-serving ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Essen and the ''Reichskommissar'' for Norway during the German occupation. Early life Terboven was born in Essen ...

. The Norwegians reached

Skaugum Skaugum is an estate, manor house and the official residence of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit. The estate is located in Asker municipality, southwest of Oslo, by the foot of the mountain Skaugumsåsen. The ...

where Terboven had entrenched himself, but they were warded off by guards. Soon after, Terboven blew himself up. After the war he participated in the film ''

Kampen om tungtvannet ''Operation Swallow: The Battle for Heavy Water'' (original title: ''Kampen om tungtvannet'', French title: ''La Bataille de l'eau lourde'') is a Norwegian-French film from 1948. The history is based on the best known commando raid in Norway durin ...

''. He also received death threats linked with successive anniversaries of the SF ''Hydro'' sinking. He was sparsely decorated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lier-Hansen, Knut 1916 births 2008 deaths Norwegian Army personnel of World War II Norwegian resistance members People from Rjukan