Nils Uhlin Hansen (6 May 1919 – 11 January 1945) was a Norwegian long jumper and

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. He had a successful athletics career before the war; setting a Nordic long jump record which was not surpassed for 20 years (14 years after his death). He was killed less than four months before the end of the war, as he was surprised by Wehrmacht forces following a sabotage mission.

Pre-war life

He was born in Trondheim, the son of Haakon Hansen and Swedish citizen Agnes Collin. Representing sports club SK Freidig, he had a successful career in the long jump; only nineteen years old he won the Norwegian championships. Jumping 7.39 metres, he was 25 centimetres ahead of runner-up

Kaare Strøm Kaare Strøm may refer to: * Kaare Strøm (limnologist) (1902–1967), Norwegian limnologist *Kaare Strøm (athlete) (1915–1982), Norwegian triple and long jumper *Kaare Strøm (political scientist) Kaare Strøm (born 10 April 1953) is a Norwegi ...

. In 1939, Hansen won a silver medal behind Kaare Strøm. On 11 September 1939, Hansen established a new Norwegian record. Jumping 7.54 metres at Bislett stadion, he broke the two-year-old record of Otto Berg with two centimetres. This was also a Nordic record. His sporting career was cut short by World War II. As Norway was invaded by Germany in 1940, regular sports events and championships were discontinued. The

1940 Summer Olympics The 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad, were originally scheduled to be held from September 21 to October 6, 1940, in Tokyo City, Empire of Japan. They were rescheduled for Helsinki, Finland, to be held from ...

in Tokyo,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

were also cancelled.

Resistance work

Hansen joined the Norwegian resistance movement in 1940. He had to flee the country, arriving in Sweden on 8 November 1941. He then escaped to England in 1942, where he became enrolled in the Norwegian Independent Company 1 ( no, Kompani Linge), a part of the British Special Operations Executive. He conducted several sabotage missions in Norway, including one against the rail road Røros Line in January 1945. Saboteurs were active in Central Norway in late 1944 and early 1945, with sabotages against the Nordland Line, the Dovre Line and the Rauma Line in addition to the Røros Line. This was of high strategic importance, as German forces were retreating from

Northern Norway Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical Regions of Norway, region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainlan ...

, using the rail roads for troop transport. Although the war was going against Germany at the time, there were rumours that they would not leave Norway without an

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

invasion, thus, pockets of Norwegian resistance forces were prepared for warfare.Lyng, 1979: p. 116 On 10 January 1945, German forces reacted, and began searching for militants under the codename ''Aktion Hengst''. They had only vague knowledge on the whereabouts of Norwegian militants, but on 11 January they found a lone skier in Singsås.Lyng, 1979: p. 119 They questioned him, and then released him, only to follow his tracks. The tracks led the German task force to a cabin at Forsetvollan in Budal. Nils Uhlin Hansen was staying in the cabin at the time, and when shooting ensued, Hansen was killed. Two days after his death Norwegian saboteurs carried out

Operation Woodlark Operation Woodlark, also known as the Jørstadelva Bridge sabotage, was an operation carried out on 13 January 1945 by members of the Norwegian Independent Company 1 during the Second World War The aim was to blow up a railway bridge in order to ...

, killing 70–80 troops by destroying the bridge over the Jørstadelva, west of

Jørstad Jørstad is a village area in the municipality of Snåsa in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located on the southern coast of the lake Snåsavatnet about southwest of the village of Snåsa. It is located along the Nordlandsbanen railway line w ...

Awards and legacy

Uhlin Hansen was awarded the

Norwegian War Medal __NOTOC__ The War Medal ( no, Krigsmedaljen) is a Norwegian war decoration for service during Second World War, and later for meritous service during war. Criteria The Norwegian War Medal was instituted by King Haakon VII of Norway by Royal Decre ...

, the Defence Medal 1940–1945 and then the Norwegian War Medal with Star. A road in Trondheim has been named for him. His national long jump record stood until 1959, when it was broken by

Roar Berthelsen Roar Berthelsen (3 November 1934 – 1 August 1990) was a Norwegian long jumper. He represented Mandal og Halse IL and IK Tjalve. At the 1954 European Championships he finished eleventh in the long jump final with a jump of 7.16 metres. He also ...

with eleven centimetres.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Nils Uhlin 1919 births 1945 deaths Norwegian male long jumpers Norwegian military personnel killed in World War II Norwegian resistance members Norwegian people of Swedish descent People from Trondheim Norwegian Special Operations Executive personnel Deaths by firearm in Norway Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany