Sverre Midtskau (23 September 1914 – 18 December 1987) 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. He is best known as leader of the illegal radio post

Skylark A ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species ...

World War II

On 9 April Nazi Germany invaded Norway as a part of World War II. Midtskau became involved in the subsequent fighting in Rjukan. He later went to

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 ...

, and when Norway was overran by Germany, he fled to England together with the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

and prominent politicians. In September 1940 the

Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

established two stations for radio communication; the so-called

was to be led by Sverre Midtskau in Oslo while Skylark B was led by

Erik Welle-Strand Erik August Lindhè Welle-Strand (2 June 1915 – 17 July 2001) was a Norwegian mining engineer and resistance member during World War II. He is best known as leader of the illegal radio post Skylark B. Early life He was born in June 1915 in Berge ...

in Trondheim. Midtskau travelled the Norwegian Sea with the

cutter Cutter may refer to: Tools * Bolt cutter * Box cutter, aka Stanley knife, a form of utility knife * Cigar cutter * Cookie cutter * Glass cutter * Meat cutter * Milling cutter * Paper cutter * Side cutter * Cutter, a type of hydraulic rescue to ...

''Nordlys'', landed in

Florø is a town and the administrative centre of the municipality of Kinn, Vestland, Norway. The town was founded by royal decree in 1860 as a ladested on the island of Florelandet, located between the Botnafjorden and Solheimsfjorden. Florø is No ...

on 15 September together with Erik Welle-Strand, Sverre Haug and Finn Juell and continued to Oslo with Haug. Following technical difficulties in the initial phase, Midtskau and Haug travelled to England from Ålesund to fix the problem. Upon his return to Norway, Midtskau was to be parachuted over Telemark in February 1941 with a new radio. However, he landed at

Øyfjell Øyfjell is a village in Vinje Municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The village is located in the southeastern part of the municipality, along the river Vikåi, about to the east of the village of Åmot. Øyfjell Church is locat ...

instead of the designated spot near Langesæ, and in addition the radio was smashed to the ground. Midtskau then contacted Max Manus, a resistance agent of post-war fame. However, this led to his arrest in Manus' home. He was imprisoned in Åkebergveien. The Skylark B group in Trondheim managed to establish regular contact with the intelligence in London in January 1941. They had valuable assistance from Leif Tronstad, and provided vital information. In September the same year, however, Gestapo managed to track the Skylark B transmitting activity. Welle-Strand had left Norway, but the new leader

Egil Reksten Egil Reksten (3 May 1917 – May 30, 2009) was a Norwegian engineer and resistance member during World War II. He is best known as leader of the illegal radio post Skylark B. World War II Reksten was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was th ...

and others were arrested and shipped to Nacht und Nebel camps. Gestapo then learned Midtskau's name from the subsequent investigation—having gained access to the secret code, they managed to decipher the transmissions from Skylark B. Midtskau was then sent to the prison Møllergata 19 for torture. He managed to escape in December 1941 when a prison assistant managed to copy the keys belonging to a German guard. According to Max Manus, this prison assistant was the imprisoned resistance member

Kolbein Lauring Kolbein Widrik Lauring (15 June 1914 – 31 May 1987) was a Norwegian resistance member during World War II. Biography He grew up in Ljan (until 1948 a part of Aker) together with later resistance ace Max Manus. The two participated as volunteers ...

. Midtskau and two others fled Møllergata and hid in rural

Lommedalen Lommedalen is a rural community in a small valley in Bærum municipality in the county of Akershus, Norway. The population is about 3,000 people. Lommedalen valley opens up at Bærums Verk and runs about 5 kilometers to the north. Lommedalen incl ...

. He stayed in a lodge there until January 1942. He then fled, skiing, via Trysil and Sweden to England. He quit active service, but spent the rest of the war as a skiing instructor for Allied soldiers as well as an interrogation instructor.

Post-war life

In 1968 he issued the book ''London svarer ikke'', the title referring to the initial difficulties with radio communication in 1940. He had to use a wheelchair from 1981 onwards, and died in December 1987, aged 73, from a stroke.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Midtskau, Sverre 1914 births 1987 deaths Norwegian resistance members Norwegian escapees Escapees from German detention Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom Norwegian World War II memoirists 20th-century Norwegian writers