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Wilhelm von Tangen Hansteen (11 May 1896 – 6 September 1980) was a Norwegian Army officer.
Wilhelm von Tangen Hansteen (11 May 1896 – 6 September 1980) was a Norwegian Army officer.
Biography
Hansteen was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of Axel August Hansteen (1863-1937) and Lina von Tangen (1870-1954). He was educated at the War College (1917) and the Norwegian Military Academy (1919). From 1937 to 1941, Hansteen served as the Norwegianmilitary attaché
A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...
to Helsinki. In this position he worked for stronger Norwegian support for Finland during the Winter War.
After a short period in Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
, he was in 1942 promoted directly from Major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
to Major General and appointed Commander in Chief of the Norwegian Armed Forces. He held this position until 1944 when then- Crown Prince Olav was made Commander in Chief. Hansteen served as Deputy Commander for the rest of World War II.
Hansteen continued his distinguished military career after the war, serving as commander of the Norwegian forces in Germany from 1946, as commander of the Norwegian Army from 1948, and as commander of NATO forces in Norway from 1951. He retired from the army in 1966 and died during 1980 in Oslo. Hansteen was the commander of the Order of St. Olav
The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II ...
and Knight Commander of the British Order of the Bath, Commander of the French Legion of Honour.
References
Other sources
*Charles D. Pettibone (2014) ''The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries In World War II'' (Trafford Publishing) 1896 births 1980 deaths Military personnel from Oslo Norwegian Military Academy alumni Norwegian Army World War II generals Chiefs of Defence (Norway) Norwegian military attachés Recipients of the Legion of Honour Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal {{Norway-mil-bio-stub