Knut Magne Haugland, DSO, MM, (23 September 1917 – 25 December 2009) was a resistance fighter and noted explorer from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

, who accompanied

Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000& ...

on his famous 1947 '' Kon-Tiki'' expedition.

Early life and World War II

Haugland, born in 1917 in

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 gra ...

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

, Norway, took his

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

in 1937 qualifying him for university study. In 1938 he enrolled in military radio studies and afterward joined the

Norwegian Army The Norwegian Army ( no, Hæren) is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway ...

. In February 1940 he was stationed in

Setermoen Setermoen is the administrative centre of Bardu Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The village is located along the Barduelva river, about east of the village of Sjøvegan and about south of Bardufoss. The local council procla ...

, and soon fought in battles near

Narvik ( se, Áhkanjárga) is the third-largest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Narvik (town), town of Narvik. Some of t ...

as a part of the Norwegian Campaign against Germany. After Germany's defeat of the Norwegian forces and the Nazi occupation, Haugland went to work at the factory Høvding Radiofabrikk in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

while also secretly involved in the

Norwegian resistance movement 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 governme ...

."Knut Haugland, Sailor on Kon-Tiki, Dies at 92"

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, January 3, 2010 After evading arrest several times, in August 1941 he was arrested by

Statspolitiet (; shortened STAPO) was from 1941 to 1945 a National Socialist armed police force that consisted of Norwegian officials after Nazi German pattern. It operated independently of the ordinary Norwegian police. The force was established on 1 June ...

, but escaped and fled to the United Kingdom via Sweden. There he enrolled 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 ...

(Kompani Linge).

Heavy water sabotage

Haugland, with nine other Norwegian resisters organised and carried out the famous raid on the Norsk Hydro Rjukan plant at Vemork. The plant was known to be producing heavy water, and although the scientist and organiser of the sabotage,

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 ...

, had not been aware of the connection between heavy water and

atomic weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

ry early in the war, it eventually became clear that Germany could be using the heavy water for a nuclear energy project. Haugland was parachuted over Hardangervidda on 18 October 1942 together with Arne Kjelstrup, Jens-Anton Poulsson and Claus Helberg. Their codename was Operation ''Grouse'', and their first mission was to await the British Operation ''Freshman''. ''Freshman'' became a disastrous failure, but ''Grouse'' was ordered to wait for another team: Operation ''Gunnerside''. The plant at Vemork was successfully sabotaged in February 1943. This was dramatised in the 1963

Anthony Mann Anthony Mann (born Emil Anton Bundsmann; June 30, 1906 – April 29, 1967) was an American film director and stage actor. Mann initially started as a theatre actor appearing in numerous stage productions. In 1937, he moved to Hollywood where ...

-directed film '' The Heroes of Telemark'', which Haugland did not approve of. In 2003 he made a BBC documentary with

Ray Mears Raymond Paul Mears (born 7 February 1964) is a British woodsman, instructor, businessman, author and TV presenter. His TV appearances cover bushcraft and survival techniques. He is best known for the TV series '' Ray Mears' Bushcraft'', '' Ra ...

, '' The Real Heroes of Telemark''.

Rest of the war

Haugland and others, stayed in Hardangervidda for two months with

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 ...

, whom he trained. Haugland then went to Oslo to train marine telegraphers. After a trip to the United Kingdom for radio supplies, he returned to Norway in November, being parachuted at Skrimfjella together with

Gunnar Sønsteby Gunnar Fridtjof Thurmann Sønsteby DSO ( 1918 – 10 May 2012) was a member of the Norwegian resistance movement during the German occupation of Norway in World War II. Known by the nickname "Kjakan" ("The Chin") and as "Agent No. 24", ...

. Haugland was arrested for a second time, by

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

Kongsberg Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and municipality in Buskerud, Viken county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. Kongsberg has been a centre of silver mining, arms produ ...

, but again escaped and commenced his training duties. On 1 April 1944 he narrowly escaped another capture by the Gestapo when one of his transmitters, hidden in the Oslo Maternity Hospital, was located by

radio direction finding Direction finding (DF), or radio direction finding (RDF), isin accordance with International Telecommunication Union (ITU)defined as radio location that uses the reception of radio waves to determine the direction in which a radio stati ...

. Haugland fled to the United Kingdom again, and did not return. He was awarded Norway's highest decoration for military gallantry, the War Cross with sword. He was awarded this decoration twice, in 1943 and 1944: the War Cross with two swords. In addition, Haugland was awarded the

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, ty ...

and the Military Medal by the British. He also received the French

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

avec Palme and

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

and the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. He was also awarded the Medal with rosette and Haakon VII's 70-Medal. The United States decorated him with the Medal of Freedom with bronze palm.

Post-war life

After the war, Haugland continued his military career for many years, except for 1947 when he took part in the Kon-Tiki expedition (see below). In 1951 he married librarian Ingeborg Prestholdt. He participated in the

Independent Norwegian Brigade Group in Germany The Independent Norwegian Brigade Group in Germany ( no, Tysklandsbrigaden, 'the Germany Brigade') was a Norwegian expeditionary force stationed in the British zone of Allied-occupied Germany, from 1946 to 1953. At first it was based in the Hano ...

from 1948 to 1949, continued in the Forsvarsstaben until 1952, when he was transferred to the Royal Norwegian Air Force. He headed the electronic intelligence service in

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

, an important position during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

. He held the ranks of major from 1954 and lieutenant colonel from 1977. He left the Air Force in 1963 to become acting, later permanent, director of the

Norway's Resistance Museum Norway's Resistance Museum also known as the Norwegian Home Front Museum ( no, Norges Hjemmefrontmuseum) is a museum located at the Akershus Fortress in Oslo. The museum collection focuses on Norwegian resistance during the occupation of Norway ...

. He retired from this position in 1983. He was also the director of the Kon-Tiki Museum from its start in 1947 to 1990. He rounded off his career as board chairman of the Kon-Tiki Museum in 1991. Haugland also served as J. S. Wilson's attaché at the 1949 12th World Scout Conference in Elvesæter. Five of the six men in the Kon-Tiki expedition were Scouts.

Kon-Tiki expedition

Haugland first met

in 1944 at a

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

training camp in England. It was here that Haugland first heard of Heyerdahl's theories about Polynesian migration patterns, and his plans to cross the Pacific on a

balsa ''Ochroma pyramidale'', commonly known as the balsa tree, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. It is the sole member of the genus ''Ochroma''. The tree is famous for its wide usage in woodworking, with the name ''balsa'' being ...

wood raft. In 1947 Haugland was invited by Heyerdahl to join the Kon-Tiki expedition as a radio operator. On the expedition Haugland and

Torstein Raaby Torstein Pettersen Raaby (6 October 1918 – 23 March 1964) was a Norwegian telegrapher, resistance fighter and explorer. He is known as a crew member on the Kon-Tiki expedition. Biography Raaby was born in the village of Dverberg on the island ...

(another former resistance member) were in frequent radio contact with American amateur operators, sending meteorological and hydrographic data to be passed on to the Meteorological Institute in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morg ...

. Despite the tiny radio which had an output of only 6

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s, about the same as a small battery-powered torch, they managed to contact radio operators in Norway, even sending a telegram to congratulate King Haakon VII on his 75th birthday. Haugland played himself in the 1950

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

'' Kon-Tiki''. Haugland died on 25 December 2009, and was the last living crew member who served on the Kon-Tiki expedition. Several foreign decorations resulted from Haugland's connection with the ''Kon-Tiki'' and a state visit in the postwar period. He was made a Knight of the 1st class of the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was u ...

, Knight 1st Class of the Order of Dannebrog and Knight of the Icelandic Order of the Falcon. He was awarded the first class cross of the Federal Republic of Germany's Order of Merit, was appointed a Commander of the Belgian Order of Leopold and Companion of the Order of the Crown of Thailand. He was an officer of the Iranian

Order of the Lion and the Sun The Imperial Order of the Lion and the Sun ( Persian: نشان سلطنتی شیر و خورشید) was instituted by Fat’h Ali Shah of the Qajar dynasty in 1808 to honour foreign officials (later extended to Iranians) who had rendered disting ...

, received the ''Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold'' for Services to the Republic of Austria (1978) and the Peruvian Order of Merit for Distinguished Service. In 1988, Haugland was made Knight 1st Class 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 ...

for his efforts as a museum manager. He also received the Defence Medal with three stars.

Early life and World War II

Heavy water sabotage

Rest of the war

Post-war life

Kon-Tiki expedition

References

Further reading