Gunnar Bryde Syverstad, BEM (6 February 1910 – 11 March 1945) was a Norwegian resistance member. He is known for his assistance in the Norwegian heavy water sabotage.''Gunnar Syverstad'' (sunshine - aktiv tjeneste i Telemarksfjellene)
He was born in

Horten Horten () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Horten (town) ...

, Norway. his mother was from that city and his father was from Glemmen in

Østfold Østfold () is a county in Eastern Norway, which from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023 was part of Viken. Østfold borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other ...

county. He later moved to

Rjukan Rjukan () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Tinn Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The town is also the administrative centre of Tinn Municipality. The town is located in the Vestfjorddalen valley, between the lakes Møsvatn ...

where he was laboratory assistant at the Vemork hydroelectric power plant outside

in Tinn,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. He fled to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

in February 1944, where he became a member of the

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

. He returned to Norway, being parachuted in over

Hardangervidda Hardangervidda () is a mountain plateau ( Norwegian: ''vidde'') in central southern Norway, covering parts of Vestland, Telemark, and Buskerud counties. It is the largest plateau of its kind in Europe, with a cold year-round alpine climate, and o ...

, to participate in the Operation Sunshine with Leif Tronstad. Syverstad and Tronstad were both killed in a shooting incident 11 March 1945.

References

Other sources

*Jensen, Erling; Per Ratvik; Ragnar Ulstein (1948) ''Kompani Linge'' *Berg, John (1986) ''Soldaten som ikke ville gi seg' (Metope) *Poulsson, Jens-Anton (1944-1945) ''Tungtvannssabotasjen, kampen om atombomben 1942-1944'' *Dahl, Per F. (1999) ''Heavy water and the wartime race for nuclear energy'' (Taylor & Francis) 1910 births 1945 deaths People from Horten Norwegian military personnel killed in World War II Norwegian resistance members Norwegian Special Operations Executive personnel People from Telemark Deaths by firearm in Norway {{World-War-II-bio-stub