Hjelm Waage Thurn-Basberg (3 November 1917 – 29 November 2006) was a Norwegian resistance member during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He fled Norway twice due to his resistance to the German occupation, but returned both times to work with

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...

for the British

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

(MI6).

World War II

Thurn-Basberg was born in

Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...

. When

reached Norway in 1940, he fought for his country as part of the Norwegian Campaign. When fighting subsided he joined the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the German occupation of Norway, occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *As ...

Milorg Milorg (abbreviation of militær organisasjon – military organization) was the main Norwegian resistance movement during World War II. Resistance work included intelligence gathering, sabotage, supply-missions, raids, espionage, transport of ...

. He fled to Sweden in 1943, but soon returned to participate in illegal radio and intelligence work for the Norwegian

. His

nom de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...

was "Per", a common Norwegian variant of the name Peter. Thurn-Basberg was first based in

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...

to work with

Oluf Reed-Olsen Oluf Bernhard Reed-Olsen (8 July 1918 – 14 October 2002) was a Norwegian resistance member and pilot during World War II. As a resistance member he is best known for the Lysaker Bridge sabotage as well as operating illegal radio transmitters. ...

. In the autumn of 1943 he operated the radio station codenamed ''Meton'' together with Reed-Olsen in

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 ...

. After fleeing again, to England, in January 1944 via Sweden, he received parachute training and returned to

Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...

. Thurn-Basberg was then in charge of the radio station ''Gullfaks'', named after

Gullfaxi Gullfaxi (Old Norse: ) is a horse in Norse mythology. Its name means "golden mane". It was originally owned by Hrungnir, and was later given to Magni by Thor as a reward for lifting off the leg of Hrungnir, which lay over the unconscious Thor an ...

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

. It was operated from different places in

Bærumsmarka Bærumsmarka is a forested recreational area located outside Oslo, Norway. The area constitutes part of Oslomarka and is bordered by Krokskogen and Nordmarka. Bærumsmarka is in the Bærum municipality of Akershus. It is situated between the val ...

and

Nordmarka Nordmarka is the mostly forested region which makes up the northern part of Oslo, Norway. Nordmarka is the largest and most central part of Oslomarka. The area called Nordmarka also extends into the municipalities of Hole, Ringerike, Lunner, ...

until the liberation on 8 May 1945.Christensen, 1995: p. 102 He especially became known for a telegram sent in June 1944, where he described how the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

believed false reports that the

Allies 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 an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

were planning an invasion in

central Norway Central Norway (, ) is an informal, unclearly defined region of Norway. In its most limited usage, the term "Central Norway" may refer only to Trøndelag county; however, it may also be understood to include all or parts of the county of Møre og ...

, and thus kept large German forces away from the actual war theatre in continental Europe.

Later life

After the war Thurn-Basberg co-founded a Norwegian

stay-behind A stay-behind operation is one where a country places secret operatives or organizations in its own territory, for use in case of a later enemy occupation. The stay-behind operatives would then form the basis of a resistance movement, and act as ...

group, as a part of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. He was active in this group for 28 years. In his civil life he worked as a small-scale businessman, with import of

French wine French wine is produced throughout all of France in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world. French wine traces its history to th ...

(inherited from his father) as well as miscellaneous

gas station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...

equipment. He lived in

Ullern Ullern is a List of boroughs of Oslo, borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. History The borough has its name from an old farm, Old Norse language, Norse ''Ullarin''. The first element is the genitive case of the name of the Norse god Ullr. The l ...

, Oslo, and died in November 2006, 89 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurn-Basberg, Hjelm Waage Norwegian resistance members Businesspeople from Oslo 1917 births 2006 deaths