Marius Eriksen (8 December 1922 – 6 July 2009) was a Norwegian skier, fighter pilot, model and actor. Eriksen was born on 8 September 1922 in Kristiania (now

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 ...

) in Norway. His father, also called

Marius Eriksen Emil Marius Eriksen (9 December 1886 – 14 September 1950) was a Norwegian gymnast who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. He was born in Barbu, Norway and died in Oslo. He was the father of Marius Eriksen, Jr. and Stein Eriksen and the ...

, was a gymnast who competed for Norway at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

. His mother was Birgit Eriksen. During his early years, Eriksen (junior) gained some success at slalom skiing and ski jumping. Eriksen's younger brother,

Stein Eriksen Stein Eriksen (11 December 1927 – 27 December 2015) was an alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist from Norway. Following his racing career, he was a ski school director and ambassador at various resorts in the United States. Background ...

, went on to win an Olympic gold medal in skiing. Following the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Eriksen fled Norway, leaving on 5 November 1940 via

Ålesund Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative ...

. After arriving in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

, he made his way to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, where he underwent flying training at

Little Norway Little Norway ( no, Lille Norge), officially (FTL, "Air Force Training Camp"), was a Norwegian Army Air Service/Royal Norwegian Air Force training camp in southern Ontario during the Second World War. Origins When Nazi Germany attacked Norway o ...

, the

Norwegian Army Air Service The Norwegian Army Air Service (NoAAS) ( no, Hærens flyvåpen) was established in 1914.Official Norwegian Defence Force websiteHistory of the Royal Norwegian Air Force Its main base and aircraft factory was at Kjeller. On 10 November 1944, the ...

flight training school. On his return to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Eriksen served with

No. 331 (Norwegian) Squadron RAF No. 331 Squadron RAF was a Second World War Squadron (aviation), squadron of the Royal Air Force. The squadron was primarily manned with Norwegian aircrew. The squadron was part of Fighter Command between 1941 and March 1944 when it joined the 2n ...

and then No. 332 (Norwegian) Squadron RAF as a fighter pilot flying

Spitfires The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...

. He achieved nine kills, making him one of Norway's aces, before he was shot down off the coast of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

attempting a head-on attack against a

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' ("Shrike") is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, th ...

. Eriksen survived and after being captured on 2 May 1943, he was held as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of ...

Stalag Luft III , partof = ''Luftwaffe'' , location = Sagan, Lower Silesia, Nazi Germany (now Żagań, Poland) , image = , caption = Model of the set used to film the movie ''The Great Escape.'' It depicts a smaller version of a single compound in ''Stalag ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

until 1945. He began his service with the RAF as a Sergeant, but was later commissioned as a

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...

.
In recognition of his wartime service, Eriksen was awarded the

War Cross with Sword The War Cross with Sword ( Norwegian Bokmål: ''Krigskorset med sverd, '' Norwegian Nynorsk: ''Krigskrossen med sverd'') is the highest ranking Norwegian gallantry decoration. It is awarded for extraordinary brave actions or extraordinary leader ...

, St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch,

Haakon VIIs 70th Anniversary Medal Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal is a Norwegian military award, which was instituted by King Haakon VII of Norway on 27 October 1942. It was awarded in recognition of military personnel who served in the Norwegian armed forces in Britain on the ...

, the

Norwegian War Medal __NOTOC__ The War Medal ( no, Krigsmedaljen) is a Norwegian war decoration for service during Second World War, and later for meritous service during war. Criteria The Norwegian War Medal was instituted by King Haakon VII of Norway by Royal Decree ...

, the Norwegian Defence Medal, the British

Distinguished Flying Medal The Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Royal Air Force and other British Armed Forces, and formerly to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for "exceptional val ...

, and the American

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an ...

. After the war, Eriksen became the Norwegian champion in alpine skiing in both 1947 and 1948. He also competed in two events at the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (german: V. Olympische Winterspiele; french: Ves Jeux olympiques d'hiver; it, V Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, V Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. Moritz ...

. In 1953, his mother, who was a keen knitter, designed a variation of the Setesdal traditions in Norway.

sweater A sweater (North American English) or pullover, also called a jumper (British English and Australian English),

. Another variation of Setesdals patterns, designed by Unn Søiland, later became Norway's most popular knitting pattern, known as The Marius pattern, the pattern that Marius Eriksen is wearing in the film ''

Troll i ord Troll i ord (Watch What You Say) is a Norwegian comedy film from 1954. The film was directed by Jon Lennart Mjøen and Olav Engebretsen. The action in the film takes place at a hotel in the high mountains just before Easter. The main roles are ...

''. The picture of Marius Eriksen from the film was later used as the front cover of the knitting pattern that later became the most popular knitting pattern in Norway. After the war, Eriksen pursued a film career in the 1950s. He appeared in two films in 1954, debuting in ''

'' (Watch What You Say) before going on to ''

Kasserer Jensen ''Kasserer Jensen'' (Jensen the Cashier) is a Norwegian comedy film from 1954. It was directed by Nils R. Müller. The script was written by Hans Christensen and Carlo M. Pedersen. Plot A confusing comedy results from mistaken identity between t ...

'' (a comedy in which he was a journalist with the Norwegian daily ''

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newspa ...

''). In 1957 he starred as Lieutenant Colonel Eriksen in ''

Slalåm under himmelen Slalåm under himmelen (Slalom beneath the Sky) is a Norwegian drama film from 1957 directed by Edith Carlmar. The filmscript was written by Hans Christensen. Plot Three young pilots, who have been trained abroad, return home to Norway, where the ...

'' (Slalom beneath the Sky), a war film. Eriksen's autobiography ''Marius: skiløper - jageress - krigsfange'' (Marius: skier - fighter ace - prisoner of war) was published in Norway in 2002. He had five children with Bente Ording Eriksen, including

Beate Eriksen Beate Marie Eriksen (born 19 October 1960) is a Norwegian actress and director. Eriksen has acted at several Norwegian theatres and is known for her role in the soap opera ''Hotel Cæsar''. She is the granddaughter of Olympic gymnast Marius Er ...

(born 1960), who became an actress and film director.

Honours and awards

* St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch *

War Medal A war medal is a military decoration awarded in time of war, as opposed to a service medal. It may refer to, for example: *War Medal (Norway) *Campaign medal *Global War on Terrorism Service Medal *British War Medal, British Empire medal for servic ...

Defence Medal 1940–1945 The Defence Medal 1940–1945 () is the award rewarded to those military and civilian personnel who participated in the fight against the German invasion and occupation of Norway between 1940 and 1945. The Defence Medal 1940–1945 can be awarde ...

Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal is a Norwegian military award, which was instituted by King Haakon VII of Norway on 27 October 1942. It was awarded in recognition of military personnel who served in the Norwegian armed forces in Britain on the ...

(United Kingdom) *

(United States)

References

External links

abcnyheter.no - Mannen i Mariusgenseren er død
Obituary (in Norwegian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Eriksen, Marius, Junior 1922 births 2009 deaths Norwegian Army Air Service personnel of World War II Norwegian World War II flying aces Shot-down aviators Royal Air Force airmen World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Norwegian prisoners of war in World War II Norwegian expatriates in Canada Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Medal Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the War Cross with Sword (Norway) Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal with Oak Branch Norwegian male alpine skiers Norwegian memoirists Male actors from Oslo Olympic alpine skiers of Norway Alpine skiers at the 1948 Winter Olympics 20th-century memoirists