Martin Jensen Linge, (11 December 1894 – 27 December 1941) was a Norwegian actor who, in

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 ...

, became the commander of the Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NOR.I.C.1) (pronounced as ''Norisen'' by the Norwegians), formed in March 1941 for operations on behalf 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. ...

Biography

Martin Linge was born in Norddal Municipality in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

county, Norway. In 1915 he graduated as a non-commissioned officer from the military school in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

. He subsequently studied at the Trondheim Theatre (1917–1918). He debuted on the stage at the Central Theatre in

Oslo 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 ...

in 1921 and appeared in both theatre and films during the 1920s and 1930s. Martin Linge was father of Jan Herman Linge, an engineer and boat designer. He was also the grandfather of Norwegian novelist Espen Haavardsholm, who wrote about his grandfather in ''Martin Linge – min morfar. Familieroman med fotografier'' (Gyldendal norsk forlag. 1993).

Military career

Shortly after the German attack on Norway on 9 April 1940 he traveled to Åndalsnes to join his regiment. He had previously attained the rank of Lieutenant (in the reserve forces), and was also one of the first Norwegians to obtain a pilot's licence. When British troops landed at Åndalsnes from 17 April, Linge became liaison officer between the local regiment and the British. Åndalsnes (and other towns in

county) was at this time still unoccupied territory and the only port with railway connections to East Norway and the campaign there. The

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

, the crown prince, the cabinet, Norway's gold and cash holdings, and finally Commander-in-chief of the Norwegian armed forces general Otto Ruge with staff, escaped through Åndalsnes.

Trygve Lie Trygve Halvdan Lie ( , ; 16 July 1896 – 30 December 1968) was a Norwegians, Norwegian politician, labour leader, government official and author. He served as Norwegian foreign minister during the critical years of the Nygaardsvold's Cabinet, N ...

in his memoirs recalls meeting Linge at Åndalsnes. During German air bombing of a makeshift airfield at Setnesmoen, he was wounded and evacuated by boat to Britain. He was the first wounded Norwegian soldier to arrive in Britain.Haavardsholm, Espen: '' Martin Linge – min morfar. Familieroman med fotografier.'' Oktober forlag, 2007 Among exiled Norwegians, Linge along with

Nordahl Grieg Johan Nordahl Brun Grieg (1 November 1902 – 2 December 1943) was a Norwegian poet, novelist, dramatist, journalist and activism, political activist. He was a popular author and a controversial public figure. He served in World War II as a war c ...

and Olav Rytter were the first to propose ideas for resistance against the German occupation. "Our land is perfect for secret resistance and guerrilla warfare" he declared in June 1940. In August 1940 he was appointed as liaison officer to the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

and soon began recruiting men and organizing what became Norwegian Independent Company 1. Linge was killed during Operation Archery, a British Combined Operations raid at Måløy against German military positions on Vågsøy Island. During the

Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

, Måløy was used as a German coastal fortress, which had led to the eradication of all settlement on the island to make room for the fortress. Linge is buried at the Vestre gravlund (Western Cemetery) in Oslo. Subsequently, the unit he had led was named '' Kompani Linge'' in his honor. ''Linge Company'' was more formally known as Lingekompaniet (''The Linge Company'') ('-et' being the

definite article In grammar, an article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech. In English, both "the" ...

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

), by Norwegians. He was awarded Norway's highest military decoration for gallantry, the War Cross with sword.

Filmography

*1926 - '' Vägarnas kung'' – Ola, a farm boy *1935 - '' Samhold må til'' – Warden *1938 - '' Det drønner gjennom dalen'' – Policeman (Lensmannsbetjent) *1938 - '' Bør Børson Jr.'' – Nils Bækken *1939 - '' Gjest Baardsen'' – Fisherman

Legacy

Martin Linge and his life are portrayed in the 1 hour documentary ''Martin Linge - skuespiller og legende'' (Martin Linge: Actor and Legend), which aired on

NRK1 NRK1 (pronounced as ''"NRK en"'' or ''"- ein"'') is the main television channel of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK). History Test broadcasts started on 12 January 1954, regular test broadcasts began on 13 April 1958, and regular bro ...

Fakta på Lørdag on 8 May 2004, produced by XpoMedia and Forsvarets Mediesenter (armed forces media center), directed by Mary Ann Myrvang and Runar Skjong, based on a concept, research, and script by Mary Ann Myrvang. Martin Linge is portrayed by the Norwegian actor

Petter Næss Petter Næss (born 14 March 1960, Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian actor, screenwriter, instructor, and film director. He debuted in 1999 with ''Absolutt blåmandag'' and directed films based on Ingvar Ambjørnsen's ''Elling'' series, including ''E ...

in the 2008 movie '' Max Manus''. Martin Linge memorial

Memorials

*Statue in the Linge park in Måløy * Crown Prince Olav unveiled a memorial stone and plaque at the Linge farm in Norddal on 17 June 1946. *An oil field in North Sea is named after him. The oil field was previously named Hild.

Streets named in his honour

*Kaptein Linges vei,

Ålesund Ålesund () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality. The centre of the town of Ålesund lies on the islands of Hessa, Aspøya, Ålesund, Asp� ...

*Kompani Linges vei,

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

*Martin Linges vei, Snarøya *Martin Linges vei,

*Martin Linges vei, Strømmen *Martin Linges veg,

Moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

*Martin Linges veg, Heimdal *Martin Linges gate,

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipalities of Norway, municipality and List of towns and cities in Norway, town on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. As of December 2023, the municipality of Haugesund has a population of 37,855. The vast majority of ...

References

Other sources

*Ford, Ken (2011) ''Operation Archery - The Commandos and the Vaagso Raid 1942'' (Osprey Publishing) *Devins, Joseph H. Jr. (1983) ''The Vaagso Raid'' (Bantam Books)

External links

*
Linge memorial at Måløy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Linge, Martin 1894 births 1941 deaths Norwegian male stage actors Norwegian male film actors Norwegian male silent film actors 20th-century Norwegian male actors Norwegian Army personnel of World War II Norwegian Special Operations Executive personnel People from Møre og Romsdal Norwegian military personnel killed in World War II Special Operations Executive personnel killed in World War II Recipients of the War Cross with Sword (Norway) Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Burials at Vestre gravlund