It goes without saying that having your name on the Gestapo's most-wanted list would've
been less than ideal. While the Gestapo tortured and murdered countless individuals throughout
the Second World War, one Norwegian soldier managed to evade their clutches when every
other man in his unit was killed — though not without a bit of luck and a lot of help.
In this video, we dive into the freezing-cold waters of Norway with Jan Baalsrud, a legend
of Norwegian history.
It goes without saying that having your name on the Gestapo's most-wanted list would've
been less than ideal. While the Gestapo tortured and murdered countless individuals throughout
the Second World War, one Norwegian soldier managed to evade their clutches when every
other man in his unit was killed — though not without a bit of luck and a lot of help.
In this video, we dive into the freezing-cold waters of Norway with Jan Baalsrud, a legend
of Norwegian history.
But Baalsrud was a soldier, and that "another day" came around fast. He joined the Norwegian
Company Linge of the British Special Operations Executive or SOE after the unit was formed
early in 1941, and was soon back in the action, tasked with sabotaging the German occupation
of Norway in concert with the Norwegian resistance movement. In March, Baalsrud and 11 other
Norwegians set sail on the fishing boat MK Bratholm I from Scotland for Norway, with
the objectives of organising the resistance and otherwise effing with the Germans in Tromsø.
To avoid detection after they had crossed the North Sea, Linge Company used Norway's
many fjords for cover, but they only got so far. When the unit stopped on the island of
Rebbenesøya, not too far north of Tromsø, they met with a Norwegian resistance contact
who wasn't actually a resistance contact at all. The dude was just some random shopkeeper
who had the same name as their contact, and he went on to alert the Germans of Linge Company's
presence, fearing the encounter had been set up by the Germans to test him. On the 29th
of March, the German frigate Räumboot R56 tracked down and attacked Bratholm. Totally
unprepared to go toe-to-toe with the frigate, Linge Company lit a fuse connected to the
eight tonnes of explosives they had been transporting aboard the fishing boat for use in sabotage
operations. Before Bratholm exploded, Linge Company pulled a fast one, attempting to get
away on lifeboat. The Germans, however, weren't feeling all that merciful, sinking the lifeboat
and sending the entire company into the ice-cold water. One of the 12 men was immediately shot
dead, while a further 10 were captured and then tortured and executed by the Gestapo.
Jan Baalsrud was the only man to get away, making it to the snow-covered shore with his
pistol and just one boot. His clothes soaked and already starting to crystalize, Baalsrud
fled to a gulley, where he hid behind a rock to avoid the German patrol which was him down.
When they were almost upon him, he seized the initiative and opened fire, only to learn,
in the heat of the moment, that his pistol was jammed. He took out a fresh mag, thumbed
out the first two rounds, and then dropped two Germans. The others soiled themselves,
fleeing the Norwegian's wrath. But this was only the start of Baalsrud's journey. Over
the next two to three months, he went through absolute hell. If it weren't for a bit of
luck, and some brave locals, he would certainly have perished.
So close to the action that they were able to see *Bratholm* explode, a local family
sent a boat out to collect Baalsrud later that night. The family, the Idrupsens, knew
the consequences if they were caught housing a fugitive, but they did it anyway, as would
many families over the next few months. After some much-needed rest, Baalsrud went inland
on foot, only seeking the assistance of others when he believed he couldn't survive without
it. At one point, a young girl bandaged Baalsrud's frostbitten feet; at another, a fisherman
gave Baalsrud some fresh boots and a pair of skis. Somewhere along the way, he was caught
out in a blizzard on the side of a mountain, where the weather was so intense that his
eyes froze shut. Not one to give up so easily, Baalsrud navigated by throwing snowballs and
listening out for the sound of them landing; if he couldn't hear it, it was possible the
snowball had gone off a treacherous drop. As if things weren't bad enough, an avalanche
thought it would try to take down Baalsrud next, bowling him around 90 meters or 300
feet into the valley below. When he came to consciousness, he was snow-blind, and his
ski equipment had been destroyed.
*Somehow* walking away from all that, Baalsrud made it to the village of Furuflaten, where
he was, entirely by chance, taken in by the family members of a Norwegian resistance fighter.
The family, the Gronvolls, hid Baalsrud in their barn — so well, in fact, that the
Germans hunting him *completely* overlooked his hiding place when they searched the barn.
While Baalsrud had gained a few days rest, his frostbite had spread, rendering the poor
man immobile. The village really came together for Baalsrud then, carrying him to a nearby
fjord on a stretcher and then rowing him across the fjord while pretending to fish. On the
other side of the fjord, Marius Gronvoll realised Baalsrud would never survive the terrain on
his own. Leaving Baalsrud alone in a tiny shed with some supplies, including some moonshine,
Marius returned to the village to acquire a sled. This didn't happen overnight, and
Baalsrud ended up being stranded in that shed, alone, for *way* longer than he expected.
While he was there, his feet, as a result of the frostbite, became so badly infected
that he was forced to amputate one of his big toes. When Marius, along with some of
his buddies, returned, they attached Baalsrud to the sled and dragged him to another, higher-up
hiding spot, where they left him for an additional nine days. Baalsrud spent this time shivering
in a snow cave. After he was moved yet again, he got to his feet and wandered for five days
in a state of utter confusion and despair, until *yet another* team found him and moved
him to a cave, where he spent 17 days waiting for *someone else* to come and transport him
to Sweden. While he was in the cave, Baalsrud took a knife to the rest of his toes, leaving
himself with two flat stumps for feet. Finally, after Baalsrud's body had quite literally
eaten itself, bringing his weight down to just 36 kilograms or 80 pounds, a group of
indigenous Norwegians came to his aid, attaching reindeer to his sled and dragging him over
a frozen lake into Sweden.
Even if you're Jan Baalsrud, though, you don't just recover from something like that overnight.
He spend six months in hospital, regaining his eyesight and learning how to walk all
over again. After that, the British Royal Air Force flew him back to the UK, where he
trained other Norwegian's like himself, only with more toes. After the war, he returned
to Norway, and while his story gained legendary status among his people, Baalsrud lived it,
and he was less than eager to make a big thing of his suffering. In an interview later in
life, he said, "I had forgotten the whole story, or rather I had tried to forget it
all." For his service, Baalsrud was awarded the St. Olav's medal with Oak Branch, and
was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire. In 1962, he moved to the Canary Islands,
but he returned to Norway in the waning years of his life, where he died in 1988 at 71 years
of age. Books, documentaries, and films have been made about Jan Baalsrud, and he is honoured
each year in Norway through a remembrance march.
But we're interested to hear what you think. Had you heard of Jan Baalsrud before this
video? Do you think the locals were braved for lending him a helping hand? Lastly, do
you think you could cut off all of your toes in a cave? Please share your thoughts
in the comments.