Bjørn Egge

CBE

Bjørn Egge
Born(1918-08-19)August 19, 1918
Kristiansand, Norway
DiedJuly 25, 2007(2007-07-25) (aged 88)
Allegiance Norway
Service / branch Norwegian Army
RankMajor General
Battles / warsSecond World War

Bjørn Egge CBE (19 August 1918 – 25 July 2007) was a Major General of the Norwegian Army and President of the Norwegian Red Cross (1981–1987). He served as deputy head of the NATO Defence College (1976–1980).

Egge was a soldier during the German attack on Norway in 1940. He participated in the break out by Norwegian merchant vessels from Gothenburg in March 1942, the vessel he was on board was sunk and he was captured by the Germans.[1]

He spent three years in concentration camps. He was arrested on 1 April 1942, and sat in Marlag und Milag Nord until being transferred to Rendsburg in early 1943. He went on to Sonnenburg in June 1943, then Sachsenhausen in November 1944.[2] He returned to Norway in May 1945. After the war Egge entered officers training and served in the Norwegian army in various positions.

Egge served with the Norwegian contingent in the Congo Crisis in 1960 as an intelligence officer, and was the first United Nations official to arrive at the scene of United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld's airplane crash.[3] Bjorn Egge died on 25 July 2007, believed to be of old age or illness.

Awards

Egge was a Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Knight of the Order of the Sword, Knight of the Order of the Falcon, officer of the French Legion d'honneur as well as recipient of the Polish Medal Pro Memoria.[4] He also held the Atlantic Star.[5][6]

In 2005 Egge was awarded the Henry Dunant Medal.[7]

Order of St. Olav Norwegian War medal Defence Medal 1940–1945
Order of the British Empire Atlantic Star Order of the Falcon
Order of the Sword Legion d'honneur Medal Pro Memoria

References

  1. ^ http://www.dagbladet.no/2012/05/10/nyheter/sonsteby/krigen/stoltenberg_jens_politiker/21512170/ "En forklaring på det heftige utfallet, kunne kanskje være at Bjørn Egge i mars 1942 ble tatt til fange av tyskerne, etter å ha vært om bord på et skip som ble senket på vei til England. Sønsteby skulle også ha vært med, men lot være — fordi han hadde en dårlig magefølelse. Dermed havnet Egge som fange i tyske leirer, mens Sønsteby ble motstandshelt hjemme i Norge."
  2. ^ Ottosen, Kristian, ed. (2004). Nordmenn i fangenskap 1940–1945 (in Norwegian) (2nd ed.). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. p. 184. ISBN 82-15-00288-9.
  3. ^ "Oberstløytnant Egge optimist når det gjelder Kongos fremtid". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 29 September 1961. p. 9.
  4. ^ VG (2007-06-29), "Norske krigsveteraner hedret i Polen", VG
  5. ^ Norsk Telegrambyrå (2007-08-23), "Egge bisatt fra Trefoldighetskirken", Aftenposten, archived from the original on 2012-12-09
  6. ^ Holtsmark, Sven G., Bjørn Egge – utdypning (NBL-artikkel)[permanent dead link‍]
  7. ^ ICRC (2005-11-17), Henry Dunant medals awarded at Red Cross Red Crescent Council of Delegates