Photo Credit: Espen Thronsen via BBC News, Essex
Stories of courage continue to be uncovered many years after the end of World War II. One such story was discovered by Espen Thronsen, the grandson of Norwegian resistance worker, Einar Thronsen. Espen recalls that his grandfather didn’t talk about his experiences during the war unless he was directly asked. Given what he knew from his grandfather, Espen started doing his own research about his wartime career and together with postwar letters he inherited, was able to create a clearer picture.
A memorial stands in Skardfjell, Norway to the memory of Wilfred Surplice, who was a 30-year-old station commander from England. In November 1944, he sacrificed himself to save his crew. The English were helping against the occupation, and resistance fighters were ready to risk themselves in turn. Einar joined the movement in 1940 and used his position working for the national public radio station managing the resistance wireless operation for the region.
It was during an equipment resupply mission that Surplice and his crew encountered distress because of the weather in the area. The commander ordered his six men to bail out of the plane, before it crashed into the side of a mountain. Of the six, two were captured by the Germans, while the others were successfully found by the resistance team, which included Thronsen. For his part, Einar drove a wood-burning car, commandeered a taxi, and used horse-drawn sledges to move the men to Bamble on the Norwegian coast for the first part of their journey back home to England. After a couple of setbacks, the men were successfully flown back to Scotland in January 1945 after they made it to Sweden.
Einar, his wife, and young daughter ended up also fleeing the country once the Germans began finding out who helped the men escape. They returned home to Norway once the war ended in May 1945. Even after the war, Thronsen’s sacrifice was not forgotten. British airmen, including one he had helped rescue, kept in touch with him after the war and would send things like chocolates to the family for their daughter, knowing how tough times were. Today, his grandson Espen continues to honor the sacrifices that were made by visiting Surplice’s memorial once or twice a year and sharing his story with others.