Commando Who Refused to Die: The World War II Story of Odd Bjerke, 5 Troop, No. 10 Inter-Allied Comm

Recounts the extaordinary adventures of Odd Bjerke as he fled Nazi-occupied Norway. When the Germans invaded Norway in 1940, teenager Odd Bjerke bid his family farewell and confidently made his way to Sweden alone, on skis, with the intention of traveling to Britain to fight for his country. His wartime journey would begin when he joined the Norwegian Free Army in Scotland in 1940. He would train troops in skiing and winter warfare in Iceland; then he was selected to go to the remote and barren island of Jan Mayen to help sustain the strategically important weather station there; and then back to Scotland where he would become a member of 5 Troop (Norwegian) No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando. He and his comrade-in-arms were engaged in sabotage and underground resistance training missions in Norway and in combined operations in Lapland. His wartime service ended after he was severely wounded in the battle of Kapelsche Veer in Holland. Bjerke was rescued by resistance fighters and then hospitalized in Scotland before returning to Norway after the end of the war. . He would go on to a new, initially covert, life in America, drawing on his wartime experiences to train USAF crews in survival and evasion. Based on his unpublished memoir, this book recounts the extraordinary adventures of a fearless Norwegian patriot. AUTHOR: Odd Valentino Bjerke was born in Oslo, Norway in October 1924. In 1940, after the Germans occupied his country, he found his way to Britain where he joined the Norwegian Free Army. After his basic military training in the Scottish Highlands he was assigned to the 4th Mountain Company, stationed in Dumfries. In January 1941, he was transferred to the Norwegian Ski Troop based in Iceland. His duties were to train Allied ski troops in skiing and winter warfare. In early 1941 he was selected, with a team of meteorologists and soldiers, to occupy the barren arctic island of Jan Mayen to maintain and protect a crucial weather station. In late 1942, he was transferred back to Scotland where he was inducted into 5 Troop (Norwegian) No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando, with whom he would serve until the end of the war in Europe. His commando activities saw him serving in Norway, Lapland and Holland. He was shot several times at the battle of Kapelsche Veer in Holland in 1945, ending his wartime activities. He would go on to a new, initially covert, life in America, drawing on his wartime experiences to train USAF crews in survival and evasion. 13 illustrations