Nils Fuglesang

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This article is about the Norwegian POW. For the MEP-elect, see Niels Fuglsang.
Nils Jørgen Fuglesang
NilsJorgenFuglesangVF.jpg
Born 7 October 1918
Hidra, Flekkefjord, Norway
Died 29 March 1944 (aged 25)
Rote Hahn near Kiel, Germany
Allegiance Norway
Years of service 1941–1944
Rank Lieutenant, Pilot Officer
Service number 742
Unit No. 332 Squadron RAF
Battles/wars World War II
Channel Front (POW)
Awards King Haakon VII Freedom Medal, Mentioned in Despatches
Nils Jørgen Fuglesang (7 October 1918 – 29 March 1944), was a Norwegian Supermarine
Spitfire pilot who was taken prisoner during the Second World War. He is notable
for the part he took in the 'Great Escape' from Stalag Luft III in March 1944 and
as one of the men re-captured and subsequently shot by the Gestapo.

Contents
1 Pre-war life
2 War service
3 Prisoner of war
4 'Great Escape'
5 Awards
6 Other victims
7 References
8 External links
Pre-war life
Fuglesang was born at Rasvåg in Hidra, near Flekkefjord, Norway the son of a
customs official[1] he was raised and educated in Florø. German prisoner of war
records confirm his residency in Florø[2] but do not give any details of his date
and place of birth. From September 1935 Fuglesang received three years education in
economics at the French Lycee Pierre Corneille in Rouen[3] before studying at the
Bergen Commercial College. He was working as an apprentice with an Oslo shipping
company when the war began. Following the German invasion in April 1940 and the
ensuing battles the country was occupied. Fuglesang decided to escape from Norway
to get to Great Britain and join the Norwegian Armed Forces in exile. Sea traffic
was closely monitored by the Germans who were aware of significant numbers of young
Norwegians wishing to continue the fight from England, frequent checks and searches
were made and penalties harsh for anybody caught. On 12 March 1941 he escaped from
Kyammen to Shetland aboard the boat Heimfjell with 11 others.

War service
Fuglesang enlisted in the Norwegian Army Air Service with service number 742 and
sailed in May to Canada to train at Little Norway, the exiled Norwegian forces camp
at Toronto Island Airport. He completed basic training and learned more English
language then completing flight training. He was awarded his aircrew brevet pilots
wings and promoted sergeant towards the end of 1941.[1] His instructors recommended
that had the aptitude to become a fighter pilot during which he was promoted to
lieutenant. After further training Fuglesang sailed for England where he joined
Operational Training Unit and began to fly Supermarine Spitfire aircraft. On 9 June
1942 he joined No. 332 Squadron RAF[1][4] a squadron manned by Norwegian personnel
flying Supermarine Spitfire.[5] at RAF North Weald flying operationally with the
fighter wing commanded by wing commander Don Finlay which operated from that base.
He flew on fighter sweep and bomber escort missions over the English Channel to
occupied France and the Netherlands. In action on 20 January 1943 he attacked a
German Fw 190 fighter over the French coast, this was assessed as probably
destroyed.[6] His reputation as a reliable and steady pilot resulted in him being
awarded the Norwegian King Haakon VII Freedom Medal and a promotion to pilot
officer in March 1943.[1]

Prisoner of war

Model of Stalag Luft III prison camp.

At 1905 hours on 2 May 1943 Nils Jørgen Fuglesang was flying Supermarine Spitfire
Mark IX (serial number “BS540” squadron codes “AH-E”) on a Ramrod mission with
North Weald wing over south west Holland.[7][8] His squadron were in action with
Luftwaffe Focke Wulf Fw 190 fighters and as wingman he stuck to the tail of his
lead pilot until a burst of 20mm cannon fire intended for the lead aircraft hit his
own aircraft.[9] Fuglesang crash landed in Zeeland, the SW part of Holland and was
taken prisoner by German infantrymen training close by.[1][10] Photograph of his
crashed aircraft is in Franks book.[7] He became prisoner of war No. 1264[2] held
at Stalag Luft III in the province of Lower Silesia near the town of Sagan (now
Żagań in Poland).

'Great Escape'
Fuglesang was an enthusiastic member of the tunneling crew participating in regular
shifts to lengthen and shore up the tunnel, he and fellow Norwegian Halldor Espelid
were near the front of the list of men escaping and they had cleared the tunnel
exit by 2230 hours.[11] So he was one of the 76 men who escaped the prison camp on
the night of 24–25 March 1944 in the escape now famous as "the Great Escape". He
teamed up with fellow Free Norwegian Halldor Espelid, James Catanach an Australian
who was fluent in German and spoke Norwegian and the New Zealander of Danish
ancestry Arnold George Christensen in a group heading for Denmark and possibly
ultimately neutral Sweden. Fuglesang and his team reached Berlin[11] as they were
seen there by other escapers before they changed trains to Hamburg which they also
reached successfully only to be caught on the next leg of their rail journey from
Hamburg to the naval town of Flensburg on the Danish border. Nearing the Danish
border on 26 March 1944 a suspicious policemen insisted on carefully examining
their papers and checking their briefcases which contained newspapers and escape
rations. Close inspection of their clothing revealed they were wearing altered
greatcoats.[12] Although the four escapees had split up to pretend to be travelling
individually they were all in the same railway carriage, more policemen arrived and
closely examined every passenger, soon arresting all four suspects. An alternative
version states that the two Norwegians were arrested on the Marienhelzungsweg and
Catanach and Christensen on the Helm.[13] The escapers were taken to Flensburg
prison.[14] The four men were handed over to the Kiel Gestapo and after
interrogation were told that they would be taken by road back to prison camp.[15]

On 29 March 1944 two black sedan cars arrived, James Catanach was taken in the
first car with three Gestapo agents including SS-Sturmbannfuhrer Johannes Post a
senior officer based there. Post had his driver stop the car in the countryside
outside Kiel about 1630 hours and called James Catanach out into a field where he
promptly shot him.[16][17] The second car drew up in the same place shortly
afterwards and Post told his agents to get the hand-cuffed Arnold George
Christensen, Halldor Espelid and Nils Fuglesang out, stating that they should take
a break before their long drive. As the airmen walked into the field they almost
stumbled over Catanach's body as they were also shot.[18][14][19][20][21][22] The
four men were cremated at Kiel under Gestapo supervision.

Fuglesang was one of the 50 escapers who had been listed by SS-Gruppenfuhrer Arthur
Nebe to be killed[23][24][2] so was amongst the unfortunate executed and murdered
by the Gestapo.[25][21][26] Originally his remains were buried at Sagan, but his
cremation urn was removed to Kirkehavn Hidra near Flekkefjord, Norway for his
family.[27][28][29]

The Norwegians Nils Fuglesang and Halldor Espelid were on the list of officers
named in the British press on 20 May 1944 as having been killed.[30]

Memorial to "The Fifty" down the road toward Żagań (Espelid at left)
Awards
King Haakon VII Freedom Medal awarded March 1943[1] for significant service to
Norway during the Second World War.
Mention in Despatches by the Royal Air Force for his actions in captivity, as none
of the other relevant decorations then available could be awarded posthumously. It
was not published in the supplement to the London Gazette on 8 June 1944 when the
British and Commonwealth personnel were honoured for fear of reprisals against his
family in German-occupied Norway.
Other victims
Main article: Stalag Luft III murders
The Gestapo executed a group of 50 of the recaptured prisoners representing almost
all of the nationalities involved in the escape. Post-war investigations saw a
number of those guilty of the murders tracked down, arrested and tried for their
crimes.[31][32][33]

Nationalities of the 50 executed

United Kingdom 21 British
Canada 6 Canadian
Poland 6 Polish
Australia 5 Australian
South Africa 3 South African
New Zealand 2 New Zealanders
Norway 2 Norwegian
Belgium 1 Belgian
Czechoslovakia 1 Czechoslovak
France 1 Frenchman
Greece 1 Greek
Lithuania 1 Lithuanian
References
Vance (2000), p.176
Andrews (1976), photo page – German records
LG Corneille website – Nils Fuglesang
Ulstein (1979)
Ciel de Gloire website – Nils Guglesang
"Wings to Victory – Nils Fuglesang" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on
2016-03-05. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
Franks (1998), p.95
"Wings to Victory Website – Nils Fuglesang" (PDF). Archived from the original
(PDF) on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
National Archives, London. Operations Record Book, 332 Squadron. Appendix
02/05/1943
RAF Commands – Nils Fuglesang
Andrews (1976), p.55
Australian Defence Website – Fuglesang and Catanach Archived 2007-11-20 at the
Wayback Machine
Read (2012), p.266
Walker (2015)
LG Corneille website – photos of Fuglesang and colleagues after recapture
Read (2012), p.23-35
 Andrews (1976), p.169-172
Andrews (1976), p.172-173 and p.177-178
Andrews (1976) p.196
Read (2012), p.288
Burgess (1990), p.271
Pegasus Archive - 50 murdered escapers
Andrews (1976), p.34
Read (2012), p.304
Feast (2015), p.140
Andrews (1976), p.205
N J Fuglesang grave
Walton (2014), p422
"Wings to Victory- Nils Fuglesang" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on
2016-03-05. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
Western Morning News, Dundee Courier, Yorkshire Post, 20/05/1944
Read (2012), p.295
Vance (2000), p.310
Andrews (1976), p.188 and 199
Bibliography
Allen Andrews (1976). Exemplary Justice. Harrap. ISBN 0-245-52775-3.
William Ash; Brendan Foley (2005). Under the Wire: The Wartime Memoir of a Spitfire
Pilot, Legendary Escape Artist and 'cooler King'. Bantam. ISBN 978-0-593-05408-6.
Paul Brickhill (2004). The Great Escape. W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-
32579-9.
Alan Burgess (1990). The Longest Tunnel: The True Story of World War II's Great
Escape. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-097-9.
Albert P. Clark (2005). 33 Months as a POW in Stalag Luft III: A World War II
Airman Tells His Story. Fulcrum Pub. ISBN 978-1-55591-536-0.
Arthur A. Durand (1989). Stalag Luft III: The Secret Story. Patrick Stephens
Limited. ISBN 978-1-85260-248-2.
Sean Feast (2015). The last of the 39-ers. Grub Street. ISBN 978-1909166158.
Norman Franks (1998). RAF Fighter Command Losses. Midland Counties. ISBN 1-85780-
075-3.
Cato Guhnfeldt (2009). Spitfire Saga Volume II. Wings Publishing. ISBN 978-
8205452978.
Paul Read (2012). Human Game: Hunting the Great Escape murderers. Constable. ISBN
978-1472112620.
Ragnar Ulstein (1979). England Pace. Oslo Samlaget. ISBN 8252109837.
Jonathan F Vance (2000). A Gallant Company. Pacifica Military. ISBN 978-0-935-
55347-5.
Frank Walker (2015). Commandos:Heroic and deadly ANZAC raids. Import Aus. ISBN 978-
0733631535.[1]
Marilyn Walton (2014). From Interrogation to Liberation. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-
1491846889.
External links
Project Lessons from the Great Escape (Stalag Luft III), by Mark Kozak-Holland. The
prisoners formally structured their work as a project. This book analyses their
efforts using modern project management methods.
[1][google books]
Categories: 1918 births1944 deathsNorwegian Army Air Service personnel of World War
IINorwegian World War II pilotsNorwegian Royal Air Force pilots of World War
IIShot-down aviatorsWorld War II prisoners of war held by GermanyNorwegian military
personnel killed in World War IIParticipants in the Great Escape from Stalag Luft
IIINorwegian escapeesExtrajudicial killings in World War IINorwegian prisoners of
war in World War IIExecuted military personnelPeople executed by Germany by
firearmNorwegian people executed by Nazi GermanyNorwegian people executed
abroadRecipients of the King Haakon VII Freedom MedalPeople from Flekkefjord
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