{{Short description|Officer in the Norwegian resistance against the Nazi invasion of Norway}} [[File:30855 Klingenberg kino Kampen om tungtvannet.jpg|thumbnail|250 px|Soldiers in uniform, from the left: Knut Haukelid, Joachim Rønneberg, Jens Anton Poulsson shaking hands with King Haakon VII, Kasper Idland ]]
'''Knut Haukelid''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%||DSO|MC}} (May 17, 1911 – March 8, 1994) was an American-born Norwegian military officer. He was a Norwegian resistance movement soldier during World War II, most notable for participating in the Norwegian heavy water sabotage.<ref>''Knut Haukelid, 82; 1 of 9 known as WWII, Heroes of Telemark''(The Boston Globe (Boston, MA) March 11, 1994)</ref><ref>[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9743671 ''Knut Haukelid, Memorial# 9743671''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108064433/https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9743671 |date=2018-01-08 }} (Find A Grave )</ref>
==Early life== thumb|150px|right|Sigrid Gurie in ''Algiers'' (1938) Knut Anders Haukelid was born in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were Bjørulf Knutson Haukelid (1878–1944) and Sigrid Johanne Christophersen (1877–1969), a couple from Norway who were living in Brooklyn at that time. His father was civil engineer working for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, a now-defunct operator of part of the New York City Subway (1902–1912). Knut Haukelid was the twin brother of Norwegian American motion picture actress Sigrid Gurie (1911–1969). Since Haukelid and his twin sister were born in America, the twins held dual Norwegian-American citizenship. <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.snl.no/Sigrid_Gurie|title=Sigrid Gurie|website=Store norske leksikon|access-date=October 1, 2020|archive-date=November 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119011448/https://snl.no/Sigrid_Gurie|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 1914, the family returned to Norway. Haukelid subsequently grew up in Oslo, where his father worked as an engineer helping to lay out the Oslo Metro. In 1929, Haukelid came back to America to attend Massachusetts State College. He returned to Norway and later completed his education at the Dresden School of Technology and the University of Berlin (1937–38). Returning to Norway, he worked for his father's engineering firm, Haukelid og Five.<ref>''[https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/11/obituaries/knut-haukelid-82-fighter-in-resistance-to-nazis-in-norway.html Knut Haukelid, 82, Fighter in Resistance To Nazis in Norway] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803014505/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/11/obituaries/knut-haukelid-82-fighter-in-resistance-to-nazis-in-norway.html |date=2017-08-03 }}'' (New York Times. March 11, 1994)</ref>
==World War II==
Following the German occupation of Norway during World War II, he joined the Norwegian Independent Company 1 (''Kompani Linge'') in 1941. After extensive special training in Great Britain, he was selected as deputy commander of the Gunnerside group and sent back to Norway in 1943. Knut Haukelid and members of the Kompani Linge sabotaged the Nazi Germany-controlled heavy water Vemork plant in Rjukan in a long-range raid which began at an airfield in England. On February 28, 1943, the demolition team entered the Norsk Hydro plant and set explosive charges. The heavy water produced at a facility in occupied Norway was vital for the Third Reich's participation in the nuclear bomb race. The British War Cabinet subsequently ordered Haukelid to sink the Norwegian ferry SF ''Hydro'' as she transported containers of heavy water across Lake Tinn. The ferry was sunk with hidden explosives on February 20, 1944, killing 4 Germans and 14 Norwegian civilians.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.snl.no/Kompani_Linge|title=Kompani Linge|website=Store norske leksikon|access-date=October 1, 2020|archive-date=July 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711185702/https://www.snl.no/Kompani_Linge|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://www.hydro.com/en/About-Hydro/Our-history/1929---1945/1943-The-Heroes-of-Telemark/ ''The Heroes of Telemark''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121081329/http://www.hydro.com/en/About-Hydro/Our-history/1929---1945/1943-The-Heroes-of-Telemark/ |date=2019-01-21 }} (Norsk Hydro ASA. Oslo, Norway 2009)</ref>
==Post-war life== For his participation in these raids, Knut Haukelid received multiple awards including Norway's highest decoration for military gallantry, the War Cross with sword. He was awarded this decoration twice, in 1944 and 1947: the War Cross with two swords. In addition, Haukelid was decorated by the British with the Distinguished Service Order and later with the Military Cross.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://snl.no/Knut_Haukelid |title= Knut Haukelid |publisher= Store norske leksikon |access-date= June 15, 2016 |archive-date= August 8, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160808063431/https://snl.no/Knut_Haukelid |url-status= live }}</ref>
Haukelid graduated from the Norwegian Military Academy in 1948. He served as major in the Telemark Infantry Regiment, and was later appointed head of the Home guard of Greater Oslo. Haukelid became a lieutenant colonel in the Army Infantry in 1959 and served as colonel and district commander of Greater Oslo Homeguard from 1966 until his retirement. He retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1974.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nbl.snl.no/Knut_Haukelid |title=Knut Haukelid, Offiser, Motstandsmann |publisher=Norsk biografisk leksikon |author=Ivar Kraglund |access-date=June 15, 2016 |archive-date=August 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808060857/https://nbl.snl.no/Knut_Haukelid |url-status=live }}</ref>
In the spring of 1984, on the 40th anniversary of the sabotage action against the heavy water plant at Vemork, the survivors of the Kompani Linge group who participated in the action were honored at a reception at the residence Mark Evans Austad, American Ambassador in Oslo. <ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/nomination-mark-evans-austad-be-united-states-ambassador-norway|title= Mark Evans Austad, United States Ambassador to Norway|website= The American Presidency Project|access-date= October 1, 2020|archive-date= March 25, 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230325223927/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/nomination-mark-evans-austad-be-united-states-ambassador-norway|url-status= live}}</ref>
On October 18, 1985, Knut Haukelid was honored at the Second Annual Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame Banquet in Minot, North Dakota.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://hostfest.com/sahf/sahf-inductees/knut-haukelid/|title= SAHF Inductees – Knut Haukelid|publisher= Norsk Hostfest|access-date= June 15, 2016|archive-date= May 28, 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160528220030/http://hostfest.com/sahf/sahf-inductees/knut-haukelid/|url-status= live}}</ref>
Knut Haukelid died at the age of 83 on March 8, 1994 at Det Norsk Diakonhjemmet in Oslo. He was buried at Vår Frelsers gravlund.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.diakonhjemmet.no/stiftelse/ |title=Om Diakonhjemmet|website=Stiftelsen Diakonhjemmet|access-date=October 1, 2020}} </ref>
==Cultural references== *Knut Haukelid wrote his autobiography, {{lang|nn|Det demrer en dag}} in 1947 (revised edition 1953 under the name ''Kampen om tungtvannet'').
*Knut Haukelid's ''Skis Against the Atom'' (1953) told of the successful sabotaging of the Nazis' supply of heavy water.
*Thomas Gallagher's ''Assault in Norway: Sabotaging the Nazi Nuclear Program'' provide accounts of the Norway raid and Haukelid's participation.
*The sabotage action against the Vemork plant was portrayed in the classic Norwegian 1948 film ''Kampen om tungtvannet''. Haukelid played himself, as did most of the sabotage group. The film was released internationally as ''Operation Swallow: The Battle for Heavy Water''. <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040504/|title=Kampen om tungtvannet (1948)|website=IMDb.com, Inc.|access-date=October 1, 2020|archive-date=January 29, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100129070422/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040504/|url-status=live}}</ref>
*''The Heroes of Telemark'' (1965) was a largely fictional account of the sabotage, starred Richard Harris as Knut ''Straud''.<ref>[http://www.filmfront.no/releasefull/3339/Kampen+om+tungtvannet ''Kampen om tungtvannet'' (1948)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214113813/http://www.filmfront.no/releasefull/3339/Kampen+om+tungtvannet |date=2012-02-14 }} filmfront.no</ref><ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059263/ ''The Heroes of Telemark'' (1965)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712084543/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059263/ |date=2018-07-12 }} IMDb.com, Inc.</ref>
*In the 2015 TV mini-series ''The Heavy Water War'' produced by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, Norwegian theatre and film actor Frank Kjosås portrays Haukelid's role in the heavy water operations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cineuropa.org/nw.aspx?t=newsdetail&l=en&did=281095 |title=NRK ready to declare €8.7 million ''Heavy Water War'' |author=Jorn Rossing Jensen |work=Cineuropa |date=21 November 2014 |access-date=June 15, 2016 |archive-date=23 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923203904/http://www.cineuropa.org/nw.aspx?t=newsdetail&l=en&did=281095 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://snl.no/Frank_Kjos%C3%A5s|title=Frank Kjosås|website=Store norske leksikon|access-date=October 1, 2020|archive-date=November 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116180457/https://snl.no/Frank_Kjos%C3%A5s|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Honors== {{Expand list|date=January 2010}} *{{flag|Norway}} - War Cross with sword (1944) *{{flag|Norway}} - War Cross with two swords (1947) *{{flag|Norway}} - St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch (1943) *{{flag|United Kingdom}} - Distinguished Service Order *{{flag|United Kingdom}} - Military Cross *{{flag|USA}} - Medal of Freedom with Silver Palm *{{flag|France}} - Legion of Honor *{{flag|France}} - Croix de Guerre with Palm and Star *{{flag|Sweden}} - Commander of Order of the Sword
==See also== *German nuclear energy project ==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==Additional sources== * Haukelid, Knut (1989) ''Skis Against the Atom: The Exciting, First Hand Account of Heroism and Daring Sabotage During the Nazi Occupation of Norway'' (North American Heritage Press. Minot, North Dakota) {{ISBN|0-942323-07-6}} *{{Cite book |title=Det demrer en dag |first=Knut |last=Haukelid |year=1947 |publisher=Nasjonalforlaget |location=Oslo |language=Norwegian}} *{{Cite book |title=Tungtvannssabotasjen |first=Jens-Anton |last=Poulsson |author-link=Jens-Anton Poulsson |year=2006 |publisher=Orion |language=Norwegian |location=Oslo |isbn=82-458-0803-2}}
==Related reading== *Dahl, Per F. (1999) ''Heavy water and the wartime race for nuclear energy'' (Institute of Physics Publishing) {{ISBN|0-585-25449-4}} *Gallagher, Thomas (2002) ''Assault In Norway: Sabotaging the Nazi Nuclear Program'' (The Lyons Press; Globe Pequot Press) {{ISBN|1585747505}}) ==External links== *[http://www.lawzone.com/half-nor/haukelid.htm Norwegian American Hall of Fame] *[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0369386/bio Biography for Knut Haukelid] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20091027150559/http://teachnet.edb.utexas.edu/~lynda_abbott/knutbio.html Real Heroes of Telemark] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080605192240/http://www.hostfest.com/halloffame/view.asp?ID=11 Norsk Høstfest Gallery] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110726113815/http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Norwegian_heavy_water_sabotage Norwegian Heavy Water Sabotage]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haukelid, Knut}} Category:1911 births Category:1994 deaths Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Norwegian twins Category:American people of Norwegian descent Category:Norwegian resistance members Category:Norwegian World War II memoirists Category:Norwegian Special Operations Executive personnel Category:Norwegian Army personnel of World War II Category:Norwegian Military Academy alumni Category:Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal with Oak Branch Category:Recipients of the War Cross with Sword (Norway) Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Category:Recipients of the Military Cross Category:Recipients of the Medal of Freedom Category:American recipients of the Legion of Honour Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Category:Commanders of the Order of the Sword Category:20th-century Norwegian writers Category:Burials at the Cemetery of Our Saviour Category:American emigrants to Norway Category:Norwegian recipients of the Legion of Honour