Torstein Dale

{{Short description|Norwegian physician and military officer}} {{Use dmy dates |date=December 2023}} {{Infobox person | name = Torstein Dale | image = Torstein Dale OB.F13355c.jpg | caption = Major general Torstein Dale, 1966 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1907|5|8|df=y}} | birth_place = Bruvik Municipality, Norway | death_date = {{Death date and age|1975|3|18|1907|5|8|df=y}} | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | monuments = | other_names = | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = Physician | years_active = | employer = | organization = | known_for = | notable_works = | style = | television = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | awards = Defence Medal 1940–1945<br>Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal<br>Order of St. Olav }}

'''Torstein Dale''' (8 May 1907 – 18 March 1977) was a Norwegian physician and military officer. He served as president of the Norwegian Red Cross.<ref name="hvem73">{{cite encyclopedia |year=1973 |title=Dale, Torstein |encyclopedia=Hvem er hvem? |publisher=Aschehoug |location=Oslo |url=https://runeberg.org/hvemerhvem/1973/0118.html |access-date=24 September 2016 |editor=Steenstrup, Bjørn |page=118 |language=Norwegian}}</ref>

==Personal life== Dale was born in Bruvik Municipality in Søndre Bergenhus county, Norway. He was the son of Albert Martin Dale (1880–1959) and Oline Neset (1878–1954). He graduated as cand.med. from the University of Oslo in 1934.<ref>{{cite web |title=Torstein Dale (1907–1975) |url=https://lokalhistoriewiki.no/index.php/Torstein_Dale_(1907%E2%80%931975) |accessdate=June 1, 2017 |publisher=lokalhistoriewiki.no}}</ref> In 1962 he married Unn Motzfeldt Søiland.<ref name=hvem73/>

==Career== Dale participated as a volunteer in the Norwegian People's Aid during the Finnish Winter War (1939-1940) in the aftermath of the invasion by the Soviet Union. Following the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, Dale was head of the hospital at the Norwegian Armed Forces in exile in Scotland, and he chaired the medical service during the Liberation of Finnmark in 1944.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Torstein Dale |encyclopedia=Store norske leksikon |publisher=Norsk nettleksikon |location=Oslo |url=https://snl.no/Torstein_Dale |editor-last=Godal |editor-first=Anne Marit |editor-link=Anne Marit Godal |language=Norwegian |accessdate=24 September 2016}}</ref>

Dale was promoted Major General and head of the Norwegian Army Medical Service (''Forsvarets sanitet'') from 1951 to 1972. He served as president of the Norwegian Red Cross from 1966 to 1975. He was decorated as Commander of the Order of St. Olav in 1968. Torstein Dale died during 1977 and was buried in the cemetery of Vestre Aker Church in Oslo. Since his death, the Norwegian Red Cross has awarded the Torstein Dale Memorial Prize (''Torstein Dales minnepris'') in the memory of Dale.<ref>{{cite web |author=Jacob Børresen |title=Forsvarets sanitet |url=https://snl.no/Forsvarets_sanitet |accessdate=May 1, 2017 |publisher=Store norske leksikon}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Norges Røde Kors |url=https://lokalhistoriewiki.no/index.php/Norges_R%C3%B8de_Kors |accessdate=June 1, 2017 |publisher=lokalhistoriewiki.no}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Dale, Torstein |url=http://www.arkivportalen.no/side/aktor/detaljer?aktorId=no-a1450-01000001024054 |accessdate=June 1, 2017 |publisher=arkivportalen.no}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Gravferdsetaten I Oslo kommune |url=http://www.begravdeioslo.no/maler/grav/grave_id/95960 |accessdate=24 September 2016 |website=begravdeioslo.no}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dale, Torstein}} Category:1907 births Category:1975 deaths Category:People from Vestland Category:University of Oslo alumni Category:Norwegian military doctors Category:Norwegian Army generals Category:Volunteers in the Winter War Category:Norwegian Army personnel of World War II Category:Presidents of the Norwegian Red Cross Category:Norwegian expatriates in Finland