We Die Alone. David Howarth

      

      CONTENTS

       INTRODUCTION by Andy McNab

       AUTHOR’S NOTE

       I. LANDFALL

       II. THE FIGHT IN TOFTEFJORD

       III. HUNTED

       IV. SEA-BOOTS IN THE SNOW

       V. THE TRAGEDY IN TROMSÖ

       VI. THE AVALANCHE

       VII. SNOWBLIND

       VIII. MARIUS

       IX. THE DESERTED FARM

       X. AFTER THE STORM

       XI. THE ASCENT OF REVDAL

       XII. THE PLATEAU

       XIII. BURIED ALIVE

       XIV. ATTEMPT ON THE FRONTIER

       XV. THE LAST DUTY

       XVI. THE SANDS RUN OUT

       XVII. REINDEER

       EPILOGUE

       Appendix I—Chronological Table

       Appendix II—A German account of the “Brattholm” incident

      On mourra seul PASCAL 1623–1662

      ILLUSTRATIONS

      Landfall off Senja

      A sister ship of “Brattholm”

      Toftefjord

      The snow gully up which

      Jan escaped Jan Baalsrud

      The Post Office at

      Bjorneskar Bernhard Sörensen of Bjorneskar and his wife

      Kjosen

      The Lyngen Alps above Kjosen

      Lyngseidet

      Jaeggevarre and the head of Lyngdalen

      Marius

      Furuflaten

      Lyngenfjord

      The hut at Revdal

      The bunk in the hut at Revdal

      The top pitch of the ascent of Revdal

      The hole in the snow

      Snowclouds over Mandal

      Mandal from the head of Kjerringdal

      South towards the frontier

      Lapp sledges

      Jan with the King of Norway

       INTRODUCTION

      I LEARNT about the Norwegian Resistance as part of my military training, but I’d been inspired by their daring attempts to sabotage the Nazi occupation since childhood. I used to watch The Heroes of Telemark with Kirk Douglas every time it was shown on TV, and despite the overlay of Hollywood glamour, I was struck by the bleakness of the terrain and moved by the amazing courage with which those men and women fought against the Germans. It was this long-held admiration that took me to the Norwegian Resistance museum in Oslo last year, and, when asked to write a foreword to this book, made me only too happy to do so.

      We Die Alone is the story of one man’s ability to endure the worst imaginable and survive. Jan Baalsrud, an expatriate Norwegian resistance fighter, is in trouble as soon as his mission begins. He sails from the Shetland Islands to the far north of Norway with three fellow countrymen. Their aim: to train the villagers in the art of sabotage, and to gather intelligence on Germany’s naval movements. But as with so many operations (my own in the Gulf War included), despite the most detailed preparation, the “Great Plan” explodes in their faces as soon as they hit the ground. The team are betrayed to the Nazis. Three are killed – only Jan survives.

      His mission then turns into one of the most extraordinary escape stories you will ever read. Frost-bitten and snow blind, he makes his break for neutral Sweden with more than fifty German soldiers on his tail. He endures physical hardship and mental torture in sub-zero conditions that no man would be expected to survive.

      As part of our training in the 22nd Special Air Service, we were lectured by former Prisoners of War to learn from their experiences. I remember listening to one American Phantom pilot who had been shot down behind enemy lines in Vietnam and imprisoned for six years. He had been kept in solitary confinement in a 6' × 4' cell and systematically tortured. Every major bone in his body had been broken. When I was captured during the Gulf War, I drew upon that pilot’s experience. If he could survive that kind of treatment, so could I.

      Had I known Jan’s story during my imprisonment and torture in Baghdad, I have no doubt it would have provided me with similar inspiration. I would recommend We Die Alone not just to students of modern warfare, but to anyone interested in the resilience of the human spirit. It demonstrates very clearly what it takes to survive, but more importantly, it shows that the fundamental spirit to survive lies within us all.

      There are three skills that all soldiers have drummed into them throughout their army career: Training, Experience and Knowledge. It was these three that helped save Jan. When he was so badly frost-bitten he could barely walk, when he had been blinded by the snow and his mind was so exhausted he couldn’t think straight, something else took over. He had trained for this kind of operation for so long, he had years of experience behind him, and he had the knowledge that he was capable of surviving in these conditions.

      Jan had something else too: he had a stubborn determination not to die. It is this determination not to give up, not to allow himself to sink into the depths of despair, to keep himself mentally together even when his body failed him, for which I hold him in the highest regard.

      But this is not just one man’s story. It is also the story of the extraordinary bravery of the villagers living in that remote part of Norway, ordinary men and women who were prepared to risk their lives and those of their families