Interview with Kaspar Gudmundseth

Norwegian NCO served with Norwegian Army in Norway, 1940; escaped from Norway to GB, 1941; NCO served with Norwegian Battalion in GB, 1941-1942; officer served with No 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando in GB and North West Europe, 1942-1945; student with Norwegian Military Academy in Oslo, Norway 1946-1947; served with Independent Norwegian Bde Group attached to 5th Infantry Div, British Army of the Rhine in Germany, 1948-1949 and with Norwegian Intelligence Service in Norway and Finland, 1949-1952; served as staff officer with Norwegian in Norway, 1953-1956; served as staff officer with Headquarters, United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) in Egypt, 1956-1957; served as chief of staff with Norwegian Army in Trøndelag, Norway, 1957-1961; served as defence attaché with Norwegian Army in West Germany and Switzerland, 1961-1965

REEL 1 Aspects of period as student with military school in Trondheim, Norway, 1939-1940: lack of military experience in family; reasons for enlistment in military school; lack of expectations of war in 1939; impact of Finnish War; character of education; tactical training based on First World War; celebrations at end of practical examination, 6/4/1940. Recollections of operations as NCO with Norwegian Army in Norway, 4/1940: night alarm, 8/4/1940-9/4/1940; attack by German Air Force aircraft during airfield defence; rumours prior to German attack; dispersal of class members to local Norwegian Army units as platoon sergeants; move to Trøndelag area; capture of crew of German merchant vessel; attachment as liaison officer's aid; arrangement to use Norwegian troops as reconnaissance patrols to cover advance of British and French forces; limited movement confined to roads; reasons for halting of Allied advance; impressions of General Adrian Carton de Wiart; taking cover in basement during German Air Force bombing of Namsos; state of Allied troops in Norway; plans for attack on Trondheim; impressions of Norwegian regimental commanders; surrendering to German Army troops, 4/1940. REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Norway, 1940: requirement to sign pledge not to fight against Germany; decision to sign pledge to gain freedom; reaction of troops to order to surrender, 5/1940; return to hometown of Ålesund. Aspects of period as member of Norwegian Resistance in Ålesund and escape to GB, 1940-1941: background to joining resistance; acquisition of small boats; plans to escape to GB; problems encountered during abortive attempt to use fishing boat to escape to GB; return to Ålesund; raising money to buy second bigger boat; sailing for GB, 4/3/1941; incident of organisation infiltrated by German agent and shooting of twenty two escapers; escaping from fishing fleet and setting course for Shetland Islands, GB; German guard boats and use of air reconnaissance; arrival in Scotland, GB; investigation and interrogation at Patriotic School, London, GB. Aspects of period with Norwegian Battalion in GB, 1941-1942: joining Norwegian Army in Dumfries; contribution of Norwegian Merchant Navy seamen; weapons; junior leaders course in Edinburgh; sources and numbers of Norwegian trained troops; movements in Scottish Command. REEL 3 Continues: anti-invasion preparations in Fraserburgh; organisation of unit into four mountain companies; use of horse and mule transport; opinion of mortars used; background to volunteering for commando training, 7/1942. Aspects of training with Commando Basic Training Centre, Achnacarry, GB, 1942: selection as troop officer; character of physical training at Achnacarry; opinion of training and quality of commando personnel produced by course. Recollections of period as NCO and officer with 5 Troop, No 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando in GB, 1942-1944: composition of unit; presence of Germans in X Troop; role of Norwegian Troop; background to promotion from sergeant to second lieutenant; training of unit in North Wales; characteristics of commando tactics with reference to D-Day and Walcheren Island operations; mountain warfare training in Scotland; move to Shetland Islands; unit raids on Norway, 1943; polar explorers and Canadian Eskimoes serving in his troop; failed attack using kayaks and canoes to plant limpet mines on ships. REEL 4 Continues: failure of second raid; reasons for not operating from Shetland Islands during summer; move to Eastbourne; training on cliffs; role of unit protecting Norwegian crews of 30th Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla during raids on coastal shipping off Norway based on Shetlands Islands, 1943-1944; move back to Eastbourne, 1/1944; plan to attack Alderney, Channel Islands. Recollections of operations as officer with 5 Troop, 10 Commando during Operation Infatuate on Walcheren Island, Netherlands, 11/1944: move to Normandy, France prior to operation; opinion of Mulberry Harbours; organisation of French dinner; move to Bruges, France and special dinner at Crossbow Club; training for attack on German batteries at Westkapelle on Walcheren Island; plans for attack on batteries at Westkapelle and naval support available; expectation of heavy casualties; embarkation aboard Buffalo LVT Mk IV Amphibian; German shelling and sinking of supporting landing craft; German artillery hit on front of Buffalo LVT Mk IV Amphibian; disembarking from abandoned Buffalo LVT Mk IV Amphibian into the sea; number of grenades carried; problems of getting ashore. REEL 5 Continues: assembling troops for attack on battery; move along trench full of German dead; troop strength; capture of battery; condition of German prisoners of war from battery including psychological effects of commando green berets; interior of battery; use of German rations; morale after capture of battery; unit communications; move to Domburg; situation in Domburg; layout of Domburg; orders to clear town of snipers; method of clearing town of snipers; shooting of snipers attempting to surrender followed by mass surrender of snipers; technique for clearing houses; sleeping in church in Domburg; question of treatment of snipers; impact of German propaganda aimed at commandos; reconnaissance patrol to battery north of Domburg; technique used to capture battery; artillery support available; condition of German prisoners of war taken. REEL 6 Continues: mistake by German Army officer prisoner of war and consequences; amusing story of photographer who captured Germans with his camera; unit casualties; plans to attack German battery in woods; German artillery shelling; character of advance towards battery; German positions in woods; overnight stay in waterlogged trenches; wounding and evacuation of officer; clearing German positions in woods; plans to attack German W19 Battery at Domburg; German surrender prior to attack; unit casualties during Operation Infatuate. Recollections of operations as officer with 5 Troop, No 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando in North West Europe, 1944-1945: role patrolling islands of coast of Netherlands; relations with Dutch civilians; attempts to have traditional Norwegian Christmas celebrations, 25/12/1944. REEL 7 Continues: disruption to Christmas dinner by German V1 Flying Bomb; patrolling on River Maas, Netherlands; character of island in middle of River Maas, Netherlands; start of attack on island, 13/1/1945-14/1/1945; casualties during attack; orders to make second attack then subsequent cancelling; failure to make reconnaissance of island; reasons why No 47 (Royal Marine) Commando did not provide fire support; fate of reinforcement officer during attack; further patrols; return to Eastbourne, GB, 2/1945. Recollections of liberation of Norway, 5/1945-6/1945: orders to buy civilian clothes; flight to Stockholm, Sweden; lack of reception in Sweden; wearing uniform from 7/5/1945; strength of Norwegian commando party; move to Oslo, 9/5/1945; role reconstituting His Majesty's King's Guard as adjutant; presence of collaborators amongst former guardsmen. REEL 8 Continues: fate of one collaborator; strength and duties of King's Guard; question of policy of Norwegian Government-in-Exile, 1940-1945. Aspects of period as student at Norwegian Military Academy in Oslo, Norway, 1946-1947: character of syllabus; question of use of course. Recollections of period as officer with Independent Norwegian Bde Group attached to 5th Infantry Div, British Army of the Rhine in Germany, 1948-1949: dealing with refugees from Soviet Zone of Occupation, Germany; presence of Lapps in his company; winter warfare exercises; Soviet attempt to kidnap German atomic scientist from Göttingen; attitude towards Norwegian Army Command Germany. Aspects of period with Norwegian Intelligence Service in Norway and Finland, 1949-1952: interest in events in Finland; use of disguise as student of geology; question of Soviet forces' ability to attack Norway through northern Finland; relations with Finns; American intelligence effort in Norway. Recollections of period as staff officer with Norwegian Army in Norway, 1953-1956: period as student with Canadian Army Staff College, Fort Frontenac, Canada; character of large exercise held in Norway, 1954. REEL 9 Continues: Norwegian orders of battle; estimates of Soviet threat and strengths; measures taken for co-operation between ground and air forces; use of senior German Army officers who had served in north Norway during Second World War as consultants; importance of Norwegian involvement in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO); plans to receive and supply external reinforcements; potential numbers of troops that could be mobilised; role of naval forces. Recollections of period as staff officer with Headquarters, United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) in Egypt, 1956-1957: role as G2; obtaining maps marked with all Israeli and Egyptian positions; character of headquarters; exchange of prisoners of war between Israel and Egypt; strength of United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF); measures against smuggling and illegal movement; sources of intelligence; character of observation posts; use of mobile patrols and problems with Indonesian peacekeeping troops. REEL 10 Continues: method Indonesian peacekeeping troops used to stop theft; Yasser Arafat's organisation of demonstrations in Gaza and his arrest by Gudmundseth; impressions of Yasser Arafat; use of Canadian staff procedures; problems with Colombian battalion. Aspects of period as chief of staff with Norwegian Army in Trøndelag, Norway, 1957-1961: organisation of mobilisation of troops and local defence units; role of 'stay behind' units. Aspects of period as Defence Attaché with Norwegian Army in West Germany and Switzerland, 1961-1965: encounter with Soviet military man previously met in Germany, 1948-1949; relations with Swiss; Swiss concept of mountain redoubt; Norwegian purchase of West German military equipment; reasons for purchasing West German equipment over British; reasons for leaving Norwegian Army and joining Kongsberg-Raufoss. REEL 11 Continues: medical problems on leaving military service. Reflections on period as NCO officer with No 10 Commando in GB and North West Europe, 1942-1945: contact with former comrades; origins of Independent companies, 1940; special equipment issued to commandos; connections in Eastbourne, GB.