During the 1930s Bergsland competed in orienteering, representing the club IL Heming. In 1939 he placed second at the individual Norwegian championship in orienteering held at Modum.[2] He was born in Bærum, but resided at Ullernåsen.[3]
World War IIedit
Per Bergsland received training as a pilot in Canada. He transferred to the RAF in 1942, where he was assigned to fly with a combat unit. As a member of No. 332 Squadron RAF stationed at North Weald airfield, Bergsland's Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb, (serial no AB269, coded AH:D) was shot down by a German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 during the Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942. After arriving at the POW camp, he gave his name as "Peter Rockland" (Per = Petrus, meaning rock in Greek, and Berg meaning mountain or rock in Norwegian), in order to protect his family in Norway from German persecution.
Stalag Luft III mockup.
In what later became known as the "Great Escape", he was escapee #43 among the 76 prisoners of war who managed to escape from the camp via tunnel with another Norwegian pilot, escapee #44 Jens Müller,
"Bergsland was wearing a civilian suit he had made for himself from a Royal Marine uniform, with an RAF overcoat slightly altered with brown leather sewn over the buttons. A black RAF tie, no hat. He carried a small suitcase which had been sent from Norway. In it were Norwegian toothpaste and soap, sandwiches, and 163 reichsmarks given to him by the Escape Committee. We caught the 2:04 train to Frankfurt an der Oder. Our papers stated that we were Norwegian electricians from the Arbeitslager [labor camp] in Frankfurt working in the vicinity of Sagan. For the journey from Frankfurt to Stettin we had other papers ordering us to change our place of work from Frankfurt to Stettin, and to report to the Birgermeister of Stettin."[4]
Bergsland and Müller made it to the nearby town of Sagan, where they caught a train to Stettin in Germany (now: Szczecin, Poland). At the port, the pair were snuck onto a neutral Swedish ship by friendly sailors and made it to the safety of Gothenburg. There, they entered the British consulate, who arranged travel by train to Stockholm, where they were flown to Scotland from the Bromma airport. From there they were sent by train to London and shortly afterwards to 'Little Norway' in Canada.[5]
In total, only three POWs from Stalag Luft III made it to neutral countries and freedom.
The remaining 73 escapees were captured. Adolf Hitler wanted to execute them all, but Hermann Göring persuaded him not to: in the end, fifty were shot as an example. The remaining 23 were held in the custody of the Gestapo before being sent off to other camps. 17 were returned to Stalag Luft III, four were sent to Sachsenhausen, and two to Colditz Castle.
Postwar careeredit
In 1946, Per Bergsland began as a pilot in Fred Olsen Air Transport. He later became Chief Pilot and Operational Manager. He became CEO of Fred Olsen Air Transport in 1968 and CEO of regional airline Widerøe from 1970 to 1981.
^Berglia, Knut; Brohaug, Tom-Erik; Staver, Kristoffer; Thuesen, Kaare; Strandhagen, Torgeir, eds. (1987). Orienteringsidretten i Norge gjennom 90 år (in Norwegian). Oslo: Norges Orienteringsforbund. pp. 71–76.
^"Dagens navn". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 16 January 1988. p. 20.
^(PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
^. Daily Telegraph. 1 July 1993. Archived from the original on 11 March 2011.
Related readingedit
Carroll, Tim (2004) The Great Escaper (Mainstream Publishing) ISBN1-84018-904-5
Brickhill, Paul (1950) The Great Escape (W. W. Norton & Company) ISBN978-0-393-32579-9
Burgess, Alan (1990) The Longest Tunnel (Bloomsbury Publishing) ISBN0-7475-0589-6
Durand, Arthur A (1989) Stalag Luft III (Patrick Stephens Ltd) ISBN1-85260-248-1
External linksedit
December 01, 2023
bergsland, january, 1918, june, 1992, norwegian, fighter, pilot, german, camp, stalag, luft, only, three, escape, freedom, great, escape, nickname, peter, rocklandborn, 1918, january, 1918norwaydied9, june, 1992, 1992, aged, allegiancenorwayranksergeantunitno,. Sgt Per Bergsland 17 January 1918 9 June 1992 was a Norwegian fighter pilot and POW in the German POW camp Stalag Luft III and one of only three men to escape to freedom in the Great Escape 1 Per BergslandNickname s Peter RocklandBorn 1918 01 17 17 January 1918NorwayDied9 June 1992 1992 06 09 aged 74 AllegianceNorwayRankSergeantUnitNo 332 Squadron RAF 332 Sqn Commands heldSpitfire VB AB269 AH D Contents 1 Sports career 2 World War II 3 Postwar career 4 See also 5 References 6 Related reading 7 External linksSports career editDuring the 1930s Bergsland competed in orienteering representing the club IL Heming In 1939 he placed second at the individual Norwegian championship in orienteering held at Modum 2 He was born in Baerum but resided at Ullernasen 3 World War II editPer Bergsland received training as a pilot in Canada He transferred to the RAF in 1942 where he was assigned to fly with a combat unit As a member of No 332 Squadron RAF stationed at North Weald airfield Bergsland s Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb serial no AB269 coded AH D was shot down by a German Focke Wulf Fw 190 during the Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942 After arriving at the POW camp he gave his name as Peter Rockland Per Petrus meaning rock in Greek and Berg meaning mountain or rock in Norwegian in order to protect his family in Norway from German persecution nbsp Stalag Luft III mockup In what later became known as the Great Escape he was escapee 43 among the 76 prisoners of war who managed to escape from the camp via tunnel with another Norwegian pilot escapee 44 Jens Muller Bergsland was wearing a civilian suit he had made for himself from a Royal Marine uniform with an RAF overcoat slightly altered with brown leather sewn over the buttons A black RAF tie no hat He carried a small suitcase which had been sent from Norway In it were Norwegian toothpaste and soap sandwiches and 163 reichsmarks given to him by the Escape Committee We caught the 2 04 train to Frankfurt an der Oder Our papers stated that we were Norwegian electricians from the Arbeitslager labor camp in Frankfurt working in the vicinity of Sagan For the journey from Frankfurt to Stettin we had other papers ordering us to change our place of work from Frankfurt to Stettin and to report to the Birgermeister of Stettin 4 Bergsland and Muller made it to the nearby town of Sagan where they caught a train to Stettin in Germany now Szczecin Poland At the port the pair were snuck onto a neutral Swedish ship by friendly sailors and made it to the safety of Gothenburg There they entered the British consulate who arranged travel by train to Stockholm where they were flown to Scotland from the Bromma airport From there they were sent by train to London and shortly afterwards to Little Norway in Canada 5 In total only three POWs from Stalag Luft III made it to neutral countries and freedom The third escapee was the Dutchman Bram van der Stok who crossed most of occupied Europe and escaped to Spain with the help of the French resistance 6 The remaining 73 escapees were captured Adolf Hitler wanted to execute them all but Hermann Goring persuaded him not to in the end fifty were shot as an example The remaining 23 were held in the custody of the Gestapo before being sent off to other camps 17 were returned to Stalag Luft III four were sent to Sachsenhausen and two to Colditz Castle Postwar career editIn 1946 Per Bergsland began as a pilot in Fred Olsen Air Transport He later became Chief Pilot and Operational Manager He became CEO of Fred Olsen Air Transport in 1968 and CEO of regional airline Wideroe from 1970 to 1981 See also editThe Great Escape Tre kom tilbake History of WideroeReferences edit The Great Escape The Three That Got Away Nova Berglia Knut Brohaug Tom Erik Staver Kristoffer Thuesen Kaare Strandhagen Torgeir eds 1987 Orienteringsidretten i Norge gjennom 90 ar in Norwegian Oslo Norges Orienteringsforbund pp 71 76 Dagens navn Aftenposten in Norwegian 16 January 1988 p 20 The Great Escape The Three That Got Away Nova List of personnel associated with Little Norway Edvard Omholt Jensen The Spirit of Little Norway Atheneum 1986 PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2011 07 24 Retrieved 2018 04 12 Obituary Bram van der Stok Daily Telegraph 1 July 1993 Archived from the original on 11 March 2011 Related reading editCarroll Tim 2004 The Great Escaper Mainstream Publishing ISBN 1 84018 904 5 Brickhill Paul 1950 The Great Escape W W Norton amp Company ISBN 978 0 393 32579 9 Burgess Alan 1990 The Longest Tunnel Bloomsbury Publishing ISBN 0 7475 0589 6 Durand Arthur A 1989 Stalag Luft III Patrick Stephens Ltd ISBN 1 85260 248 1External links editMuseum of Allied Prisoners of War Martyrdom Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Per Bergsland amp oldid 1127545554, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
