Arne Dagfin Dahl

Early and personal life Born in Kristiania on 24 May 1894, Arne Dagfin Dahl was the son of postmaster Ragnvald Dahl and Anna Othilie Stablum. He was brother of fellow army officer Ørnulf Dahl. He took his examen artium in 1912, graduated from business school in 1919 and entered law studies at the Royal Frederick University in 1921. In 1924, he dropped out of university, to become director of the Norwegian Automobile Federation. Dahl had gained an international pilot licence in 1918.

On 17 September 1921, Dahl married Kristiania-born Astri Thinn Christophersen (b. 12 July 1901). By 1930, the couple had three daughters. According to a 1998 report on the Alta Battalion by the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services, an obituary for Dahl, the source of which is not recorded, states that as a young lieutenant he participated with a division of the British Army in the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

After returning to Norway in 1919, Dahl spent five years working at the Norwegian Military Academy. In 1929 he became an adjutant to Haakon VII of Norway, and in 1930 was promoted to captain. He has since been considered perhaps the best Norwegian battalion commander during the fighting at Narvik. In the autumn of 1944, as a full colonel, he became the commander of the Norwegian Military Mission in Finnmark.

In 1941, Dahl became the first Norwegian to attend the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Post-war service Deputy Supreme Commander Europe of NATO Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery and Major General Arne Dagfin Dahl on inspection in Narvik on 5 July 1951. A.D. Dahl became a Major General and commander of District Command North in 1945. Dahl commanded the Independent Norwegian Brigade Group in Germany.

Honours and awards By 1930, Dahl was an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and a Knight of the Belgian Order of the Crown.