Bjørn Rørholt

Bjørn Arnold Rørholt (27 August 1919 – 3 May 1993) was a Norwegian engineer, military officer, Secret Intelligence Service agent and resistance member during World War II.

Early life Rørholt was born in Aker Municipality as the son of military officer Arnold Rørholt (1884–1961) and his wife Luise Fredrikke Lund (1891–1965). He was a first cousin of Vera Henriksen and a great-grandson of Friedrich Roscher.

Rørholt finished his secondary education in 1937, and enrolled at the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1939. After a short time, he was drafted for compulsory military service.

World War II When World War II reached Norway on 9 April 1940, with the German invasion, the Military Academy cadet Rørholt helped fighting to repel the invaders. However, after the Norwegian Campaign Germany emerged victorious, and occupied Norway. After a short time as a prisoner-of-war, Rørholt returned to the Institute of Technology in autumn 1940. In September 1941, however, Gestapo managed to track the Skylark B transmitting activity. Rørholt travelled to Oslo as a decoy, he then was nearly captured but escaped. Rørholt fled to Sweden via Iddefjord, accompanied by Knut Haukelid who had been involved in the Skylark A group in Oslo. Rørholt then travelled from Stockholm to Great Britain. Initially, he was withdrawn from active service because he might be known to the Germans. When Tirpitz was moved towards Northern Norway, "Lerken" was superseded by "Upsilon" and the network "Venus". Einar Johansen was the central person here.

From November 1942, Rørholt was transferred to the department 4 (FO IV) of the Ministry of Defence, chairing the education of Norwegian radio agents in Great Britain. Also, the world-famous explorer Thor Heyerdahl was his second-in-command. He was also a Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. At that time he was the youngest Colonel in Norway, aged 39. He wrote two memoir books from his World War II experiences, Amatørspionen "Lerken" ("Amateur Spy 'The Lark'", 1985) and Usynlige soldater ("Invisible Soldiers", 1990)—the latter together with Bjarne Thorsen. He was married to Mia Sverdrup Thygeson from 1949, and to Elsa Lundh from 1978.