Fredrik Kayser

Fredrik Thorbjørn Kayser, (25 May 1918 – 2 February 2009) was a Norwegian resistance member during World War II.

He was especially noted for his role in the Norwegian heavy water Sabotage, and has been referred to as "Western Norway's Gunnar Sønsteby".

Kayser grew up at Paradis in Bergen.

Among his youth experiences was a period as a Boy Scout, under later resistance member Fredrik Rieber-Mohn.

When drafted for compulsory military service after finishing school, he enrolled in the His Majesty The King's Guard, finishing his eight months of service in 1938.

In 1939, reportedly after attending a performance of the symphonic poem Finlandia, he volunteered to fight on Finland's side in the Winter War.

Norway was invaded by Germany on 9 April 1940.

Coincidentally, Kayser returned to Norway from Finland on this date, crying as he found the capital city Oslo invaded.

He became involved in the fighting that ensued elsewhere in Norway.

On 25 April he fought in the Battle of Skjervet in Granvin.

The Norwegian forces lost, and retreated to Gudvangen.

From there Kayser travelled to Bergen, where he involved himself in the illegal press.

After some time he decided to take part in secret military and Sabotage operations.

He escaped to England in September 1941, and enrolled in the Norwegian Independent Company 1 led by Martin Linge.

Kayser was recruited from the regular training to the so-called Finishing School, where the emphasis was on secret agent skills.

His first mission was the Operation Anklet in December 1941.

In 1942 he planned Operation Woodcock together with Kasper Idland and Kjell Endresen, two other Norwegian Independent Company 1 soldiers.

They were to parachute onto the Nevlandsheia plateau in Gjesdal and from there carry out a Sabotage operation against the strategically important Sola Air Station in Western Norway.

The team's first attempt to carry out the operation failed due to fog obscuring the drop zone.

Further attempts were called off after a French Sabotage team was intercepted by the Germans and explosives designed for the operation fell into German hands.

In 1942 the British Operation Freshman, directed against the heavy water production facility at Vemork, failed miserably.

In 1943 another attempt was made, codenamed Operation Gunnerside.

Following an aborted attempt in January, Kayser was a part of the team that successfully parachuted onto the Hardangervidda plateau on 16 February 1943.

Kayser was one of the first two saboteurs to enter the Vemork facility on 27 February, crawling through a cable shaft, the other being the team leader, Joachim Rønneberg.

They surprised the person who guarded the heavy water cylinders in the factory—in retrospect the guard was described as "a good Norwegian".

Kayser, at the time a sergeant, and Rønneberg went on to place explosive charges on the heavy water cylinders in the factory.

Two more members of the Gunnerside team later joined Kayser and Rønneberg by climbing through a window.

During the operation a Norwegian watchman was temporarily detained, and guarded by Kayser, being released 30 seconds before the explosives went off.

The saboteurs of Operation Gunnerside escaped unharmed, even though the German occupying authorities deployed thousands of soldiers to search Hardangervidda for the saboteurs.

Kayser made his way to Sweden with four other team members by way of a two-week, 400 km ski trek.

In all the operation resulted in the destruction of 18 heavy water cells and 500 kg of heavy water, with a loss of production of 400 kg.

For his role in the heavy water Sabotage Kayser was awarded the Military Medal by King George VI of the United Kingdom.

After the heavy water Sabotage, Kayser returned to England.

This time, he was educated in steering one-man midget submarines.

In 1944 Kayser and three other men were tasked with assaulting German ships in the harbour of Måløy.

However, the plan went sour as locals became alarmed of their presence.

Kayser had to escape by land.

He reportedly entrenched himself in a marsh for a whole day in order to escape a Gestapo search party.

In 1998 he stated that he "wanted to defeat the Communist system".

He also stated that he never actually fired a gunshot.