Roy Nielsen
Encyclopedia
Roy Nielsen was a Norwegian resistance
member during World War II
, a member of Milorg
and involved in propaganda and sabotage. Among his sabotage operations was the destruction of 25 Messerschmitt
fighter aircraft and 150 engines stored in a bus garage in Oslo, on 14 August 1944, together with Max Manus
, Gunnar Sønsteby
and others. Together with Max Manus he succeeded in sinking the German troop ship
SS Donau
in the Oslofjord
16 January 1945, by placing magnetic limpet mine
s with time delay on the ship's side.
as the son of Christian and Signe Nielsen, and he married Helen Næss in 1941. He was an active amateur boxer in the club Fagforeningenes IF av 1926.
. He cooperated with Kompani Linge
soldier Max Manus in the SOE
Operation Bundle, sabotage missions directed towards German ships. The group experimented with home-made torpedoes. An attempt to hit a troop ship in Oslofjord was a failure, but a later attempt, in summer 1944, to hit a destroyer outside Moss
was a partial success, as the ship was seriously damaged and out of action for seven months.
Operation Bundle's greatest success was the sabotage against the German troop ship SS Donau
in Oslofjord in January, 1945. The intelligence organization RMO
managed to find a weak point in the German guarding of the ship during docking time. From beneath a defunct goods lift in a building on the pier it was possible to reach the sea, by making a hole in the floor. A rubber boat and equipment was smuggled in by Alf Borgen in advance, and Nielsen and Manus came by to inflate the rubber boat some days before the arrival of SS Donau. When the ship arrived on 15 January, Nielsen and Manus simply walked into the pier area, passing the control point with ease as Nielsen deliberately slipped and fell right outside the gate. The two then entered the building, climbed down into the rubber boat, and placed ten limpet mines onto the side of the ship. One limpet mine was placed on a smaller vessel Rolandseck. During the sabotage Nielsen and Manus were kept safe by undercover pier worker Kåre Halvorsen, who also had made the hole in the floor. The bombs went off at 2300hrs when Donau was outside Drøbak
, instead of in open sea as planned, and the captain managed to beach
her. Later during the night Donau slipped off land and into somewhat deeper waters before settling. After the explosions on Donau the Germans feared that saboteurs had placed limpets on more ships and towed Rolandseck away from the pier and searched the ship side from rowing boats. No explosives were found and the loading of Rolandseck continued from a short time until the limpet exploded. The Germans were prepared for such a possibility and plugged the resulting hole with a large mat, saving the ship and allowing her to later be placed in dry-dock.
On 14 August 1944, Nielsen initiated the sabotage against the Luftwaffe
's depot at Bjølsen
, where the Luftwaffe had confiscated part of a bus garage belonging to Oslo Sporveier
. The depot had been moved there from Kjeller
in fear of air strikes. Nielsen extracted information about the location from a contact in Oslo Sporveier, and also came along due to Gregers Gram's stay in Sweden at the time. The saboteurs sneaked into Oslo Sporveier's part of the garage, and stole keys from a night watch without drama. Nielsen kept guard in the night watch office; the other participants were Max Manus, Gunnar Sønsteby, Andreas Aubert
, Henrik Hop, William Houlder and Erik Hansen Bakke. 120 kilograms (264.6 lb) of plastic explosive
s, carried to the garage in four suitcases, and a sack with 30 kilograms (66.1 lb) of dynamite were detonated. There was a fire lasting three days in which the Luftwaffe lost 25 Messerschmitt Bf 109
's, 150 aircraft engines and their largest store of spare parts for fighters in Norway.
Nielsen was also in charge of the sabotage of Arbeidstjenesten's office in Wergelandsveien 3. He obtained a copy of the door key (via an imprint in plastilina
) together with Dick Zeiner-Henriksen
, but the actual sabotage mission was called off because there were people present at the office.
in November 1944. Operation Derby initially focused on black propaganda
directed towards German soldiers, but they also issued the undercover magazine Fritt Land, and distributed the bi-weekly magazine Håndslag
(produced in Sweden) and the monthly magazine Det frie Norge (from the Norwegian government in London).
was surrounded by German forces, whereupon Kari telephoned Max Manus
who in turn notified other resistance members. All resistance members would need to go in hiding at various cover-up apartments scattered around the city. Nielsen went to the address Bygdøy allé 117, to what he assumed to be a safe house, but was surprised by German forces there and fatally shot while escaping. The same thing had happened to fellow resistance fighter Olav Ringdal
earlier that day. Kolbein Lauring and Manus managed to escape from their respective locations, whereas Kari Lauring was arrested.
Norwegian resistance movement
The Norwegian resistance to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms:...
member during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, a member of Milorg
Milorg
Milorg was the main Norwegian resistance movement in World War II....
and involved in propaganda and sabotage. Among his sabotage operations was the destruction of 25 Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt AG was a famous German aircraft manufacturing corporation named for its chief designer, Willy Messerschmitt, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, notably the Bf 109 and Me 262...
fighter aircraft and 150 engines stored in a bus garage in Oslo, on 14 August 1944, together with Max Manus
Max Manus
Maximo Guillermo "Max" Manus DSO, MC & Bar was a Norwegian resistance fighter during World War II.Manus was born in Bergen to a Norwegian father and a Danish mother...
, Gunnar Sønsteby
Gunnar Sønsteby
Gunnar Fridtjof Thurmann Sønsteby DSO was a member of the Norwegian resistance movement during the German occupation of Norway in World War II...
and others. Together with Max Manus he succeeded in sinking the German troop ship
Troopship
A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...
SS Donau
SS Donau
SS Donau was a Norddeutscher Lloyd refrigerated cargo ship. In the Second World War the Kriegsmarine used it as a transport ship between Germany and Norway. She became known as the "slave ship" after the SS and Gestapo transported 540 Jews from Norway to Stettin, from where they were taken by...
in the Oslofjord
Oslofjord
The Oslofjord is a bay in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the Torbjørnskjær and Færder lighthouses and down to Langesund in the south to Oslo in the north....
16 January 1945, by placing magnetic limpet mine
Limpet mine
A limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets; they are so named because of their superficial similarity to the limpet, a type of mollusk....
s with time delay on the ship's side.
Personal life
Nielsen was born in KristianiaOslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
as the son of Christian and Signe Nielsen, and he married Helen Næss in 1941. He was an active amateur boxer in the club Fagforeningenes IF av 1926.
Sabotage
During World War II he was a member of the armed Norwegian resistance organization MilorgMilorg
Milorg was the main Norwegian resistance movement in World War II....
. He cooperated with Kompani Linge
Norwegian Independent Company 1
Norwegian Independent Company 1 was a British SOE group formed in March 1941 originally for the purpose of performing commando raids during the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany. It was organized under the leadership of Captain Martin Linge...
soldier Max Manus in the SOE
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
Operation Bundle, sabotage missions directed towards German ships. The group experimented with home-made torpedoes. An attempt to hit a troop ship in Oslofjord was a failure, but a later attempt, in summer 1944, to hit a destroyer outside Moss
Moss, Norway
is a coastal city and a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Moss. The city of Moss was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
was a partial success, as the ship was seriously damaged and out of action for seven months.
Operation Bundle's greatest success was the sabotage against the German troop ship SS Donau
SS Donau
SS Donau was a Norddeutscher Lloyd refrigerated cargo ship. In the Second World War the Kriegsmarine used it as a transport ship between Germany and Norway. She became known as the "slave ship" after the SS and Gestapo transported 540 Jews from Norway to Stettin, from where they were taken by...
in Oslofjord in January, 1945. The intelligence organization RMO
RMO (Norwegian resistance)
RMO was a Norwegian clandestine organization for naval intelligence during World War II, led from Oslo. The organization operated from Spring 1942 until the end of the war in the spring of 1945.-Establishment:...
managed to find a weak point in the German guarding of the ship during docking time. From beneath a defunct goods lift in a building on the pier it was possible to reach the sea, by making a hole in the floor. A rubber boat and equipment was smuggled in by Alf Borgen in advance, and Nielsen and Manus came by to inflate the rubber boat some days before the arrival of SS Donau. When the ship arrived on 15 January, Nielsen and Manus simply walked into the pier area, passing the control point with ease as Nielsen deliberately slipped and fell right outside the gate. The two then entered the building, climbed down into the rubber boat, and placed ten limpet mines onto the side of the ship. One limpet mine was placed on a smaller vessel Rolandseck. During the sabotage Nielsen and Manus were kept safe by undercover pier worker Kåre Halvorsen, who also had made the hole in the floor. The bombs went off at 2300hrs when Donau was outside Drøbak
Drøbak
Drøbak is an unincorporated city and the centre of the municipality of Frogn, in Akershus county, Norway. The city is located along the Oslofjord, and has 13,358 inhabitants....
, instead of in open sea as planned, and the captain managed to beach
Beach (nautical)
Beaching is when a vessel is laid ashore, or grounded deliberately in shallow water. This is more usual with small flat-bottomed boats. Larger ships may be beached deliberately, for instance in an emergency a damaged ship might be beached to prevent it from sinking in deep water...
her. Later during the night Donau slipped off land and into somewhat deeper waters before settling. After the explosions on Donau the Germans feared that saboteurs had placed limpets on more ships and towed Rolandseck away from the pier and searched the ship side from rowing boats. No explosives were found and the loading of Rolandseck continued from a short time until the limpet exploded. The Germans were prepared for such a possibility and plugged the resulting hole with a large mat, saving the ship and allowing her to later be placed in dry-dock.
On 14 August 1944, Nielsen initiated the sabotage against the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
's depot at Bjølsen
Bjølsen
Bjølsen is a neighbourhood in the Sagene borough in central-northern Oslo, Norway. Originally a farm in the former Aker municipality, it was incorporated into Christiania in 1878.-References:...
, where the Luftwaffe had confiscated part of a bus garage belonging to Oslo Sporveier
Oslo Sporveier
Kollektivtransportproduksjon AS is a municipal owned public transport operator of Oslo, Norway, the name meaning simply "public transportation producer". It operates the trackage and maintains the stock of the Oslo Metro and Oslo Tramway, as well as owning eight operating subsidiaries...
. The depot had been moved there from Kjeller
Kjeller
Kjeller is located near Lillestrøm in the municipality of Skedsmo, Norway. It is located 25 kilometers north of Oslo.-The name:The Norse form of the name was probably Tjaldir. This is then the plural of tjald n 'tent'...
in fear of air strikes. Nielsen extracted information about the location from a contact in Oslo Sporveier, and also came along due to Gregers Gram's stay in Sweden at the time. The saboteurs sneaked into Oslo Sporveier's part of the garage, and stole keys from a night watch without drama. Nielsen kept guard in the night watch office; the other participants were Max Manus, Gunnar Sønsteby, Andreas Aubert
Andreas Aubert (resistance member)
Andreas Aubert was a Norwegian resistance member during the Second World War. He joined Norwegian Independent Company 1 in 1942 where he later became an ensign...
, Henrik Hop, William Houlder and Erik Hansen Bakke. 120 kilograms (264.6 lb) of plastic explosive
Plastic explosive
Plastic explosive is a specialised form of explosive material. It is a soft and hand moldable solid material. Plastic explosives are properly known as putty explosives within the field of explosives engineering....
s, carried to the garage in four suitcases, and a sack with 30 kilograms (66.1 lb) of dynamite were detonated. There was a fire lasting three days in which the Luftwaffe lost 25 Messerschmitt Bf 109
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
's, 150 aircraft engines and their largest store of spare parts for fighters in Norway.
Nielsen was also in charge of the sabotage of Arbeidstjenesten's office in Wergelandsveien 3. He obtained a copy of the door key (via an imprint in plastilina
Plastilina
Plastilina is a brand of non-hardening modeling clay sold by Spanish company JOVI and its subsidiaries. JOVI Modeling Clay, Plastilina, is mainly composed of vegetable matter, making it lighter and giving 33% more volume.-External links :*...
) together with Dick Zeiner-Henriksen
Dick Zeiner-Henriksen
Richard "Dick" Zeiner-Henriksen is a Norwegian businessperson and resistance member during World War II.-World War II:On 9 April 1940 Nazi Germany invaded and occupied Norway as a part of World War II. Young Zeiner-Henriksen became a member of the Norwegian Independent Company 1...
, but the actual sabotage mission was called off because there were people present at the office.
Propaganda
Nielsen came to be one of the leaders of the propaganda organization Operation Derby when it was reorganized after the death of Gregers GramGregers Gram
Gregers Winther Wulfsberg Gram MC MM was a Norwegian resistance fighter and saboteur. A corporal and later second lieutenant in the Norwegian Independent Company 1 during the Second World War, he was killed in 1944....
in November 1944. Operation Derby initially focused on black propaganda
Black propaganda
Black propaganda is false information and material that purports to be from a source on one side of a conflict, but is actually from the opposing side. It is typically used to vilify, embarrass or misrepresent the enemy...
directed towards German soldiers, but they also issued the undercover magazine Fritt Land, and distributed the bi-weekly magazine Håndslag
Håndslag
Håndslag was a Norwegian bi-weekly political magazine issued in Stockholm from June 1942 to June 1945. It was issued by Eyvind Johnson, and edited by Torolf Elster. Among the journalists were Willy Brandt and Helge Krog. The magazine was secretly distributed in occupied Norway. Towards the end of...
(produced in Sweden) and the monthly magazine Det frie Norge (from the Norwegian government in London).
Death
On 4 April 1945 a German crackdown against Operation Derby took place. The home of Kolbein and Kari LauringKolbein Lauring
Kolbein Didrik Lauring was a Norwegian resistance member during World War II.He grew up in Ljan together with later resistance ace Max Manus. The two participated as volunteers in the Winter War, on the Finnish side. When Germany invaded and occupied Norway in 1940, Lauring and Manus returned to...
was surrounded by German forces, whereupon Kari telephoned Max Manus
Max Manus
Maximo Guillermo "Max" Manus DSO, MC & Bar was a Norwegian resistance fighter during World War II.Manus was born in Bergen to a Norwegian father and a Danish mother...
who in turn notified other resistance members. All resistance members would need to go in hiding at various cover-up apartments scattered around the city. Nielsen went to the address Bygdøy allé 117, to what he assumed to be a safe house, but was surprised by German forces there and fatally shot while escaping. The same thing had happened to fellow resistance fighter Olav Ringdal
Olav Ringdal
Olav Ringdal was a Norwegian resistance member during World War II.He was born in Sandefjord to parents from Larvik. He had gone through commerce school as well as an average adjuster's exam, and studied law at the University of Oslo during World War II. During the war he also became a member of...
earlier that day. Kolbein Lauring and Manus managed to escape from their respective locations, whereas Kari Lauring was arrested.