Marius Eriksen
Marius Eriksen was born into an excellent Norwegian family, his father Marius Sr. was a veteran Olympic athlete who competed in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics and won the bronze medal in gymnastics, he was also an inventor, businessman and outdoor enthusiast, alpine downhill skiing, and the snowboard fixtures used until the 60s were invented by marius Sr. He opened a shop in Oslo (Eriksen Sport of Oslo) to sell his invention of ski equipment.
Marius Sr. and his wife Birgit
Marius Sr. and his wife, Birgit, who loved knitting sweaters, were the designers of the classic Norwegian "Marius" pattern.
Old Ma and his wife, Birgit, have two children, Marius Jr. and Stein. Marius Eriksen Jr. was born in Oslo on 8 December 1922 (originally named in Christiania, three years after the birth of Marius The Younger, renamed Oslo in 1925)
Marius Sr. (second from left) met many designers, photographers, and film directors because of skiing.
Pony fell in love with skiing with his father and showed his athletic talent, and in February 1938, Marius Eriksen participated in the FIS World Championships in Zakopane, Poland.
Soon, World War II broke out, and because the old horse was doing business with the Germans, the family was suspected of colluding with the Nazis. On April 1, 1940, during the "Weser Exercise", the German Third Reich invaded Norway, and the pony, with the consent of his family, left Norway to devote himself to the cause of resisting the Nazis.
He travelled to the harbour of Åselund in the north, from where he travelled to Scotland. The seaport of Åselund, known as "Little London" during the Nazi occupation, was arranged by the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) to establish a secret transport route called the "Shetland Bus", smuggling 192 agents and 383 tons of weapons, radios and explosives into Norway and evacuating 73 agents and 373 refugees. When the pony left Norway, he was only 17 years old! He plans to become a fighter pilot.
The defeated Norwegian government-in-exile, with the help of the British, reorganized the Land and Naval Aviation personnel who had fled Norway, rebuilt in Canada in Toronto, Ontario, and merged into a new Norwegian Air Force to continue fighting the Nazis, as the Norwegian Air Force was rebuilt in Canada, so they did not participate in the British Air Battle to defend Britain.
Fourteen Norwegian pilot students with flight instructors. The young men, dressed in freshly issued flight suits and turtleneck sweaters, stood behind parachutes, and the instructor seemed to be briefing. On the right is the tail of a Fairchild PT-19 Cornell. It was here that Marius Eriksen learned to fly and eventually became an ace pilot in the Norwegian Air Force.
18-year-old Eriksen (front row, second from left)
The 18-year-old Eriksen (front row, second from left) began training as a fighter pilot after arriving in Canada in Toronto, Ontario.
In the second half of 1941, after completing training, the ponies once again set out from Canada and arrived in England, and the Norwegian government-in-exile, with the help of the British Royal Air Force, established squadrons 330, 331, 332 and 333, operating under the command of the British Air Force.
A Norwegian pilot's badge with the Norwegian Royal Family logo
The role of the 331st Squadron is "Norway".
The role of the 332nd Squadron is "Hand in Hand" (Latin: Samhold i stride)
The role of the 333rd Squadron is "Fight for the honor of the king, the country and the flag!" ”
The Ponies joined the 331st Squadron and then soon after transferred to the 332nd Squadron, and in March 1942 the 331st and 332nd Squadrons were incorporated into the RAF 132nd Wing.
At RAF Catterick Air Base in the spring of 1942, 19-year-old Marius Eriksen with Norwegian pilots of Squadron 332
On April 21, 1942, Erik Haabjørn, a Norwegian pilot of squadron 332, was preparing to board a plane.
In 1942, the 332nd Squadron's Spitfire 5a fighter (numbered R7335, AH-J), the engine and cockpit were covered with a warm cotton cover for cold protection.
Beginning in the spring of 1942, marius and the pilots of Squadron 332 took off from The British Northern Air Base to cover the northeast of the city of London. Whenever the weather permitted, pilots would take off and fly, sometimes two or three times a day.
Marius (second from right) with Norwegian fighter pilots.
The mission records of the 332nd Squadron recorded the Circus, the Ramrods mission, a code name that represented the daytime escort of bombers. And rhubarb, ranger and cowboy rodeo represent fighter sweep missions.
Pony playing poker
Marius Eriksen will be the squadron's highest-recorded ace pilot in more than a year of combat operations.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the first record</h1>
At noon on July 30, 1942, 12 Spitfire fighters led by Major Mohr of the 332nd Squadron traveled to France to cross the coast of The Bay of Pevinsai from low altitudes in search of enemy aircraft. Green 1 is Eric. Løfsgaard, whose wingman Green 2 was piloted by Marius Eriksen. They climbed to 18,000 feet and fought with German Bf 109 fighter jets.
Marius Erikson (first from left) with Eric of Green 1. Løfsgaard (second from left), summer 1942.
The German fighter climbed so fast that the Pony's Spitfire 5 could not catch up with the German fighter, so he turned to the left and radioed The Green 1, but it was Eric of the Green 1. Lovesgaard did not respond, his fighter was chased by 4 Bf109s, and he struggled to maneuver to get rid of the enemy aircraft, which hit the pony's tail in a high deflection angle shot.
The pony rushed into the clouds and got rid of the German fighter, at this time there was no one around to see his own fighter, he had to return alone, and south of Le Tourquet, he found two German Fw 190 fighters in the air, and the enemy aircraft did not seem to find the Spitfire flying alone. He turned to attack, and at a distance of 300 to 350 yards, the pony landed on the wingman of the German squad with a string of long point shots. He saw German Fw 190 fighter jets coming out of smoke and landing on a sand embankment north of the town of Berck.
The 322nd Squadron, the Spitfire 5 (AH-M), piloted by Marius on 30 July 1942, was the first to shoot down a German FW190 fighter jet over France.
This was the first time that the 332nd Squadron had shot down a German fighter, and Pony's landplane at the time was nicknamed "LITAGO", which means Norwegian cow, numbered LB314 (AH-M). Running out of fuel, he landed at RAF Base Tangmere to refuel and returned to North Weald at 14:40 p.m. He met his teammate, Eric of Green 1. Lovesgaard, who claimed to have wounded another German Fw 190 fighter.
The Ponies were painted with the first shootdown record on the wings of the Spitfire (AH-P) and on the cockpit.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > support Dieppe landing</h1>
On August 19, 1942, during the bloody Dieppe Landings, The 332nd Squadron would provide air cover for allied troops landing at the Beachhead of Dieppe, cruising at an altitude of 6,000 feet to intercept German Fw 190 fighter jets. In the air battle, the 332nd Squadron lost two aircraft, Per Bergsland and Jan Bergsland. Jan Staubo
At 11:00, the 332nd Squadron refueled and attacked again, over Dieppe, they intercepted the German Dornier Do 217 bombers, Marius Eriksen saw two Do 217 bombers flying south, he hit one of them, saw him flip over, fell from 2000 feet into the sea, there were no survivors. His friend Eric. Løfsgaard was shot down by the Germans during the day's air battle.
At 1 p.m., the 332nd Squadron returned to refuel and rearm, and at 2:15 a.m., made its third attack on the beachhead of Dieppe.
During the flight, Løytnant of the 332nd Squadron shot down a British Typhoon fighter because he mistook it for a German Fw 190 fighter, and the typhoon pilot was killed.
At 4:00 p.m., The 332nd Squadron returned to land, and the exhausted pilots attacked again at 18:50. Fortunately, the attack did not encounter enemy aircraft, and they eventually returned to the base smoothly.
The Battle of Dieppe ended in the defeat of the Allies
As night fell, the RAF fighting was over and the landing soldiers on the beach were forced to continue fighting, and the Battle of Dieppe ended in the defeat of the Allies, with thousands of soldiers killed or captured.
Marius Eriksen sits on the wing, holding the squadron's Jack Russell Terrier mascot "Spit".
Marius Eriksen sits on the wing, holding the squadron's Jack Russell Terrier mascot "Spit". The photo was taken before Erikson was shot down and captured off the Coast of the Netherlands.
Fighting in the 332nd Squadron continued, and on 15 February 1943, over the coast of Dunkirk, France, marius shot down an Fw 190 in order to cover the action of a liberator bomber, which was his 5th record, for which he became the squadron's first ace pilot and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal and the Norwegian Cross of the Sword.
On 12 March 1943, the 332nd Squadron escorted a group of B-17 air fortresses to bomb France, and over Rouen, Marius again shot down an Fw 190 fighter.
The Royal Norwegian Air Force awarded Marius the Order of St. Olaf, established by King Hakorn VII of Norway on 6 February 1942, and is second only to the Order of war crosses in Norway.
At 3 p.m. on April 4, 1943, over Dieppe, Marius piloted the Blue 3, a Spitfire 9 (BS255), and shot down a Me109 fighter.
Marius recalled: "At that time, the Me 109 formation was about 8 to 10 aircraft, flying at an altitude of 6,000 feet below the blue formation, and each of us picked a target," As the Spitfire dive down to launch an attack, Marius's attack was interrupted by the Me109 in the 4-point direction, and he had to temporarily change the target, turn to attack the newly emerging German Me 109 fighter, at a deflection angle of about 20 degrees, fire for 3 to 4 seconds, he saw the tail of the Me 109 hit, and blew a hole, Then the two sides passed each other at high speed.
"Now the altitude is 18,000 to 20,000 feet, and 10,000 feet below there are two More Me 109s, one seems to have spotted him and started to evade, while the other stupidly went on." Marius quietly approached the target in a Spitfire fighter, and after approaching a distance of 300 yards, fired a spot shot for 2 to 3 seconds. Me109, that is, there was no smoke, no fire, directly turned over and fell into the sea, the pilot failed to escape, which is his 7th achievement.
On April 20, 1943, Hitler's 54th birthday, Marius presented Hitler with a birthday present by shooting down a Junkers 88 bomber.
Hans-Joassim. Lieutenant Hans-Joachim Bäumer with Junkers 88 bomber (No. 0678, T9+FH)
Hans-Joassim. Lieutenant Hans-Joachim Bäumer was the only survivor of the Junkers 88 bomber (no. 0678, T9+FH) shot down by Marius, the eighth result of Marius' battle.
Marius recalled:
He took off at 11:00 a.m. that day and was ordered to head over Clacton on the south coast of Essex, south of the Tendling Peninsula, where two Spitfire fighters of 332nd Squadron were on standby at 34,000 feet, waiting to intercept German bombers about to enter British airspace.
Marius piloted the Spitfire 9, number EN177, they followed the bomber's wake over the North Sea and spotted a Junkers 88, Marius piloted a Spitfire to attack from the direction of the sun, when the target approached 250 yards, he made a short point shot of 1 second, the German bomber's left wing engine caught fire, followed by the second shot, the enemy fuselage exploded debris, when Marius made a 3rd shot at the same target, the Junkers 88 emitted smoke and flames and flipped backwards, then exploded.
Unbeknownst to Marius at this point, it was a German Junkers 88 T test prototype belonging to the Luftwaffe Commander-in-Chief's Test Flight Team (VOdL) with a nitrous oxide booster system (Ha-Ha equipment), and he was flying from a Dutch airfield on an aerial photo reconnaissance mission to a British radar factory.
After being hit, the German pilot Hans Joassim. Lieutenant Bauer was badly burned and parachuted and captured, while the Junkers 88 crashed into the mouth of the River Thames, where the British found and salvaged the remains of the Junkers 88 T bomber underwater while dredging the channel in 2012, the only T-bomber to have crashed inside Britain.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > prisoner of war years and great escapes</h1>
As the saying goes: "If the crock pot is not broken from the well, the general will inevitably die before the battle."
On 2 May 1943, 11 Spitfire fighters of the 332nd Squadron took off from north Wilder base and flew north sea to the Dutch coast to fight. Erikson flew a Spitfire 9 fighter nicknamed "Troll" (BS-255, AH-T).
A model of the Spitfire 9 piloted by Marius when he was shot down
At 19:30 p.m., over Noord-Beveland in the southern Dutch province of Zeeland, German ace pilot Dietrich. The Fw 190 A4, piloted by Hauptmann Deitrich Wickop, made a head-on attack on Marius's Spitfire at 23,000 feet.
JG1 German ace Dietrich. Wickep, total record 13 machines
German ace Dietrich. Wikp, with a total record of 13 aircraft, was shot down by a P-47 Lightning fighter on 16 May and killed shortly after being shot down by Marius.
They shoot at the same time, Dietrich. Wikp's Fw 190 was hit on the left flank and cockpit, but the Spitfires were more badly damaged, and Marius had to abandon his plane and parachute, after which he was captured by germans on the ground and he was imprisoned in a third prisoner-of-war camp in Poland.
Dietrich. Wikp's Fw 190 later had to make a forced landing, and this Fw 190 A4 became Marius's ninth shot-down victory.
Third Prisoner of War Camp in Poland (Stalag Luft III)
Escape tunnels of the Third Prisoner of War Camp
On March 24, 1944, on a cold night, 76 prisoners of war escaped from the third prisoner-of-war camp by digging tunnels, which, unlike the ending in the film "Prisoner of War Train", was hunted down and suppressed by the German secret police, Gestapo, and 50 of the 76 Allied prisoners of war who escaped from the camp, including 4 Norwegian pilots and comrades-in-arms of Marius.
Two Norwegian pilots killed by the Gestapo during the escape operation:
2nd from left, Haldor Espelid (331 Squadron)
3 left, Nils Yogan Fuguesang (Nils Fuglesang, 332 Squadron)
Two Norwegian pilots, Bergsland of the 332 Squadron and Müller of the 331 Squadron, were lucky enough to escape the hunt and fled through the harbor to Sweden with the help of the Resistance, but Marius. Eriksen was unable to escape, spending the remaining 2 years in prison in a prisoner-of-war camp.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > after World War II ~ became a successful businessman and film actor</h1>
After five years of Nazi occupation in Norway, Marius Eriksen returned to his home country and became a national hero like all Norwegian pilots who fought in the war.
The Norwegian pilots of the Royal Air Force became the backbone of the Norwegian Air Force after World War II, and Marius had his own choice, he quit the army and became a racing skier (this is the sword is a plough!). ）。
In 1948, he participated in the Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Although he himself did not finish well this time, his younger brother, Stein Eriksen, would win the winter Olympics men's giant slalom skiing event in 1952.
Marius's younger brother, Stein Eriksen, later became a ski champion at the 1952 Winter Olympics
When Marius fought the Luftwaffe in the sky, his mother designed a sweater knit pattern for the Norwegian knitting company Dell. After Marius returned to Norway, his mother gave him a patent for this pattern.
The pattern was later known as "Mariusgenser" throughout Norway, and the pattern became a popular fashion and was very popular in Northern Europe.
Marius took over the ski shop left behind by the old horse and provided special ski equipment for his brother to ski, thanks to his own air combat hero and his brother Stein's Olympic champion (at the 1954 World Championships, Stein won three more gold medals in skiing). Identity, their family's rapids slalom skis never worry about sales.
Marius. Erikson snowboarding
Marius and Stein. Erikson snowboarding
Thanks to the friends, athletes, cinematographers and film directors of marius the elder who met in skiing, Marius Jr. has also starred in several films and directed musicals himself.
In 1954, Marius played a journalist in The Cashier Jensen.
In 1957, Marius played the protagonist Lieutenant Colonel Oberstløytnant in the himmelen-directed film Slalåm under himmelen, in which he piloted the Royal Norwegian Air Force's F-84 fighter jet.
Marius later married Bente Ording Eriksen and had five children, one of whom, Beate, followed in his father's footsteps and became a film actor and director.
In 2009, Marius Eriksen died in Oslo, Norway, at the age of 86, ending his legendary life.
~(End)~
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