Odd Starheim
| Odd Starheim | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
14 June 1916 Lista, Vest-Agder |
| Died | 1 March 1943 (aged 26) North Sea |
| Buried | Lista, Vest-Agder |
| Allegiance | Norway |
| Service/branch | SOE |
| Years of service | 1940-1943 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | Norwegian Independent Company 1 |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards |
 War Cross Distinguished Service Order
|
Odd Kjell Starheim, DSO (14 June 1916 – 1 March 1943) was a Norwegian resistance fighter and SOE agent during the Second World War. He died when a Norwegian ship he had captured off the coast of Norway was sunk by German bombers on its way back to the United Kingdom.
Born in Lista, Vest-Agder, Odd Starheim was the son of ship captain Kjetil Starheim and his wife Amalie, née Leonhardsen. He attended chief mate school and radio school in the pre-Second World War years, and served for six years as an officer and radio operator in the Norwegian Merchant Navy. During his childhood Starheim was a Scout, idolizing Scout Movement founder Robert Baden-Powell and Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen.
When Norway was invaded by Germany Starheim joined the Norwegian Army opposing the invasion, but was soon captured. He later went to Sweden and attempted to make his way to the United Kingdom from there, but could not find a way to do so. He returned to Norway, and after slowly accumulating enough fuel, made his way to the United Kingdom on the boat Viking from Rauna, near Farsund, together with two other men. The boat set off on 11 August 1940, but was forced back the next day by bad weather. On 13 August Viking set off again, and reached Aberdeen on 17 August despite encountering another storm during the voyage across the North Sea.
He was among the pioneer members of the SOE branch called Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NOR.I.C.1), hand-picked by Captain Martin Linge, going on three missions to Norway and organizing intelligence work in Southern Norway. He was in charge of the SOE intelligence operation Cheese, together with double agent and radio operator Gunvald Tomstad. For Cheese Starheim was landed by submarine at the Norwegian coast near Farsund in December 1940, making his way ashore by kayak and carrying his radio set 25 miles inland despite suffering from flu. The purpose of the mission was to find out what had happened to the two men with whom he had originally escaped Norway (and one other), who had already been returned to Norway on another mission—They had been captured and executed. During the mission Starheim became the first SOE agent to establish radio contact between occupied Europe and the United Kingdom, on 25 February 1941. During his mission he radioed a report to the United Kingdom on the first sighting of the German battleship Bismarck during her maiden voyage. He remained in Norway until June 1941, organising the resistance, and remaining in radio contact with UK. Realising he was in danger, he escaped to Sweden and was then returned to the UK. On 2 January 1942 he and fellow agent Andreas Fasting became the first to parachute into occupied Norway. This time he was aiming to re-establish radio contact between the Norwegian resistance and the United Kingdom as the radio operator left behind after his previous mission had stopped transmitting.
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