Nationality Norwegian Died June 6, 1944 Name Finn Jespersen | Known for Pilot Occupation Orienteer | |
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Born April 4, 1914 ( 1914-04-04 ) Kristiania | ||
Finn Varde Jespersen (4 April 1914 – 6 June 1944) was among Norway's leading orienteers in the late 1930s. During World War II he was a pilot with the rank of Lieutenant; he perished during the invasion of Normandy.
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Orienteering career
He was born in Kristiania. His parents were Per Mathias Jespersen and Anna Jespersen née Johnsen, both from Skien. In the 1930s he was an active sportsman competing in orienteering for the club IL Heming. He represented the Norwegian national team in the third Scandinavian cup in September 1939, where only Sweden and Norway participated because of travel restrictions for the Finnish athletes due to the recent outbreak of war, and Jespersen placed third in the individual contest. In the 1940 season he won a contest in Finland ahead of the Finnish orienteers Börje Malmström, Jan Gripenberg and Birger Lönnberg. This result has been described as the first noted Norwegian orienteering victory in Finland.
World War II
Jespersen participated in the fighting during the German invasion of Norway in 1940. He then travelled the long journey via Finland, Russia, Japan, crossing the Pacific Ocean and finally reaching the American continent. He received his pilot training at the Little Norway training camp in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Fellow orienteer Per Bergsland from IL Heming was also trained as a pilot in Toronto. Jespersen served as an instructor at the training school, and later as a pilot flying transport planes. After having been trained on combat aircraft he joined RAF Bomber Command. Jespersen's Lancaster of 97 Squadron was shot down over Cherbourg the night between 5 and 6 June 1944.
Jespersen's military rank was Lieutenant. He was awarded the Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal post mortem. His diaries from 1940, edited by and with comments by John Berg, were published in 1983 as 9. april kommer jeg aldri til å glemme.... .