9 April 1940: Finn Thorsager was the first Norwegian to open fire on invading German forces. He was credited with shooting down an enemy aircraft in a Gloster Gladiator biplane that dark morning, and made Norwegian history. Thorsager escaped the Nazi occupation, and fled Norway in the autumn of 1940. He travelled through Sweden, the Soviet Union, Japan, USA, and finally arrived at 'Little Norway', a training camp in Canada. After a time as an instructor, Thorsager was transferred to England where he joined 331 Squadron flying Hawker Hurricanes and then sister squadron, 332, in the legendary Supermarine Spitfire. In 1942, Thorsager was based at North Weald, Essex, where he flew dangerous missions over enemy occupied France and also took part in the infamous raid on Dieppe where the Allies suffered a bloody nose by a superior German defender. It was during this mission that Thorsager engaged several Fw 190s, a fighter that had a distinct edge over the Spitfire in terms of punch and performance. On another such dangerous mission to St Omer, Thorsager and fellow pilots said goodbye to each other as it was considered to be suicidal. Thorsager became a major and squadron leader in 1943 where he had a one-to-one fight with a Fw 190 over Vlissingen. In 1944, he relocated to St. Andrews, flying as a Lodestar captain on a dangerous civilian route between Scotland and Sweden. He had several close shaves flying the Lockheed L-18 Lodestar transport aircraft, and was also attacked by a deadly Arado 234 jet fighter over Norway. Thorsager survived the war, and stayed in the air as an airline captain until his retirement in 1976.
Viking Spitfire: The Story of Finn Thorsager
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Tor Idar Larsen has a bachelor's degree in Pedagogy and a minor in media production. His bachelor's degree involved post-modernity philosophy with a connection to World War 2 fighter pilots. Larsen also released a 36-page booklet on another Norwegian Spitfire pilot, Leif Lundsten. He maintains and writes for his own website www.spitfirepilots.com and is an active community member on aviation forums such as the very popular Flypast boards. Viking Spitfire tells for the first time how the forgotten Norwegian fighter pilots greatly contributed towards the RAF and the war effort.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By C. Yeoman
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Finn Thorsager was the first Norwegian to open fire on invading German forces. He was credited with shooting down an enemy aircraft in a Gloster Gladiator biplane that dark morning, and made Norwegian history. Thorsager escaped the Nazi occupation, and fled Norway in the autumn of 1940. He travelled through Sweden, the Soviet Union, Japan, USA, and finally arrived at `Little Norway', a training camp in Canada. After a time as an instructor, Thorsager was transferred to England where he joined 331 Squadron flying Hawker Hurricanes and then sister squadron, 332, in the legendary Supermarine Spitfire.
In 1942, Thorsager was based at North Weald, Essex, where he flew dangerous missions over enemy occupied France and also took part in the infamous raid on Dieppe where the Allies suffered a bloody nose by a superior German defender. It was during this mission that Thorsager engaged several Fw 190s, a fighter that had a distinct edge over the Spitfire in terms of punch and performance. On another such dangerous mission to St Omer, Thorsager and fellow pilots said goodbye to each other as it was considered to be suicidal.
Thorsager became a major and squadron leader in 1943 where he had a one-to-one fight with a Fw 190 over Vlissingen. In 1944, he relocated to St. Andrews, flying as a Lodestar captain on a dangerous civilian route between Scotland and Sweden. He had several close shaves flying the Lockheed L-18 Lodestar transport aircraft, and was also attacked by a deadly Arado 234 jet fighter over Norway.Thorsager survived the war, and stayed in the air as an airline captain until his retirement in 1976.
Viking Spitfire is a brilliant read by a talented writer, with a collection of some wonderful photographs. This book is a 'must' for your collections.
In 1942, Thorsager was based at North Weald, Essex, where he flew dangerous missions over enemy occupied France and also took part in the infamous raid on Dieppe where the Allies suffered a bloody nose by a superior German defender. It was during this mission that Thorsager engaged several Fw 190s, a fighter that had a distinct edge over the Spitfire in terms of punch and performance. On another such dangerous mission to St Omer, Thorsager and fellow pilots said goodbye to each other as it was considered to be suicidal.
Thorsager became a major and squadron leader in 1943 where he had a one-to-one fight with a Fw 190 over Vlissingen. In 1944, he relocated to St. Andrews, flying as a Lodestar captain on a dangerous civilian route between Scotland and Sweden. He had several close shaves flying the Lockheed L-18 Lodestar transport aircraft, and was also attacked by a deadly Arado 234 jet fighter over Norway.Thorsager survived the war, and stayed in the air as an airline captain until his retirement in 1976.
Viking Spitfire is a brilliant read by a talented writer, with a collection of some wonderful photographs. This book is a 'must' for your collections.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting to read
30 Oct 2012
By R. D. CUNHA
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book tells the story about Finn Thorsager, the first Norwegian military pilot to attack German airplanes on 9 May 1940, when Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany. As with many other Allied pilots, he managed to flee Occupied Norway and, passing through Sweden, the Soviet Union, Japan and the USA, finally arrived at Little Norway in Canada to rejoin his countrymen and retake the fight on Germany. The book does not give much detail on the combat missions over Northwestern Europe (at least not as such as found on other similar books like "The Big Show", "I Flew for the Fuehrer", "The First and the Last", etc.) but nonetheless it is quite enjoyable to read. The author does pass on to the reader his personal admiration for Finn and his life.
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