Erling Welle - Strand Erling Welle - Strand ( 25 October 1916 – May 24 , 2013 ) was a Norwegian writer and resistance member . Early life . He was born in Bergen as a son of novelist and journalist Edvard Welle - Strand ( 1884 – 1964 ) and teacher Elsa Kielland , née Lindhé ( 1888 – 1979 ) . Erling ' s father was a sub - editor in a local newspaper , " Bergens Aftenblad " , and was also known to some as an anti - Semitic writer . Himself , Erling Welle - Strand belonged to the " radical wing of the Labour Party " before World War II . He grew up in Bergen and finished his secondary education at Bergen Cathedral School in 1935 . He worked briefly as a press secretary for the theatre Den Nationale Scene before studying at the University of Oslo . World War II . In 1940 Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany , and his studies were interrupted ; instead he fought in Valdres in the Norwegian Campaign . He participated in a Norwegian victory at Bagn , but Norway lost in the end and was and occupied . Welle - Strand fled the country for Shetland in 1941 , together with Reidar Kvinge and Per Hysing - Dahl . He worked as a journalist for the Norwegian government - in - exile for eight months before attending military college . He graduated from military college in 1943 , then spent some time in an Officer Cadet Training Unit before serving on a Norwegian Motor Torpedo Boat ( MTB ) . He was then enrolled into the Norwegian Independent Company 1 , and on 31 December 1944 he was parachuted over Hadeland såsen to work as an agent in his home country . He established an anti - sabotage training school at nearby Svartåsseter . His main task was to secure important facilities , hereunder electricity and telecommunications , in case the Germans lost the war and would withdraw using a scorched earth tactic . The operation was called the " Foscot plan " , and Welle - Strand cooperated with Milorg ' s District 13 . His nom de guerre was " David " . He was decorated with the Defence Medal 1940 – 1945 , the War Medal and the Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal . His brother Erik Welle - Strand was a resistance member too . Post - war life . After the war he resumed his studies , and graduated with a cand . philol . degree in history in 1945 . He took up a career in the travel industry , in the organization Norway Travel Association ( ) . He headed their office in Stockholm from 1946 to 1950 and the office in Oslo from 1950 to 1955 . From 1955 he worked as a freelance writer , but still in the field of tourism and travelling . He issued books about travelling with Hurtigruten in 1953 and 1966 , and several books about domestic tourism . The book " Reiseliv og samfunn " was written for the 75th anniversary of the Norway Travel Association in 1978 . Between 1964 and 1979 he edited six editions of the road map issued by the Norwegian Automobile Federation , " NAFs veibok " . In his later career he began writing books about the Second World War . Three collections of war stories came in 1989 , 1990 and 1991 . In 2000 he released " Vi vil verne vårt land . Antisabotasje i Norge 1944 – 1945 " . Welle - Strand was married twice , first to a daughter of aide - de - camp and sports leader Nikolai Ramm Østgaard , then to language teacher . His daughter Ragni ( b . 1946 ) was married to famous writer Edvard Hoem from 1982 to 1995 .