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Hans Aasnæs

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Hans Aasnæs
Born(1902-12-15)15 December 1902
Sande in Vestfold, Norway
Died4 July 1965(1965-07-04) (aged 62)
Oslo, Norway
Allegiance Norway
Service/branch Norwegian Army
Years of service1923–1947
RankMajor
Unit1st Division (1923–1930)
Norwegian Brigade (1941–1945)
Commands held2nd Battalion of the 10th Infantry Regiment (1940)
Battles/warsSecond World War
AwardsHaakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal
Order of the British Empire
Spouse(s)
Eleanor Chambers Poulsson
​
​
(m. 1928⁠–⁠1933)​

Astrid With
​
(m. 1936)​
RelationsHåkon Aasnæs (cousin)
Other workLawyer, shooting champion

Hans Aasnæs OBE (15 December 1902 – 4 July 1965) was a Norwegian army officer, Olympic sport shooter and World Champion.

An army officer and lawyer by education, Aasnæs participated in numerous national and international shooting championships, including five Olympic Games. Having fought in the Norwegian Army against Germany during the Second World War, he returned to the shooting sport post-war and won several World Championship medals.

Personal life

Aasnæs was born in the municipality of Sande in Vestfold, the son the farmers Hans Alfred Aasnæs and Anna Kristine Freberg. On 2 May 1928 he married Kristiania-born Eleanor Chambers Poulsson, with whom he had one child before she died in 1933. In 1936 he married Astrid With, with whom he had two children.[1][2] He was a cousin of fellow Olympic sport shooter Håkon Aasnæs. Hans Aasnæs died in Oslo in 1965.[3][4]

Career

Early civilian and military career

Aasnæs graduated from the upper section of the Norwegian Military Academy in 1923, joining the 1st Division with the rank of first lieutenant. He first served with the 14th Infantry Regiment, before transferring to the 1st Infantry Regiment in 1924. Having undertaking a course as an aviation scout at Kjeller Airport in 1925, he was transferred to the reserves in 1930.[1]

In civilian life, Aasnæs achieved his examen artium academic certification in 1920, and graduated with a cand.jur. law degree in 1925. After further studies in England, France and Denmark in 1926-27, he was employed as an office manager at the cooperative insurance agency "Felleskontoret for Brandforsikring".[1] Having become a barrister in 1925, he qualified for work at superior courts in 1927.[2]

1930s

At the Norwegian national shooting championships, Aasnæs won a total of 29 gold medals in seven different shooting disciplines, in the time period of 1934–1960.[5] Six of his successes also earned him the King's Cup, the first time in 1934.[6][7] He competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, where he placed ninth in 25 metre rapid fire pistol.[3] At the 1937 World Championships he won a silver medal in running deer double shot, and a bronze medal in running deer single shot.[8] Aasnæs was a member of the Norwegian Officers' Pistol Club, Oslo Sport Shooters and the Hunting Shooter Club.[5]

Second World War

Aasnæs was an army officer by profession. During the Second World War he fought in the 1940 Norwegian Campaign in Valdres, following the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940. At the time of the campaign in Norway he held the rank of captain.[9] Having arrived in Valdres on 25 April 1940, Aasnæs assumed command of Company 7, 2nd Battalion of the 10th Infantry Regiment. The day prior to Aasnæs' arrival the company had been thrown back from their positions in heavy fighting with advancing German units and lost their commander. After leading the company in further heavy fighting for several days, Aasnæs went on to assume command of the 2nd Battalion of the 10th Infantry Regiment on 30 April, after the battalion commander Major Leonard Sæter had been wounded.[10][11] As the Norwegian forces in the area were on the verge of collapsing, Aasnæs and fellow battalion commander, Captain Olav B. Skaathun agreed to merge the remains of their units in the Vestre Slidre area in attempt to continue against the German advance.[12] The commander of the Norwegian forces in Valdres, Colonel Gudbrand Østbye, realizing that his forces were no longer a position to continue organized resistance, ordered the capitulation of his units on 1 May 1940.[13][14] Captain Aasnæs and his fellow officers were initially separated from their troops after surrendering, before being counter-ordered on 2 May 1940 to remain in command of their units in the initial phase of their captivity.[15] On 3 May 1940 the officers were sent by buses to Oslo, while the non-commissioned officers and men were sent by train to a prisoner of war camp at Hvalsmoen army camp. The Norwegian prisoners of war from the Valdres front were released from captivity in groups during May 1940, the last officers being released in mid-June.[16]

In 1941 Aasnæs made his way to the United Kingdom and joined the exiled Norwegian forces there, initially assuming command of a company of the Norwegian Brigade in Scotland.[17] In 1942 he was promoted to the rank of major.[2][18] One of his former soldiers would later describe Aasnæs as "... a strict but good company commander."[19] From February to August 1944 he served as chief of staff at the Norwegian Brigade in Scotland.[20]

During his time in exile, Aasnæs was involved in several conflicts with other exiled Norwegians. In addition to repeatedly criticising the Norwegian government in exile, he was one of very few officers to criticize the exiled army's first commander, General Carl Gustav Fleischer, whom Aasnæs described as "... tired and worn by all the difficulties in the first time in England ..." and "... at the moment not fully able to build a Norwegian army in the United Kingdom ..."[21] In the last months of the war, Aasnæs was angered by the Norwegian authorities decision to retain the Norwegian Brigade in Scotland, rather than deploy it to the front during the final battles against Germany.[22]The Minister of Foreign Affairs during much of the period in exile, Trygve Lie, later described Aasnæs as "... a right-minded, somewhat conservative man ...". Lie also stated that Aasnæs was "honest", and "... a true patriot who saw it as his obligation to speak out."[21]

Post war

Having left the army that year,[2] Aasnæs became individual World Champion in 100 metre running deer double shot in 1947.[7] He was also part of the Norwegian team that won a silver medal in running deer double shot, and bronze medal in running deer single shot.[8] At the 1949 World Championships he won a gold medal with the Norwegian team in running deer combined.[8] In 1952 he won two team gold medals at the World Championships, in running deer single shot and double shot.[8] At the 1954 World Championships he won a bronze medal in Olympic trap.[8]

He competed at five Olympic Games, with a 5th place in trap at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome as best result.[3]

Honours and awards

In addition to his numerous shooting awards and medals, Aasnæs was awarded the Norwegian Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal and was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his wartime service.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c Barth, Bjarne Keyser (1930). "Aasnæs, H.". Norges militære embedsmenn 1929 (in Norwegian). Oslo: A. M. Hanche. p. 10.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Aasnæs, Hans". Medlemmer av Den Norske sakførerforeningen: 1. juli 1950 (in Norwegian). Oslo: Aschehoug. 1951. pp. 16–17.
  3. ^ a b c "Profile: Hans Aasnæs". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
  4. ^ Jorsett, Per (1961). Midt i blinken : norske mesterskyttere og skytterkonger (in Norwegian). Oslo: Aschehoug. p. 71.
  5. ^ a b Breili, Magnus (1966). Sportsguiden (in Norwegian). Oslo: Schibsted. p. 264.
  6. ^ Schanke, Tom A (2007). Norsk Idrettsleksikon (in Norwegian). Aller Forlag. pp. 408–409. ISBN 978-82-8156-044-4.
  7. ^ a b Bryhn, Rolf. "Hans Aasnæs". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
  8. ^ a b c d e Schanke, Tom A (2012). Norsk Idrettsleksikon (in Norwegian). Vol. 3. Tom A. Schankes Idrettsforlag. pp. 175–177. ISBN 978-82-303-2060-0.
  9. ^ Østbye, Gudbrand (1946). Krigen i Valdres: 4. brigades operasjoner i krigen 1940 (in Norwegian). Oslo: Cammermeyer. p. 109.
  10. ^ Østbye 1946, pp. 53, 109, 195
  11. ^ Hertzberg, Niels (1962). Operasjonene i Ådalen og i Valdres (in Norwegian). Oslo: Gyldendal. pp. 378–380.
  12. ^ Hertzberg 1962, p. 381
  13. ^ Østbye 1946, p. 219
  14. ^ Hertzberg 1962, pp. 392-394
  15. ^ Hertzberg 1962, pp. 395-396
  16. ^ Hertzberg 1962, pp. 396-397
  17. ^ Fleischer, Carl Gustav (1947). Efterlatte papirer (in Norwegian). Tønsberg: Tønsberg Aktietrykkeris Forlag. pp. 117–118.
  18. ^ Holmås, Julian, ed. (1997). Historien om Skottlandsbrigaden : 1940–1945 (in Norwegian). Porsgrunn: Forl. Grenland. p. 102. ISBN 8299401283.
  19. ^ Hovland, Torkel (2000). General Carl Gustav Fleischer: storhet og fall (in Norwegian). Oslo: Forum - Aschehoug. p. 346. ISBN 8203290973.
  20. ^ Fjærli, Eystein (1982). "Vedlegg nr. 12. Brigadekommandoen". Den norske hær i Storbritannia 1940–1945 (in Norwegian). Oslo: Tanum. pp. 142–143. ISBN 82-518-1582-7.
  21. ^ a b Hovland 2000, pp. 346–347
  22. ^ Guhnfeldt, Cato (1995). Bomb Gestapo-hovedkvarteret! (in Norwegian). Wings. p. 270. ISBN 82-992194-3-4.

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