Øyvinn Øi

Øyvinn Øi
Born	19 June 1901(1901-06-19)
Died	9 April 1940(1940-04-09) (aged 38)
Allegiance	Norway
Service/branch	Norwegian Army
Years of service	–1940
Rank	Captain
Battles/wars	Second World War Norwegian Campaign †

Øyvinn Øi (19 June 1901, Hadsel, Vesterålen – 9 April 1940) was a Norwegian military officer during the outbreak of the Second World War.

Personal life

Øyvinn Øi was born in Hadsel, the son of lector Gunnar Øi and Thora, née Lind. In 1926 he married Aagot Hesselborg, with whom he had four children.^[1]

Career

After his examen artium Øi took an officer exam attending the Norwegian Military Academy. He also did military studies in France.^[1]

Øi, a captain in the general staff, first became to the general public after giving a lecture entitled "Det strategiske overfall" ('The Strategic Attack') to the officers' society, Oslo Militære Samfund, on 6 March 1939.^[2] In this lecture, Øi stated that Norway had inadequate defences and was vulnerable to a foreign attack. This caused a stir in some groups and the social democrat newspaper Arbeiderbladet came close to accusing him of treason.^[3]

A memorial at Jar commemorates Øyvinn Øi, Joar Olsen, Jon Vislie and others.

Norway was indeed invaded when Operation Weserübung reached the country on 9 April 1940. Øi was killed on the same day at a road block set up by German forces at Grorud.^[3] He had volunteered to go on a mission to Oslo on behalf of the Norwegian general staff after the staff had evacuated from the Norwegian capital.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Ording, Arne; Johnson, Gudrun and Garder, Johan (1951) (in Norwegian). Våre falne 1939-1945. 4. Oslo: Norwegian government. p. 564. http://da2.uib.no/cgi-win/WebBok.exe?slag=lesside&bokid=vaarefalne4&sideid=565&innhaldid=2&storleik=. 
2. ^ "Oslo Militære Samfunds historie" (in Norwegian). Oslo Militære Samfund. http://www.oslomilsamfund.no/oms/oms_historie.html. Retrieved 5 February 2009. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Aspheim, Odd V. (1995). "Øi, Øyvinn". In Dahl, Hans Fredrik. Norsk krigsleksikon 1940-45. Oslo: Cappelen. http://mediabase1.uib.no/krigslex/ae-oe-aa/oe.html#oi-oyvinn. Retrieved 11 September 2008. 

Persondata
Name	Oei, Oeyvinn
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	19 June 1901
Place of birth
Date of death	9 April 1940
Place of death