Odd Lindbäck-Larsen

Odd Lindbäck-Larsen
Born	21 April 1897(1897-04-21) Kristiania
Died	18 August 1975(1975-08-18) (aged 78)
Service/branch	Norwegian Army
Years of service	1918–1962
Rank	Major General
Unit	6th Division (1936–1940)
Commands held	Agder Infantry Regiment (1946–1952) District Command North Norway (1952–1958)
Battles/wars	Norwegian Campaign: Battles of Narvik
Awards	Commander with star of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch Officier of the Légion d'honneur Commander of the Swedish Order of the Sword
Relations	Dagny Kaspara Lund (wife)
Other work	War historian

Odd Lindbäck-Larsen (21 April 1897 – 18 August 1975) was a Norwegian military officer and war historian.

Early and personal life

Lindbäck-Larsen was born in Kristiania as the son of Ludvig Martinius Larsen and Fanny Olivia Lindbäck. He graduated from Oslo Cathedral School in 1915, and from the Norwegian Military Academy in 1918. He was a candidate at the general staff (Norwegian: Generalstaben) from 1922 to 1926, and adjoint from 1929 to 1933. He resided in Finland for the purpose of studies in 1926, and in Germany in 1933. He married telegraph operator Dagny Kaspara Lund in 1927.^[1]

Career

Pre-war

Lindbäck-Larsen was a military attaché in Helsinki from 1934 to 1936. From 1936 he was the chief-of-staff at the 6th Division in Northern Norway.^[2]

Second World War

Norwegian Campaign and aftermath

Lindbäck-Larsen participated in the Norwegian Campaign in Northern Norway during the Second World War as the chief-of-staff and right-hand man of General Carl Gustav Fleischer, the commander of the 6th Division.^[1][3] Following the conclusion of the campaign on 10 June 1940 and the departure to exile in the United Kingdom of General Carl Gustav Fleischer, Lindbäck-Larsen became the military chief-of-staff of Finnmark County Governor Hans Gabrielsen. In this respect Lindbäck-Larsen commanded a Norwegian border guard force of two infantry battalions and an artillery battery. The border forces had been allowed by the Germans in the capitulation agreement to remain stationed in Eastern Finnmark as a safe-guard against the Soviet Union after the Norwegian capitulation. Plans were made by General Otto Ruge to use the 1,600-1,700 men strong border guard to rebuild a Norwegian elite army in Finnmark, outside of German control. The border guard was however ordered to be dissolved by the Germans in July 1940.^[1][4]

Imprisonment

Lindbäck-Larsen was arrested by the Germans in November 1940 and incarcerated for the rest of the war, first at Møllergata 19 prison, then at Grini concentration camp, and finally at Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Germany.^[5] Lindbäck-Larsen was never convicted of anything and was referred to by the Germans as Reichskommissar Josef Terboven's personal prisoner, the two having clashed before Lindbäck-Larsen's arrest.^[1]

Post-war

After the war he continued his military career. From 1946 to 1952 he was in charge of Agder Infantry Regiment. From 1952 he held the rank of Major General and was the commander-in-chief of District Command North Norway. From 1958 to 1962 he was a military attaché in Stockholm. He was decorated Commander with Star of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1958. He was also awarded the St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch and made a Commander of the Swedish Order of the Sword and a Officier of the Légion d'honneur. He wrote several books, including a book on military psychology ( Militær psykologi. 1932. ), about the Norwegian Army in 1814 ( Den norske hær og 1814. 1945. ), and a book on the Norwegian Campaign in 1940 ( Krigen i Norge 1940. 1965. ).^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Nordby, Reginald. "Odd Lindbäck-Larsen". In Helle, Knut (in Norwegian). Norsk biografisk leksikon. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Odd_Lindb%C3%A4ck-Larsen/utdypning. Retrieved 7 February 2010. 
2. ^ Henriksen, Petter, ed. "Odd Lindbäck-Larsen" (in Norwegian). Store norske leksikon. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. http://www.snl.no/Odd_Lindb%C3%A4ck-Larsen. Retrieved 7 February 2010. 
3. ^ Borgersrud, Lars (1995). "Lindbäck-Larsen, Odd". In Dahl, Hjeltnes, Nøkleby, Ringdal, Sørensen (in Norwegian). Norsk krigsleksikon 1940-45. Oslo: Cappelen. p. 248. ISBN 8202141389. 
4. ^ Fjørtoft, Kjell (1991) (in Norwegian). På feil side - den andre krigen. Oslo: Gyldendal. pp. 63, 207–208, 212. ISBN 82-05-20231-1. http://www.nb.no/utlevering/nb/c173f5a6a42c7634d429ba3d9d223edd#&struct=DIV2. 
5. ^ Børre R. Giertsen, ed (1946). "2768. Lindbäck-Larsen, Odd" (in Norwegian). Norsk fangeleksikon. Grinifangene. Oslo: Cappelen. p. 103. 

Persondata
Name	Lindbaeck-Larsen, Odd
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	21 April 1897
Place of birth	Kristiania
Date of death	18 August 1975
Place of death