Gunnar Høverstad

Gunnar Høverstad (February 13, 1922 – December 3, 1943) was a Norwegian bomber pilot with the rank of lieutenant during the Second World War.

Gunnar Høverstad
Born(1922-02-13)February 13, 1922
Asker, Norway
DiedDecember 3, 1943(1943-12-03) (aged 21)
Germany
OccupationPilot

Høverstad was born in Asker, the son of the historian Torstein Høverstad and Margit Johanne née Knutsen.[1][2][3] Høverstad was trained to fly in Canada, and he carried out about 30 bombing missions[4] with a Handley Page Halifax bomber over Germany. On a mission with No. 35 Squadron RAF against Berlin, his aircraft caught fire after being hit by German anti-aircraft fire on December 3, 1943. Høverstad kept the aircraft in the air while the crew of six escaped by parachuting. He was killed because it was too late for him to bail out.[1][4]

In the Council of State on November 7, 1947, Lieutenant Gunnar Høvstad was posthumously awarded the War Cross with Sword for "heroic efforts on the night of December 2, 1943, during an attack on Berlin."[3][4]

References
  1. Våre falne 1939–1945, vol. 2. Oslo: State of Norway. 1950. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  2. Lillebrænd, P. (1979). Valdres bygdebok: Skule, lag og annan kultur. Valdres: Valdres bygdeboks forlag. p. 461.
  3. Larsen, Tor Idar (2017). Mosquito Attack! A Norwegian RAF Pilot at War. Oxford: Fonthill.
  4. Gjems-Onstad, Erik (1995). Krigskorset og St. Olavsmedaljen med ekegren. Oslo: Grøndahl Dreyer. p. 185.
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