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Memorial Arne Christiansen

Vestre Gravlund Oslo

Memorial
Arne Christiansen (8 May 1910 – 1 June 1952) was a lieutenant and camp master for the Norwegian Field Hospital in Korea (NORMASH, in operation 1951–54). Shortly before he was due home after 8 months of service, he was shot in an ambush a few kilometers from the Norwegian camp together with two American police soldiers.
Arne Christiansen was the first Norwegian casualty during a UN military mission, and one of two casualties in the NORMASH operation in Korea. The other was Brita Reisæter, who died after a traffic accident in 1954.
During the war, Christiansen was a member of Kompani Linge. He returned to the UK at an early age after initially engaging in illegal activities in Norway. In 1942, he was sent back to Norway on two organizational and instructional missions. In 1943 he participated in missions along the Norwegian coast and in this connection crossed the North Sea 14 times. At the end of the war he operated in Norway, where he carried out two independent sabotage missions.

In an obituary in Aftenposten on 26 July 1952, Hans Sollie, who was in Korea with Christiansen, wrote:

Few of us knew his exploits from the days of World War II. For him, it was a thing of the past, and the service in Korea was different and made different demands. ... A straightforward fellow — a man through and through.
Christiansen was married to Kari née Mølbach-Nielsen (1919-88). The couple is buried at Vestre Cemetery in Oslo.

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