Tyvsjå Gutta / war memorial

Place: notodden · Exact position

Tysjå-gutta – the Tysjå boys – were a local Milorg group made up of young men from Notodden and Lisleherad who went into hiding in the forests by Tysjå in 1944. The background was the NS regime's labour mobilisation of the 1921–1923 cohorts. The Home Front feared that the registration could become the first step towards forced service for the German war machine.

Under the leadership of Olav Medalen, Arne Nagelsaker and Olaf Lunde the group built cabins and depots, were trained in the use of weapons, explosives and guerrilla warfare, and were organised into military sections and platoons. Supplies had to be carried the long way from Notodden, while weapons and other equipment were received from British aircraft at the drop site "DOG" by Vipeto.

From the autumn of 1944 Tysjå-gutta formed part of Operation Sunshine, a collaboration between Kompani Linge, the British SOE and Milorg D16. The operation was led by Leif Tronstad and had the task of protecting power stations, dam installations and important industry in Telemark and Buskerud against German destruction in the event of a withdrawal. After Tronstad was killed in March 1945, Jens-Anton Poulsson took over the leadership.

The group lost three comrades. Bjarne Skorve died on 9 December 1944 during an illegal elk hunt to get food for the group; he was caught by bad weather west of Fjellstulfjell. Karl Ugland and Kåre Øien were killed when the Gestapo and Norwegian SS ski troops attacked the billet at Øst-Gvammen early in the morning of 13 March 1945, and two others were wounded. After the dead had been removed, the attackers set fire to the smallholding. Several of the survivors were arrested and taken to the Wehrmacht's Ortskommandantur at Skoland in Notodden, where they were interrogated and maltreated before being sent to Grini, where they were held until the liberation.

Oddvar Kise was one of Tysjå-gutta and the last eyewitness to the tragedy at Øst-Gvammen. Through his accounts he helped preserve the story of the young men who put freedom, the local community and their comrades before their own safety. The memory of Tysjå-gutta and their fallen is still marked at the memorial stone at Øst-Gvammen. The memorial stone to Bjarne Skorve, Karl Ugland and Kåre Øien was unveiled on 8 May 1946, and on the burnt-out site three birches were planted – one for each of the fallen.

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