Anders Lassen

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Major Anders Frederik Emil Victor Schau Lassen, Template:Post-nominals (22 September 1920 – 9 April 1945) was a Danish military officer who was the only non-Commonwealth recipient of the Victoria Cross during the Second World War. Serving in the British Army, he was posthumously awarded the award for his actions during Operation Roast on 8 April 1945 at Lake Comacchio in Italy in the final weeks of the Italian campaign.<ref>Lassen, p.4</ref><ref>Combined Ops website</ref>

Lassen was ordered to lead a raid that would give the impression that a major landing was being undertaken. Lassen fulfilled his mission by destroying three enemy positions before being mortally wounded. As his men's lives would be endangered in the withdrawal, he refused to be evacuated from the area.

Early life and background

Anders Lassen was born on the Høvdingsgård estate near Mern, Vordingborg Municipality, the son of estate owners Emil Victor Schau Lassen and Suzanne Maria Signe Lassen. Lassen's paternal grandfather A. F. J. C. Lassen, made his fortune as the owner of a tobacco plantation on Sumatra. In 1917, Lassen's father took over the Høvdingsgård estate. Lassen was a first cousin of Axel von dem Bussche, a German Resistance member who unsuccessfully tried to kill Adolf Hitler in 1943.<ref name=cwgc>Template:Cite web</ref>

Military career

While serving in Denmark's merchant navy, Lassen came to the United Kingdom shortly after the start of the Second World War where he joined the British Commandos in 1940, serving with No. 62 Commando (also known as the Small Scale Raiding Force). The unit was formed around a small group of commandos under the command of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). He was commissioned in the field on the General List and awarded an immediate Military Cross for his part in Operation Postmaster, the capture of three Italian and German ships from the neutral Spanish colonial island of Fernando Po, now known as Bioko, in the Gulf of Guinea.<ref>Richards and Foot, p.93</ref>

In early 1943, No. 62 Commando was disbanded, and its members were dispersed among other formations. Lassen was among a number who went to the Middle East to serve in the Special Boat Section, then attached to the Special Air Service.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Others joined the 2nd SAS under the command of Bill Stirling (1911-1983), elder brother of David Stirling.<ref>Chappell, p.48</ref> During his time in the SBS, Lassen rose in rank to become a major by October 1944. During his service he fought in North-West Europe, North Africa, Crete, the Aegean islands, mainland Greece, Yugoslavia and Italy. He was awarded two further bars to his Military Cross on 27 September 1943 and 15 February 1944.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>

On 24 April 1944, he led a successful SBS raid on Santorini, taking out the garrison on the island and blowing up the building housing the radio installation with time bombs. Lassen and the force, with only two casualties, successfully withdrew on two schooners.

Victoria Cross

File:Major Anders Lassen MC and two bars, VC.jpg
Major Anders Lassen (right) in 1945, discussing the forthcoming Lake Comacchio raid, in which he and his men were tasked to cross impossible terrain

Template:Further Lassen, who was 24 years old, was serving as a temporary major in the British Special Boat Section when he was awarded the Victoria Cross. The citation published in the London Gazette on 4 September 1945 gave the following details:

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Commemoration

Lassen is buried at the Argenta Gap War Cemetery grave II, E, 11.<ref name="cwgc" /> His Victoria Cross medal is on display at the Frihedsmuseet (Museum of Danish Resistance) in Copenhagen, Denmark. A bust of him was installed in Churchillparken (Churchill Park) outside the museum in 1987. Near the site of the action where Lassen earned his Victoria Cross, the Italians have erected a monument to Lassen and his men. This monument is situated alongside the SP1b highway, southeast of the township, and just to the north of its intersection with the Via del Camposanto.

Awards and honours

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1st Row Victoria Cross Military Cross (two bars)
2nd Row 1939–45 Star Africa Star Italy Star Defence Medal War Medal 1939–1945
3rd Row King Christian X Memorial Medal Greek War Cross<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Further reading

References

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