An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir May 2016 www.dfmagazine.ie 16 | by SGT WAYNE FITzGERALD & SEáN Ó CEARRúLLáIN In March 1943, a team from Kompani Linge sailed for Nazi- occupied, arctic, Norway on a two-fold top secret mission: to infiltrate and sabotage Bardufoss Airfield in an effort to stop the PQ convoys being bombed en-route to Russia; and to organise and supply the Norwegian resistance. However, they were betrayed and following a Nazi ambush only Baalsrud survived. Frostbitten, snow blind, and pursued by the Nazis, he struggled on until he reached a small arctic village, where, nearly dead and a virtual cripple, he survived thanks to the villagers, who were determined to save him despite the mortal risk to themselves. The other main member of the team, Lithuanian, Andy 'Spider' Drabov, whose grandmother was interned in a Nazi concentra- tion camp during WWII, now lives in Ireland. He had completed his national military service in Lithuania before suffering a terrible knee injury in an RTA that ended any hopes of a military career. Andy says: "Just because one dream is over doesn't mean they all are. Everything happens in life for a reason; our past makes us who we are, so we can be better in the future." In 2015 Andy followed another dream and joined Dublin City's Civil Defence as an auxiliary fire-fighter. He also thrashed 311 other applicants in a gruelling combat fitness competition to be part of Op Phoenix Rising and take part in this amazing story. Seán told us: "I've been making and editing films for the last 18 years or so; mostly family or military related. For as long as I can remember I've been a huge history buff; WWII in particular. I was in my late twenties when I found out my paternal grandfather had served as an RAF aircraft engineer in WWII, so my attraction to the forces kind of made sense. There was something pulling me to uniformed service; I felt at home there. "In my mid-30s I began to lose my way and my whole life came crashing down around me. My marriage was crumbling and my children were suffering from it. At the time I was unaware that PTSD was affecting my judgement, moods, and that my behaviour and stress was slowly killing me. In 2012 my spine gave way for the third time and doctors told me that as I had neglected the serious- ness of my condition their diagnosis was that pain management was the only option left. "That was very hard to take; having my fitness regime taken away from me in one fell swoop - it was soul destroying. "But I had this vision to retrace Jan Baalsrud's incredible survival story, and felt it had the potential to give me the motivation to get back to a good health level - it would be my inspiration for recovery." As part of Op Phoenix Rising's preparations, a professional sports rehab team from Scandinavia will work on Seán's rehabili- tation with the aim of bringing his fitness levels back through proper care and training. Sean continued: "As the creator and driving force behind this project for the last four years, there is no way that I am going to give up on it." U nknown to many, there was a Special Forces group that operated in the Sec- ond World War before the SAS and the US navy SEALs. Exiled from their norwegian homeland in 1940 following the nazi inva- sion, these men regrouped in Scotland and set about building a new army. the best of these men became commandos and the best-of-the- best joined the elite and secret Linge Com- pany. they completed hundreds of top secret missions, fought nazi occupation for five long years, stopped Hitler getting the atomic bomb, and at one point were the highest decorated allied unit. Kompani Linge was a british Special opera- tions Executive (SoE) group formed under the leadership of Capt Martin Linge in March 1941, originally for the purpose of performing com- mando raids in nazi-occupied norway. because of the reasonable similarity of its terrain, moun- tains, lochs, high passes, and snow in winter, the SoE used the Aviemore area of Scotland, as a special training school. the group's initial raids, in 1941, were on Lofoten (opera- tion Claymore) and Måløy (operation Archery), where Capt Linge was killed. operation Phoenix Rising, an eight-part, factual enter- tainment series, is a story of courage in the face of ad- versity, overcoming the odds, and going the distance to authentically recreate history. the series will follow two men, Seán Ó Cearrúlláin and Andy Drabov, on their journey to replicate the incredible survival story of the WWII nor- wegian Special Forces Kompani Linge. Drogheda-born and raised Seán 'Skipper' Ó Cearrúlláin, who served in the Royal navy and RAF for several years, came across the astonishing story of Kompani Linge commando Jan baalsrud when he read David Howarth's book, 'We Die Alone' (ISbn: 978-0857860514). baalsrud's heroism and endurance has become the inspiration behind op Phoenix Rising. Operation Phoenix Rising

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