Have you ever heard of “Operartion Martin”? Well, it was one of the many Shetland Bus Operations that took place during the war, but it has the distinction of being the most incredible act of strength of human will in the face of extreme circumstances – it is legendary in Norway and was even made into a 1957 Oscar nominated film.

My name is Seán and I am a WWII History enthusiast and have been in uniformed services for close to twenty years now. As someone with a keen interest in WWII history since I was a child, I have been fascinated with one story in particular.

Picture a mission destined for Bardufoss and sabotage, a group of Norwegian Commandos and Sailors sent into the hornets nest under the cover of secrecy posing as fishermen. The mission goes fubar when intel lets them down and their cover is blown, a German patrol ship arrives in the sound and attempts to sink your boat. You abandon ship into row boats, light the fuses on the explosives aboard and scuttle your boat – attempting to row to the shore behind the explosion.

Picture yourself in that situation; You don’t get that far before being thrown into the Arctic ocean at 70N inside Toftefjord on Rebbenesoya, Norway and swim to shore – of 12 men on that boat only 1 manages to get away.

You can reach freedom in Sweden 245km away, but not before;
• You swim two arctic sounds and almost die there and then
• Have your big toe of the right foot shot off
• Traverse the Lyngen alps for days becoming snowblind and delirious, frostbitten and paralysed in the legs due to the cold
• Falling at the mercy of a local Norwegian, you must then endure weeks in a barn and incredible pain in your feet and legs
• Cut off from the world hidden in a hut on the opposite side of the fjord you then must suffer cutting out the gangrene from the remaining nine toes – using only a small knife and no anesthesia – all by yourself
• Hidden in a cave for a month after some unsuccessful attempts to bring you to Sweden you lie in wait for a pair of Lapps that will take you by Reindeer to Sweden instead.
• You spend a while in a snow dome on a plateau awaiting these men in the open air of the Arctic plains and there you must actually amputate your toes before they kill you completely – you weigh just 35kg at this stage.

Your name is Jan Baalsrud and you reach the safety of neutral Sweden after your own countrymen put their lives on the line to save just one life! How the hell did this man endure and survive all of that?

This is the question we will ask and answer if we can make our crowdfunding campaign a success on Indiegogo, and make a seriously intimate and factual documentary delving in the deepest depths of this story and bring it to life through modern eyes.

We will retrace history, to make history.

We are asking that the military enthusiast and historical communities alike get behind us and purchase some of the products we are selling to make this documentary a reality and here is the link to find out more with videos and full details of perks and so on sale. www.indiegogo.com

I hope that this little snippet of information has enticed you and that you will help us pull in the much needed sales that will make this documentary a reality -without it we can’t do it!

By helping us, you and all those that purchase one of our packages to finance the documentary will own a piece of history; you will be directly enabling us to make history…

Thanks for reading and if you would like to discuss the project with me any further please do give me a call.

Contact:
Seán Ó Cearrúlláin
Project Sponsor
“Beyond the Call of Duty: The Baalsrud Story”
www.btcod15.com
+353 41 213 06 79