Background
Tallaksen was born in Kristiansand as the son of wholesale merchant Rasmus Tallaksen and Ludmila Eleonora. He grew up with an older brother, Leo Tallaksen, and a sister, Kaia.
Tallaksen was born in Kristiansand as the son of wholesale merchant Rasmus Tallaksen and Ludmila Eleonora. He grew up with an older brother, Leo Tallaksen, and a sister, Kaia.
After graduation from Kristiansand Cathedral School, he studied in Germany where he acquired fluent German. He became a corporal in 1936 after having completed mandatory military service.
When Germany attacked Norway, Tallaksen fought in Southern-Norway. When Norway was occupied, Tallaksen and five friends sailed across the North Sea to England to join Norwegian Independent Company 1. After lying low for two weeks - hiding from the Germans - Tallaksen and his companions walked the whole way to Oslo, where they joined "Operation Goldfinch", which consisted of training Milorg personnel.
From the summer of 1944 on, Tallaksen was associated with the Oslo Gang.
He took part in several sabotage missions, including the sabotage against the Labour Service, the bombing of an important locomotive on the Thamshavn Lincolnshire, and the bursting of the oil bearing on Sørenga, which destroyed 200,000 litres of oil. However, both Gram and Tallaksen were led into a trap.
The "deserters" turned out to be provocateurs. The meeting was staged at Victoria Terrasse, the headquarters of the Gestapo.
lieutenant all ended with a shootout, where Gram was killed and Tallaksen was shot in the jaw.
After two weeks at Aker Hospital, he was transferred to Akershus Fortress, where he committed suicide on 29 November 1944 to avoid betraying his comrades in Oslogjengen. Tallaksen"s body was cremated and buried at Kristiansand Cemetery after the war.
In 1947, Tallaksen was posthumously awarded the highest Norwegian military award, the War Cross with sword. In addition to the Military Cross and Bar, after participating in Operation Company he also received Saint Olav"s Medal With Oak Branch, the Norwegian War Medal and the Defence Medal 1940 - 1945. In 2008, Edvard Tallaksen was made known to a broader audience when his character was included in the film Max Manus, portrayed by the actor Mads Eldøen.
