Major Ludwig Malcolm Grane Munthe MC
Malcolm Munthe was born in London on 30 January 1910, the son of a Swedish doctor and his British wife. On joining up in April 1939, he was assigned to The Gordon Highlanders, for no other reason than the Scottish roots of his first name!
In September 1939, Munthe was asked if he would be interested in a ‘volunteer job’. Agreeing, he found himself a part of Military Intelligence (Research), which was responsible for irregular warfare.
During the ‘Winter War’ (November 1939 – March 1940) between the Soviet Union and Finland, Munthe was tasked with conveying equipment through neutral Norway and Sweden to the Swedish Volunteer Corps in Finland, and instructing the volunteers. The equipment, labelled as farming machinery, actually included Matilda tanks, artillery pieces, explosives, anti-tank mines and grenades. Strictly against orders, Munthe took an active part in missions against the Red Army.
In early April 1940, in anticipation of a German invasion of Norway, Munthe was appointed Liaison Officer to the Norwegian Army – and was in Stavanger when the invasion took place. He was captured by German soldiers, after being wounded in both legs by shrapnel from a German artillery round. Taken to a hospital in Stavanger, he promptly escaped and managed to recuperate with Norwegian help. He tried to get to Sweden by various arduous routes over the next three months, eventually succeeding.
For the next year, Munthe was SOE’s representative in Sweden and trained Norwegian exiles in sabotage. His students proved to be very successful, to the point where he was constantly under threat of being thrown out of the country.
To protect against enemy spies and the Swedish Police, Munthe adopted an alias: ‘The Red Horse’, the cover name for the head of a fictitious Norwegian resistance organisation. His ruse was so successful that his true identity was never discovered.
He was finally asked to leave in July 1941, because of his involvement in a plot to assassinate Heinrich Himmler, head of the Nazi SS, in Oslo. On the day he left Stockholm, news came through of the mysterious explosion of a goods train carrying ‘German Red Cross equipment’ at Krylbo, in the middle of Sweden. The train and station were badly damaged, though no one was killed. Although Munthe never acknowledged any responsibility for this action, it is widely assumed that it was his farewell gesture aimed at the Swedish government.
From June 1943, as the Allies invaded first Sicily and then the Italian mainland, Munthe commanded a small SOE unit, whose task was to make contact with Italian anti-fascist elements, encourage revolt and to form guerrilla bands. They were successful in Sicily, but the Allied landings at Salerno met with stiff enemy resistance; two of Munthe’s men were killed as soon as they got to shore. Munthe, wearing a helmet, bush shirt and Gordons kilt, ran into an American patrol, who took him prisoner! He was eventually released later that day.
German resistance to the landings at Anzio was equally strong, and Munthe and his team were unable to move far. On 4 February 1944, whilst Munthe was with 6th Battalion The Gordon Highlanders, a German counter-attack on the beachhead began. Munthe was badly wounded, receiving shrapnel wounds to the head and chest, and his Second in Command was killed. Munthe was rescued and repatriated to Britain. After a long recuperation, he was released from the Army and awarded the Military Cross.
After the war, Munthe published ‘Sweet is War’; a memoir of his wartime experiences, and opened family houses in Sweden and Britain to the public.
Major Malcolm Munthe MC died in November 1995. Southside House is still run by a charitable trust chaired by Munthe’s eldest son, Adam Munthe.