Leiv Erdal

Who was Leiv Erdal?

Leiv Erdal was a Norwegian military officer, bailiff and politician for the Centre Party.

He was born in Naustdal as a son of farmer, bailiff and mayor Bendik Henriksen Erdal and housewife Oleanna Mathiasdatter Naustdal. He finished primary school in 1929 and worked from 1930 to 1933 with farming and animals. From 1933 to 1934 he attended Fana Folk High School, and he then took agricultural school in Førde for two years and officer training in Bergen to 1937. He became a Sergeant in 1938 and Second Lieutenant in 1939. During World War II he fought for Norway in Valdres and Fjordane during the Norwegian Campaign in 1940. He was decorated with the Defence Medal 1940–1945. He was the bailiff of Fjaler from 1940 to 1941 and acting bailiff of Naustdal from 1941 to 1942, but was then fired by the Nazi authorities. From 1942 to 1945 he worked for Vestlandske Kjøpelag, now a part of Felleskjøpet.

After the war, in 1945, he briefly worked with the treason investigations. He was the acting bailiff of Naustdal from 1945 to 1947 and then on a permanent basis until 1982. From 1945 to 1963 in Vevring in addition to Naustdal, and from 1977 to 1982 in Førde as well.