Tikken Manus

Who was Tikken Manus?

Ida Nikoline "Tikken" Manus was a member of the Norwegian resistance during World War II.

Born Ida Nikoline Lie Lindebrække, she was a daughter of County Governor Gjert Lindebrække and Ida Bessesen Lie, and a sister of politician Sjur Lindebrække. She was also a niece of writer Bernt Bessesen Lie.

She hailed from Kalfaret in Bergen, and tried different ventures before the Second World War. She worked an office job in England, and attended French classes while socializing in Paris. She returned to England where she married diplomat George Bernardes, and had a son in 1939. They moved to Norway, where her husband was a consul in Haugesund. When the Second World War reached Norway on 9 April 1940 with the German invasion, Tikken was in Bergen. Her husband was injured while visiting Åndalsnes, and when he was operated in Sweden, Tikken followed and was hired at the British legation in Stockholm in 1943. Here, she was tasked with coordinating the contact with Norwegian resistance members who had fled German-occupied Norway for neutral Sweden, and the political and military authorities in Great Britain. Her codename was "Tante".