The last surviving member of the famous balsa wood Kon-Tiki raft, which traversed the Pacific Ocean in 1947, has passed away at the age of 92. Knut Haugland, one of six members of the Norwegian crew, died in Oslo hospital of natural causes on Christmas Day.

Haugland was a famed WWII resistance fighter who was a national hero long before he joined Thor Heyerdahl’s legendary expedition from Peru in order to demonstrate that Polynesia may have been settled by South Americans. The Kon-Tiki sailed 8,000km across seas thought too treacherous to navigate at the time, particularly by a wooden raft based on drawings dating back to the Conquistadors.

Haugland and Heyerdahl galvanised the spirit of adventure and in the aftermath of WWII became a rallying point for human endeavour as Haugland, nominally the radio operator aboard the Kon-Tiki, kept the world enthralled with his regular broadcasts from aboard the raft. Their exploits spawned international best-sellers and Hollywood blockbusters while rejuvenating long held ideas about ocean travel.

Haugland himself was already a cult hero when the crew set sail, having fought and escaped the Nazis on several occasions he was heavily decorated for his endurance and bravery as a commando and freedom fighter. Awarded the War Cross with Sword, Norway’s highest award for military gallantry, Haugland also received the Military Medal and Distinguished Service Order from Britain for his aide in the fight against Nazi Germany, along with the Legion d’honneur and Croix de Guerre from France. In later life he held important military positions until 1963 when he began his twenty year role as director of the Norwegian Resistance Museum.