Arne Toralf Sunde (6 December 1883 – 30 July 1972) was a Norwegian politician, Olympic shooter and army officer.

His parents were Director General of the Norwegian State Railways, Member of Parliament and Minister of Finance Elias Sunde and his wife Benedicte Louise Tjersland.

On 26 July 1916, Arne Sunde married Sigrid Nicoline Aubert Lie (called "Didi", or "Titti").

[14] Arne Sunde was among a number of prominent Norwegians to sign a declaration calling on Norway's conservative parties to approach King Haakon VII and ask him to request that Nansen form a government of national unity to replace Lykke's Cabinet.

Sunde was told that the Norwegian mobilization would not start until 11 April, a full two days since the beginning of the German attack.

Wishing to take part in the defence of Norway, Sunde set off on skis across Nordmarka north of Oslo on 12 April, seeking troops to join up with.

[2] The main fighting that Major Arne Sunde participated in during the Norwegian Campaign was the Battle of Dombås where he from 17 to 19 April 1940 led the 1st Battalion, Infantry Regiment 11 and an assortment of other units to victory against a company of German Fallschirmjäger soldiers that had been dropped against the Norwegian railway and road junction of Dombås on 14 April.

[20] The German force had been tasked with cutting the rail and road links between the port of Åndalsnes in Western Norway and the Gudbrandsdal valley to the south-east.

[21] By 19 April, the leader of the German force, Oberleutnant Herbert Schmidt, asked for a negotiated surrender, but was rejected by Sunde.

Major Sunde demanded an unconditional surrender within 10 minutes or else he would resume the artillery bombardment of the surrounded German positions.

[11][12] Sunde left Norway from the western port of Åndalsnes on the British cruiser HMS Galatea in the late hours of 23 April 1940, bringing 200 large crates of gold bars belonging to the Norwegian National Treasury to the United Kingdom.

[23] The appointment of the two new councillors of state was mentioned in a speech by King Haakon VII in a radio address to the occupied Norwegian people on 26 August 1940.

When that ministry was restructured on 1 November 1942 Arne Sunde continued as Minister of Shipping[11][12] until he left the cabinet on 25 June 1945, after the end of the Second World War and the return to Norway of the exiled Norwegian authorities.

[29] At the time the Secretary-General of the United Nations was the Norwegian Trygve Lie and Norway was a non-permanent member of the Security Council.

[31] When he was interviewed on his 80th birthday in 1964 Sunde stated that he viewed his time on the Security Council as the absolute high point of his life.

[2] ...the stamina and courage of American boys who hardly dreamed 14 days ago that they were to be the first to fight for the ideals and principles of the United Nations .

[2] By 1935, Sunde had been awarded Haakon VII's Jubilee Medal 1905–1930, been made a Chevalier of the French Légion d'honneur and an Officer of the Portuguese Order of Christ.

[1] He was later decorated Commander with Star of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav, and given the Defence Medal 1940–1945 and the French Croix de guerre.