warsailors.com

Boats escaping from Norway WW II - A

Departed Giske on May 5-1941 with 20 people and arrived Lerwick on the 7th.

These came along:
Skipper Harald Rønneberg, Alf Johan Akslen, Finn Ørnulf Bakke, Ottar Arvid Berg, Karl Emil Bø Giske (the latter 3 were high school students), Hans Villy Bråten, Egil Henrik Erstad, Fridtjov Sæverud Gjørtz, Mauritz Elias Grytebust, Signy Ågot Hansen, Håkon Arnold Horg, Gudrun Signe Krogstad, Alf Simon Lied, Sigbjørn Per Sønnichsen Lægreid, Nikolai Slettevold, Edny Elsabeth Solvåg, Arne Gregolius Strømsheim, Karl Emil Sødergren, Ole Peder Severin Walderhaug, Alf Wathne.

My page with pictures of the Scalloway Shetland Bus Memorial has the names of some casualties from this boat in 1942, I'm not sure what happened to it.

Related external link:
Picture of Aksel - This is a section of the Shetland Bus website. There's also a picture of Andholmen (listed further down on this page).

The Shetland Bus - This page lists those who died in this service, including those from Aksel.

Departed Svinør on July 27-1941 and arrived Dunbar, Scotland on Sept. 5.

Onboard were:
Finn Risted and Finn Roll, both from Oslo.

Departed Hernar on Sept. 16-1941 and arrived Lerwick on the 18th. En route she encountered another vessel in the same errand, namely Havdur, and the 2 boats stayed together for the rest of the voyage.

These came along:
Skipper (and one of the owners) Ingvald Olsen Sulen, Arnfinn Berentsen Austrheim, Ludvig Austrheim, Arthur Martin Grimen, Ingolf Magnus Hellemansen, Alf Andreasen Hestenes, Jens Jørgen Jensen, Olav John Kongestøl, Jørgen Koppen, Herman Bertin Langedal, Ole Mikalsen Langedal, Trygve Knudsen Lerøy, Rasmus Norbø, Olav Martin Norebø, Alfinn Larsen Nordøy, Mons Agnar Pedersen, Peder Andreas Pedersen, Andreas Sanden, Magnus Monsen Sanden, Alfred Malvin Storemark, Georg Mathias Sulen, Olai Karlsen Sulen, Peder Olsen Sulen, Sigurd Johan Kristensen Sulen, Leiv Kristoffersen Sylta, and Olav Vabø.

Departed Lofoten on June 9-1940. Skipper was Olaus Myrseth.

More text will be added - in the meantime, see the external link below.

Related external links:
Stiftelsen Andholmen - Text is in Norwegian.

In the summer of 2003 Andholmen was on her way to Scalloway to take part in the unveiling of a Shetland Bus memorial when she ran into trouble and very nearly sank. At the time, The Shetland News had several articles - they can be found by going to The Shetland News archives page, then click on "search the whole archive" - once there, run a search using Andholmen as keyword - 5 results will come up.

The vessel had been purchased from Harald Thuestad and Karluf Gudmundsen, and the voyage was organized by Josef Øvretveit and Laurits Telle, Tælavåg. Departed Tælavåg on Jan. 16-1942 and arrived Lerwick on the 19th.

There were 14 people on board, among them were:
Skipper Harald Thuestad, Haugesund, Karluf Gudmundsen, Olaf Hartmann Johnsen (died 2005), and Gustav Steimler. Harald Thuestad later lost his life when Brant County was sunk - follow the link for details.

According to this Guestbook message, the following where on board Anna:
Leif Alvoeen, Kaare Andersson, Georg Egeland (who was later killed when the Corvette Montbretia was sunk), Audun Eliasen, Bjarne Enga (the father of the poster of the Guestbook message; he served in the Norwegian army and returned to Norway after the war), Orluf Gundersen (might be identical to the Karluf Gudmundsen above?), Knut Iversen, Arne W. Helgesen, Olav Johnsen (probably identical to Olaf Hartmann Johnsen above), Einar Larsen, Arvid Mo, Gustav Steimler. The skipper's name is given as Harald Tuestad.

Departed Tælavåg on Nov. 10-1941 with 13 people. Experienced engine failure in bad weather and drifted north with the wind and current from Nov. 11 until the 13th, hitting the storm in which Blia was lost, but did not sink. She kept drifting until Nov. 19 at which time she was spotted by a fishing vessel off Fosnavåg, Sunnmøre and was towed into Fosnavåg then assisted to Bergen. Most of the passengers joined M/S Rupee later on.

The following were on board during the unsuccessful attempt:
Ernst Herman Diesen, Jan Holmboe Eriksen, Joachim Grieg, Otto Lohne, Sverre Røsland, Hans Thomsen, Harry Thomsen, Thorolf Thorstensen, Børge Vik, and 4 more.

I've received an E-mail from the grandson of Jakob Bernhard Sandtorv, living on the island Bjorøy in Fjell. He says his grandfather owned the vessel and adds that one of the names missing on my list is Arnvid Blindheim from Bjorøy. He says the boat was never brought back to Bergen, but sunk close to the island Runde (outside Fosnavåg)

Please see this Guestbook message. Departed Hernar on Sept. 27-1941 with 20 people, incl. 5 women and arrived Lerwick on Sept. 29 after a difficult voyage in heavy weather.

On board were:
Skipper Herman Løland, Bergen, Oskar Dale, Magnus Eikanger, Elise Eriksen, Jonas Fjellheim, Sverre Fredheim, Ivar Grimstad, Per Grimstad, Petter Emil Hopen, Løchen Steen Johannesen, Einar Mundal, Kate Nilsen, Otto Nordgren, L. Norman, Rolf Nygaard, Louis Pedersen, Haakon Straume, Oskar Olsen Sulen, Josef Sæbø and Gerd Week - the majority from Bergen.

Departed Ålesund on Sept. 23-1941 with 8 people and arrived Thorshavn, Faroe Islands on the 27th. Departed Fedje on March 16-1941 with 14 people, among them 1 woman and a child, arriving Lerwick on the 18th.

These were on board:
Johannes Hernar, Olav Kongestøl, Borghild Langedal, Knut Langedal and his brother Olaf (Skipper on the crossing), with his wife Hanna and sons Odd and Per and daughter Else, Erik Langøy, Harald Langøy, Karl Rongevær and Anker Sævrøy.

Departed Svolvær on June 8-1941 with 9 people and arrived Akureyri on the 14th.

These were on board:
Thorbjørn Bugge, Eiler Krogh Hansen, Hjalmar Hansen, Ingolf Hansen, Jakob Hansen, Ole Ragnar Lind, Harry Mathisen, Einar Punsvik, and Harald Kristian Skavik.