Nortraship: The Norwegian Fleet and WWII
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- Опубліковано 28 лип 2020
- Germany invaded Norway in April 1940, and defeated the Nordic nation in a 62-day campaign. But Norwegians continued to serve the Allied cause throughout the war. One of the least remembered, most important, and most unique roles was not about strength of arms, but about gross tonnage. The History Guy remembers the critical role played by "the largest shipping company in the world."
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Script by JCG
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Amazing story. The Norwegians fought heroically before they were overwhelmed and fought on elsewhere. I find it most telling that not a single Norwegian ship returned to occupied Norway.
The heroism of Norwegians, Poles, and other people who fought on after the Nazis conquered their countries needs to be remembered.
So much fighting today about who did what during the second world war, and who's actions were best. But just as it was said in this video that the Norwegian fleet did so much that they probably saved the Allies due to the goods they carried. The Allied war effort was a combined effort that may of fell flat if any of the participants had failed to do their part. I do not remember the Vets themselves say anything but good about all their fellow Allies. They could come together and operate as a combined unit for a shared mission. I have my doubts if such an effort could happen today.
Well said. The contribution of all the countries that had been overwhelmed by the Nazis but who made a major difference to the success of Britain and the USA is perhaps more than anything "history that deserves to be remembered". I suppose it is natural that each country focuses on its own experiences in the war (hence our own British irritation with American war films!), yet we ignore both the enormous contribution of Canada in Europe and Australia & New Zealand in the Pacific and more than anything the contribution of all the' 'little' countries.
And another part of "history that deserves to be remembered" also covered in this video is the contribution of the merchant seamen of all these disparate countries who risked - and gave - their lives for us.
@@ronfullerton3162 Agreed. The allied war effort was astonishing in many ways. But the stories need to be told. I was unaware of the extent of the Norwegian contribution until this video. I'm sure there are other such stories that need to be told.
@@MrNecryptic Which is not to say he endorsed the Nazis. He made sure that the Germans living around the death camps saw what was done in those places and participated in burying the dead.
@@3ducs General Ike made sure film crews came in and documented the death camps. When asked why, he responded that some day there would be people that would deny it ever happened. Ike was no dope!
I spent 4 months on a Norwegian diving support vessel in Brazil. They taught me that no matter where you go in the world you will find at least one Norwegian and one empty bottle.
What is wrong with BE NE LUX, After ' denmark was attacked'?.
I was told a story of one of the warsailors /Krigsseiler that came from my home town. When the peace came he was somewhere in Australia and didn't return until 1947. When he finally came home he walked in our town in his sailorsuit and duffelbag. He met with some of his childhood friends that teased him about the uniform, and why he was still wearing it years after the peace. Fact was that the uniform and some personal effects in the duffel was all he had after two torpedings and 8 years of sailing during wartime (39-47). He was later to turn to the bottle due to severe ptsd and was labeled crazy by the younger people, fighting for his pension that came to little to late. Evig heder!
"For those who have fought for it Freedom has a taste the protected will never know."
love to this man.
My Dad, a Canadian, was a radio operator on Norwegian merchant vessels in WW2. The Canadian government didn't give the merchant navy veterans any benefits or pensions until 1992 by which time many of the men had died. My uncles who served in the regular forces were able to pursue university degrees after the war thanks to their benefits but this was not available to my father. Thanks for bringing the merchant sailors important , and dangerous, contribution to the war effort to light.
I grew up in a Pacific Northwest logging town. Many of my neighbors were Norwegian. The history of their fight against the Nazis was a regular topic at the local Son's of Norway Hall.
@MrPitjoey some people are just ignorant of most things,its a hard thing to change.
@MrPitjoey Great comment! I would call Ballard a neighborhood of Seattle as it is well within the city limits. It's always been a Scandinavian neighborhood since way before I moved there in 1979. Unfortunately that is changing rapidly as housing prices have skyrocketed. No one with or without children who is working class can afford to live in Seattle anymore. It was one of my favorite neighborhoods back in the day.
I live in a small Canadian mining town. I hired on in 1981 and the assistant Pay Master was a Norwegian who had fought the Nazis as a guerilla.
His boss was a local guy who had flown Beaufighters in the India/Burma theatre.
Crazy times.
I'm in Northern Iowa. Alot of Norwegians settle here back in the 19th century. Some folks still refer to us as Iowegians.
@Frank Pitts Frank, Seattle has been a home to radicals since the early 1900's. Labor unrest, the IWW, the General Strike, Hoovervilles along the Duwamish, UofW students protesting against the Vietnam War, the WTO demonstrations, the list is a long one. It might be possible that some of those protesters today are the great grandchildren of those earlier radicals. I've lived in the Pacific Northwest most of my life, and Seattle is still a beautiful city. And it still has a strong streak of populism and radicalism. Seattle will never be Orange County, California, or the Villages Retirement community of Florida.
From a Norwegian: Thank you for telling this story about individual courage and national shame. As you said, the war sailors never gained proper official recognition after the war, many suffered badly from PTSD and many ended up on skid row. But, thankfully, their legacy is celebrated today. One day, maybe author Jon Michelet’s opus magnum, a massive six-volume novel about the war sailors will be translated. (A TV series is under production).
From a Scottish person, thank you Norway :-)
From a Proud AMERICAN THANK YOU!! NORWAY!!
The War was Won by ALL the Allies!!
@Jan Michelsen... I am a 3rd generation American of Norwegian descent, and proud of both. It's hard to keep a Viking down. I had family fighting WWII from America and from Norway. To all the brave men and women who fought on land, sea, and in secret... tusen takk!
Great to hear Jan. The Norwegian shipping effort in WWII has been badly ignored, but it crops up again and again in accounts of the Battle of the Atlantic. Just no-one has picked up on it until now, much much too late.
is this tv series still under production?:)
Thanks for spreading information on Nortraship. The story of the "krigsseilere", the "war sailors", is a story with two very different sides. On one side, you have the huge contribution to the war effort these sailors and ships made. A vital contribution to beat the Nazis. On the other side, you have the horrible treatment that the sailors suffered by our government after the war. The former side is a side of sacrifice, heroism and pride, the latter a side of shame. The lack of recognition given to these sailors by the state is really incomprehensible, it took way too long for this to be partly rectified. The acts of some of the shipowners may also wind up on the shame side, but all in all, the Nortraship legacy is a proud one.
Have you ever though about doing an episode on the "Shetland Bus" Operations of WW2?
I would love to see your take on this as you are excellent at presenting the subjects you cover. Honestly, when it comes to History no other channel comes close.
The Shetland Bus was a clandestine operation which ran between the Shetland Islands (Britain's northernmost land's) & Norway for the duration of WW2. Taking refugees & agents out of Norway for Britain & taking in agents & materials for the resistance. It was traditional Norwegian fishing vessels used to start with & they had around 14 vessels at the start. These were complimented with 3 Sub Chasers donated from the US Navy in late 1943.
Due to the Islands location (so far North) & with the summer nights being so light most of the operations were done in the Autumn/Winter with the long nights.
They were involved in some memorable operations, such as being the 1st vessel to tow across midget submarines to use on Tirpitz. This operation didn't succeed however.
It's a very interesting story & I think you would really do it justice.
@Chris_Wooden_Eye
I also would like to learn more about The Shetland Bus, for sure.
Yes I think you would do it justice, as you go into such detail about the subjects, you are the best, at explaining, please keep them coming. Best wishes Geoff Lewis, Wales, UK 🏴🏴🏴. PS. I live in Swansea which had large docks and as a boy I remember seeing lots of ships with the Norwegian flags unloading Timber, Oil, and what ever else they were carrying. Thanks.
One of the first norwegian made war movies was about Shetland Larsen (Larsen was the captian and leader of the operations) and the Shetland bus. Actually a good movie.
Here is a documentary about Telavåg after it got burned to the ground and most people killed or sent to concentartion camp due to the Shetland Larsens activity from Telavåg. Sadly it's only in Norwegian: ua-cam.com/video/exprxatweBw/v-deo.html
My grandmother lost two of her three brothers during WW2,they all served in the merchent fleet.
I thank you for keeping their sacrifice in people's mind.
Yeees. Both my grandads served in this fleet thank you for giving them the light that they deserve.
My late father was in the USCG during the war. Partly in North Atlantic convoy escort. Very well acquainted and impressed with the Norwegian merchant fleet.
🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴👍😎
@@dbmail545 Semper Paratus! ⚓🇺🇲
Ah general kanobi
Help us Norway, you're our only hope!
The Norwegian author Per Hansson wrote a book called "One out of ten had to die" about Norwegian wartime sailors and helped to make it known that they suffered PTSD. He said: "Some of the men I interviewed for the book are still sailing in the convoys. They have nightmares and cries during the night, and they are always in bed with open doors so that they can rush out to the deck." Another sailor who was torpedoed several times and who was finally rescued in the Pacific almost died from thirst. He always had a lid of a pot in his kitchen sink and opened the tap slightly so that drops would fall on the lid and make a sound so that he knew he had water.
Honored to have norwegian ancestors who served on the sea and gave their lives. Thank you for telling their story :)
Great to see someone finally giving credit to Norwegians' immense contribution to the Allied effort in WWII. It's something you keep on coming across in naval accounts and books like The Cruel Sea - of Norwegian tankers, freighters and destroyers in the Battle of the Atlantic: of good seamen, good ships and good leadership.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! This was an awesome episode. The shipowners were blamed for putting their own ships out of harms way. After the war the sailors were treated SO bad. Today I am not sure how many are left. One ship is a floating working was museum. That is the steamer d/s «Hestmannen» it was built in 1911 and she served in both wars. She was a lucky ship all the sailors said. I have so many links I could send you, but they are all in Norwegian. Be safe, and stay safe!
Made it through two world wars! She indeed was a lucky ship.
I visited it last week. It is old and charming. Awesome museum.
I can't always get in the mood for history but these are the right amount of almost exclusively blunt fact and SLIGHT personality.
I really wish this existed 10 years ago so I could sit down with my Pop and watch these
Wasn't in mood for this but found it interesting straight away. Glad I watched it, brave sailors.
Better late etc...
Thank you so much for covering this.
My grandfather was a part of this and hearing about this brings back a lot of happy memories.
That was without a shadow of doubt, the most interesting and thought provoking episode of THG I’ve seen! Thank you history guy! 👍😁👊👍
Thank you for this, as a person of Norwegian heritage i found this most interesting! I can still remember snippets of conversations from grandparents of WW2 stories relayed from relatives in Norway during the German occupation. (They were of hellish resistance.) Appreciate your work Sir!
Amazing story of which I knew nothing!
Amazing video, thanks for sharing! As a Norwegian, I have many relatives who worked all theire lifes on different kinds of ships, spanning several generations. My great-grandfather served on two ships during the war from april 1940, before coming home to Norway and his wife and five children in the start of 1946.
His first ship was attacked by Stukas while crossing the english channel, and still managed to get across after one bomb hit the front of the ship and was riddled with machinegun and cannonfire. And his second ship was torpedoed along with the sistership of the one he was onboard right outside the east coast of the US, the ones remaining survived on a liferaft for almost two days in the end of the winter before getting rescued by Catalinas.
One of his earlier shipmates was interwieved about 20 years later on norwegian tv, and the one story that had stuck with me since was:
- On one of the many convoys from America to England, a ship in front of them was hit by a torpedo and instantly started to sink in the middle of the Atlantic. All the people onboard knew they had almost a 0% chance of surviving and many ran to the front climbing railings as the ship sank. All the ships had strict rules against stopping to rescue survivors because of the threat of the german wolfpacks of submarines/uboats, so when his ship sailed by his friends who were minutes away from dying they yelled across from the sinking ship: "Please write home, tell them what happened and that we did the best we could! Tell them to don't be sad, this was only a matter of time!" Almost all the men were in theire early twenties, and some even younger, and when our government finally decided to give the "Krigsseilerene" as we say in norwegian even some kind of recognition and compensation in the 1990's and early 2000's most of them had already passed away..
Thank you for making this. I proud of my grandfather, he served on a whaling ship troughout the war, in 1943 he and his ship was taken by the Germans in the bay of biscayne, and was in a concentration camp for several months. A fact that no one in my family talked about until after my dad died in 2017. My brother found our grandfather’s name on a German prisoner list. My dads uncle’s also were in the merchant fleet ad at least two of them was torpedoed, but survived. Btw. My grandfather died on 1965, six years before I was born.
Good Day sir! I look forward to your videos every week.
Fascinating story. Thanks for the research and great footage.
Thank you for shining a light on the huge effort Norway gave for the allies. Winston Churchill had said several times the Norwegian seafarers were worth more than a million soldiers. That speaks something about how important the Norwegian merchant fleet was. The credit for keeping Britian supplied almost always goes to the US or Commonwealth nations and mainstream history rarely mentions the Norwegian contribution. Cheers again and thanks for another great video.
Your videos are pure class!
What a great story. Definitely history worth remembering. Thank you!
Really enjoyed the history about the Norwegian merchant navy. It's nice to listen to someone telling us about the war, and going into details of it. I enjoy all your programs, please keep them coming. Geoff Lewis, Wales, UK 🏴🏴🏴
THG never fails to show me how little I know and how much there is to learn! Great video!!
Another episode of the best history I have found on the web. Thank you so much!!! Your history is worth joining your Patreon.
My Swedish grandfathers brother was chiefmechanic on chartered swedish ships going in convoy. In one convoy the ship before and after his was sunk. He was sunk three times! Saved last time and next day by a fully illuminated Swiss ship with the Swiss flag on the side. He survived the war but I never met him. He died young.
Thanks for another great presentation. I had no idea of the size of the Norwegian commercial fleet. Thankfully they were there when we needed help transporting everything.
Great story and point of view. Logistics and supply are often overlooked in the war effort.
Norway is like the cool kid in school that gets along with everyone.
Jubel! 🇳🇴👍
What did the Norwegian government do with its North Sea oil revenues? It invested them in a sovereign wealth fund for its population.
What did the UK (Tory) government do with its North Sea oil revenues? It wasted them on funding de-industrialisation and privatisation.
@@stevenp4566 a
@Layne Staley That was a thousand years ago. Not really recent history...
It is a disgrace how the sailors were treated after the war. Because of their experiences a lot of them became alcoholics and they were basically treated as traitors. The admiration they deserved came too late for most of them, and that is a real tragedy. Thank you for making this episode about our seafaring heroes of World War 2! Regards from Bodø, Norway.
One of the earliest WW2 books I read was The Shetland Bus - definitely History worth remembering. - You should give this a look, lots of linkages with the attacks on the Tirpitz and the 'Heroes of Telemark'.
My grandfather immigrated to the U.S. in1904 and served on the Great Lakes ore carriers...he was in his 70's when WW11 broke out...despite his age he signed up for duty on merchant ships on the north Atlantic. He survived and was admired very much for his brave servive
Thank you for an amazing piece of history that needs to be remembered ! Take care , stay safe and healthy wherever you maybe going next on your research ! Doing well here in Kansas !
Great episode. Thank you.
Most excellent commentary sir.
It’s great to get a fuller version of the war effort. Thanks for the history lesson!
Wonderful, as always. I had no real inkling of the Norwegian contribution to WWII. Thanks!
You teach me something new every time I watch your show.
Fantastic bit of information! Your video forum is superb.
Wow! Fascinating. Perhaps you could produce a full length documentary on this sir?
Thanks for your great work!
Thank you for this video! Back in the 1970s I worked with a man who had been in the US merchant marine from 1937-1947. he often said that people don't realize how important the merchant mariners were to the war effort. Without the merchant fleet the war would have turned out very differently!
So great that you brought us this information I never knew about this.
The English speaking world totally dominate history writing.....and they write it just as it suits them. It's said that the big victors take it all .....including stories for what they didn't do.
For example look at any video on merchant ship convoys across the Atlantic ... all ships are British ....and later came also US....and that's it....
Few people know that Norway was occupied for 5 years during WW2 ....and no one know that northern Norway, over a distance of 1000 km, was devastated like no other place during the war. Absolutely everything of infrastructure and houses was destroyed ....not so much as a telephone pole was left. All the population was forced to leave their home before it was burned down. Anyone who tried to flee were shot. Still around 25000 Norwegian did flee from the nazi-Germans. They had to survive up in the mountains in caves during an Arctic winter in 1944/45. If they tried to go down to the burned down ruins of their home searching for remains they risked to be spotted by German patrols who immediately would shoot them. If one try to look it up in the very "reliable" Encyclopedia Britannica you will find one sentence on the topic. Yes .....ONE SENTENCE....stating that northern Norway was devastated. If something like that had happened to an English speaking country there would be written books so it could fill a library or YT would be full of videos. But Norway is not English speaking so there is nothing to find. There are books on the topic ....but only in Norwegian.
Kirkenes was the easternmost town in that area ...and it was the most bombed place in Europe....only after Malta. For 3 years they were bombed from air on average every 3 days....and the bombs was ...yeah...made in the USA ....as a support to the allied Soviet Union....who then used it to bomb Kirkenes in Norway.....
The local population survived by living in the maze of tunnels in a nearby iron ore mine. The nazi Germans had based over 160000 troops there. They were used for forming the northernmost front in the attack on Soviet Union. They tried to take control on the port of Murmansk ....which was Soviet Union's only supply route for everything that came with the ship convoys across the Atlantic. The nazi German troop never were able to take Murmansk. They were stopped at the river Litsa....hence it was named the Litsa-front .... That was a front that didn't move for 3 years. Hundreds of thousand of soldiers were stationed there shooting at each other .....and it was said that there were rivers of blood. But the Arctic winters took most lives. Try to find these stories on YT ....and you will not find anything. No English speaker were involved ....hence nothing has happened.....
Great content. I was not aware of this part of WW2 history.
Excellent video....Thanks.
Video suggestion on the Danish Fleet in 1940, Scuttled in 1943 and the Merchant Navy in British service 1940-1945. My great-uncle was the last Danish Merchant Sailor in Allied Service, he lived to become 99 and 1/2. Like if you agree!
Krigssejlerne blev ikke værdsat tilstrækkeligt, for sent, for lidt.
My mother's uncle Hans was one of probably very few sailors who survived being torpedoed by German U-boats three times in the North Atlantic. The last time he was captain of his ship. He lived to a very mature age, but had terrible post traumatic problems during his later life.
Thank you History Guy I had never heard of Nortraship before
Fan of WW2 history, especially the untold history. Thank you sir for teaching us new and interesting facts.
THG, closing in on 1M subscribers. You go guy.
You have done it again!! How many knew anything about this, I suspect very few. The Norwegian and British Merchant Seamen were not properly recognised for their contributions and sacrifice during the war, without them it could not have been won.
Makes me want to go to Norway even more, knowing they've always been friendlies (:
another nugget of information to add to my more than slight interest in the unknown facts of the most important time in the last century. thanks
The English speaking world totally dominate history writing.....and they write it just as it suits them. It's said that the big victors take it all .....including stories for what they didn't do.
For example look at any video on merchant ship convoys across the Atlantic ... all ships are British ....and later came also US....and that's it....
Few people know that Norway was occupied for 5 years during WW2 ....and no one know that northern Norway, over a distance of 1000 km, was devastated like no other place during the war. Absolutely everything of infrastructure and houses was destroyed ....not so much as a telephone pole was left. All the population was forced to leave their home before it was burned down. Anyone who tried to flee were shot. Still around 25000 Norwegian did flee from the nazi-Germans. They had to survive up in the mountains in caves during an Arctic winter in 1944/45. If they tried to go down to the burned down ruins of their home searching for remains they risked to be spotted by German patrols who immediately would shoot them. If one try to look it up in the very "reliable" Encyclopedia Britannica you will find one sentence on the topic. Yes .....ONE SENTENCE....stating that northern Norway was devastated. If something like that had happened to an English speaking country there would be written books so it could fill a library or YT would be full of videos. But Norway is not English speaking so there is nothing to find. There are books on the topic ....but only in Norwegian.
Kirkenes was the easternmost town in that area ...and it was the most bombed place in Europe....only after Malta. For 3 years they were bombed from air on average every 3 days....and the bombs was ...yeah...made in the USA ....as a support to the allied Soviet Union....who then used it to bomb Kirkenes in Norway.....
The local population survived by living in the maze of tunnels in a nearby iron ore mine. The nazi Germans had based over 160000 troops there. They were used for forming the northernmost front in the attack on Soviet Union. They tried to take control on the port of Murmansk ....which was Soviet Union's only supply route for everything that came with the ship convoys across the Atlantic. The nazi German troop never were able to take Murmansk. They were stopped at the river Litsa....hence it was named the Litsa-front .... That was a front that didn't move for 3 years. Hundreds of thousand of soldiers were stationed there shooting at each other .....and it was said that there were rivers of blood. But the Arctic winters took most lives. Try to find these stories on YT ....and you will not find anything. No English speaker were involved ....hence nothing has happened.....
Wow, you got this story right. Thank you for making this on the Norwegian contribution, and the sacrifices of the Norwegian sailors. Regards from Oslo
Vikings have always been some badass sailors and ship builders.
Viking is a action,not a people,they were Scandinavians,just like the Norwegians are
@@maximilianolimamoreira5002
What are you talking about? "Viking" is a noun or adjective, not a verb. It has to do with people, not the actions of people. Here:
Vi·king
/ˈvīkiNG/
noun:
any of the Scandinavian seafaring pirates and traders who raided and settled in many parts of northwestern Europe in the 8th-11th centuries.
adjective:
relating to the Vikings or the period in which they lived.
@@lisahinton9682 "lå ute i viking" - today it is commonly used as a noun or adjective, but it was a verb in norse, and can still be used that way in modern norwegian.
@@lisahinton9682 True meaning of viking is raiding. It is an action that a Norseman could do in the summer. It's meaning was probably never understood properly by the english.
@@gullintanni
Well, I suppose different locations in the world could have different definitions for a word, and different truths. My mother was English and my father was American - and our house was full of "arguments" about what the truth was about not only WWII, a war they both lived through as children, but also the Revolutionary War, and which side actually did what, and who won, and what winning actually meant. I would do anything to go back in time and record those heated, but oh-so-interesting, discussions by my parents. So I'm willing to concede that perhaps *Viking* has a different, expanded definition where you are.
Where are you, by the way? I'm in Phoenix, Arizona, USA; by way of England, Ohio, Kentucky, Califotnia, Alaska, California again, then finally to this horrid place, Arizona.
“When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion.”
@-- Maybe you don't have a clue: (Spider dragline silk has a tensile strength of roughly 1.3 GPa. The tensile strength listed for steel might be slightly higher-e.g. 1.65 GPa, but spider silk is a much less dense material, so that a given weight of spider silk is five times as strong as the same weight of steel.)
@-- You don't need big ones. Just a lot of little ones. Some spider silk matches steel in strength - most is pretty close. If it could be compressed by about 3x - you could use it as tank armor (except that it likes to burn - but lion generally don't carry torches).
@@ralphcraig5816 You don't to be snippy about it. Not everyone knows - and that is understandable.
@-- Yes....spider webs are made by spiders - very astute of you. You are a quick study.
Ok - guy is a jerk - sorry.
Another great episode thank you. I would also request your skills for an episode on the 'Shetland Bus'. My father was a Norwegian soldier and helped in getting King Haakon and the government out. His unit then fought thier way north to ride the Shetland bus to Scotland. He then became a Petty officer in the Norwegian navy (which operated from the UK), was torpedoed and lost a lung to burning oil, married my mother (from London). There really is a lot of history that deserves to be remembered as you so rightly say sir.
The norwegian king shipped out of Tromsø to the UK the 7th of june at the end of the Narvik campaign.
He shipped out of Molde in southern Norway on HMS Glasgow the 30th of April. As the nazis by the 30th of April controlled the middle part of Norway for several hundred kilometers I think there are some time/place details that got skewed in the story about your father.
The shetland bus did not get started until well after the fall of Norway as far as I remember - and operated along the whole western coast of Norway from the south to the north. A lot of norwegians who wanted to continue the fight, and resistance workers, fled that way over the 5 years the occupation lasted.
If you are able to find out where in Norway your father served in the norwegian campaign we might be able to put the pieces together. If he was born in southern Norway he would probably have mobilized in that part of the country and might have shipped out with the brits pulling out of Åndalsnes in april/mai - after the norwegian king left for Tromsø.
He might also have participated in the arctic campaign in Narvik if born in the north, and evacuated from there after the king left. Incidentally Narvik was the first major battle the nazis lost clearly. If the invasion in France had not started making the french legionaires and the british fleet pull out the nazis would never had the harbour and iron ore exports they needed.
@@rolfnilsen6385 It took a while to get north for my fathers unit as they travelled through the interior. He then spent time at the home farm near Volda during the occupation before escaping on the Shetland bus which was donated by a family in Aalesund.
@@WolfClinton1 Aha - so he participated in the southern campaign which ended with the evacuation from Åndalsnes. The intact norwegian forces in southern Norway was demobilized after the evacuation and the soldiers travelled home as civilians. Officers had to make an oath to not oppose the nazis. Those officers who refused was interred. Privates was allowed to travel home without making an oath.
A soldier from Volda could have fought in the interior outside the Gudbrandsdal and Østerdal valleys. Those were the main axis the nazis forced out of Oslo - to link up with forces from Trondheim. The other axis to Bergen and the west coast was not as high a priority so the fighting went on for a bit longer there. As there are very few roads going north from there to Volda he would probably have used some time to get home as you did describe it. Then with the first "shetland bus" on a slow moving small fishing boat to the UK.
Thank you for sharing this family story. If you are interested in the chaos of those days and the places, there is a norwegian film (not entirely historically correct) about that part of the norwegian campaign. It does a good job of showing the chaos and conditions tough. It's name in norwegian is "Secondløitnanten".
www.imdb.com/title/tt0108067/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
@@rolfnilsen6385 Thanks for the link Rolf, I will have a look.
Jon Michelet was a Norwegian author, journalist and sailor(served as second mate on a cargo ship sailing on South-America) wrote an epic 6 novels series named "Sjøens helter" (Heroes of the seas )(2012 -18). He wanted to honour the remarkable work/sacrifices the merchant sailors had done during WW2 and also tell how little the Norwegian government did for decades after the war to help them. It was a novel series based on real happenings, personal letters from sailors and interviews. During his work with his last book he was deadly seek ....and knew so. He said to the publisher ...that we need a plan to finish the book ....before I die. He did finish it with a narrow margin.....
A video about the “Shetland Bus” would be a fantastic follow up to this video.
My father is named after his uncle, whos ship was sunk at Biscaya. We have a heartbreaking letter that he wrote home to my great grandfather 1 year before he died. In the letter you can sense that he knows what is to come.
Keep up the good work!
How have I never heard of this before? I've been an avid armchair historian of WW II and I don't recall this coming up before.
Let's make sure that their service and sacrifices are remembered from now on.
The English speaking world totally dominate history writing.....and they write it just as it suits them. It's said that the big victors take it all .....including stories for what they didn't do.
For example look at any video on merchant ship convoys across the Atlantic ... all ships are British ....and later came also US....and that's it....
Few people know that Norway was occupied for 5 years during WW2 ....and no one know that northern Norway, over a distance of 1000 km, was devastated like no other place during the war. Absolutely everything of infrastructure and houses was destroyed ....not so much as a telephone pole was left. All the population was forced to leave their home before it was burned down. Anyone who tried to flee were shot. Still around 25000 Norwegian did flee from the nazi-Germans. They had to survive up in the mountains in caves during an Arctic winter in 1944/45. If they tried to go down to the burned down ruins of their home searching for remains they risked to be spotted by German patrols who immediately would shoot them. If one try to look it up in the very "reliable" Encyclopedia Britannica you will find one sentence on the topic. Yes .....ONE SENTENCE....stating that northern Norway was devastated. If something like that had happened to an English speaking country there would be written books so it could fill a library or YT would be full of videos. But Norway is not English speaking so there is nothing to find. There are books on the topic ....but only in Norwegian.
Kirkenes was the easternmost town in that area ...and it was the most bombed place in Europe....only after Malta. For 3 years they were bombed from air on average every 3 days....and the bombs was ...yeah...made in the USA ....as a support to the allied Soviet Union....who then used it to bomb Kirkenes in Norway.....
The local population survived by living in the maze of tunnels in a nearby iron ore mine. The nazi Germans had based over 160000 troops there. They were used for forming the northernmost front in the attack on Soviet Union. They tried to take control on the port of Murmansk ....which was Soviet Union's only supply route for everything that came with the ship convoys across the Atlantic. The nazi German troop never were able to take Murmansk. They were stopped at the river Litsa....hence it was named the Litsa-front .... That was a front that didn't move for 3 years. Hundreds of thousand of soldiers were stationed there shooting at each other .....and it was said that there were rivers of blood. But the Arctic winters took most lives. Try to find these stories on YT ....and you will not find anything. No English speaker were involved ....hence nothing has happened.....
I didn't know, thanks History Guy!
Thank you. I was totally unaware of this. I did know a little about Norwegian sailors manning U.K. supplied destroyers etc. and fighting as part of the RN.
Loved this video
I worked the piers in Philadelphia PA an thought I knew all the fleets and the country they were flagged in but this is news to me! Thank you Mr HG!
This story really deserved to be told for once ...it has been ignored for much to long.
The English speaking world totally dominate history writing.....and they write it just as it suits them. It's said that the big victors take it all .....including stories for what they didn't do.
For example look at any video on merchant ship convoys across the Atlantic ... all ships are British ....and later came also US....and that's it....
Few people know that Norway was occupied for 5 years during WW2 ....and no one know that northern Norway, over a distance of 1000 km, was devastated like no other place during the war. Absolutely everything of infrastructure and houses was destroyed ....not so much as a telephone pole was left. All the population was forced to leave their home before it was burned down. Anyone who tried to flee were shot. Still around 25000 Norwegian did flee from the nazi-Germans. They had to survive up in the mountains in caves during an Arctic winter in 1944/45. If they tried to go down to the burned down ruins of their home searching for remains they risked to be spotted by German patrols who immediately would shoot them. If one try to look it up in the very "reliable" Encyclopedia Britannica you will find one sentence on the topic. Yes .....ONE SENTENCE....stating that northern Norway was devastated. If something like that had happened to an English speaking country there would be written books so it could fill a library or YT would be full of videos. But Norway is not English speaking so there is nothing to find. There are books on the topic ....but only in Norwegian.
Kirkenes was the easternmost town in that area ...and it was the most bombed place in Europe....only after Malta. For 3 years they were bombed from air on average every 3 days....and the bombs was ...yeah...made in the USA ....as a support to the allied Soviet Union....who then used it to bomb Kirkenes in Norway.....
The local population survived by living in the maze of tunnels in a nearby iron ore mine. The nazi Germans had based over 160000 troops there. They were used for forming the northernmost front in the attack on Soviet Union. They tried to take control on the port of Murmansk ....which was Soviet Union's only supply route for everything that came with the ship convoys across the Atlantic. The nazi German troop never were able to take Murmansk. They were stopped at the river Litsa....hence it was named the Litsa-front .... That was a front that didn't move for 3 years. Hundreds of thousand of soldiers were stationed there shooting at each other .....and it was said that there were rivers of blood. But the Arctic winters took most lives. Try to find these stories on YT ....and you will not find anything. No English speaker were involved ....hence nothing has happened.....
This puts a big chunk of history in perspective.
Thank you THG 👍🙂
Your research and the corresponding detail you provide is nothing short of excellent.
My late father-in-law was a "war sailor" who criss-crossed the Atlantic throughout the war. The Norwegian State Broadcaster made a series of programmes named "Evig Heder" (=eternal honour) about the "war sailors" and he along with many others, featured in this. In one episode he describes how he and his ship mate met their future wives for the first time in a pub in Liverpool!
His recollection to me of being at sea when receiving the rival radio broadcasts from Germany and the BBC was that the crew all held a vote which decided that they would follow BBC instructions not German ones. This was a long time after of course, so take from this what you choose.
There is an excellent website created by an American lady of Norwegian descent cataloguing as much about the Nortraship fleet and the sailors as you could possibly imagine, I'm not sure how to put a link in here so if anyone is interested just google for warsailors.com. I believe she has been honoured by the Norwegian Government for this work, and if you check it out you will see why.
United States Merchant Marine Academy, 1982. I sailed with those who had sailed the North Atlantic. Thank you. Good information.
Makes me very proud of my Norwegian heritage. Thanks once again History Guy!
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
― Margaret Mead
Never doubt that a small group of committed nutters can ruin the lives of millions - me
One great movie about a Norwegian family coming to live in San Francisco is I Remember Mama with Irene Dunn and a young Barbara Belle Geddes. I still get misty eyed whenever I watch it Oscar winning performance!
I grew to love San Francisco long before I moved there by watching I Remember Mama! I spent the next 50 years of my life there, fully embraced and enamored with it. The techies will never have any idea what a treasure they destroyed...
@@ralphcraig5816 Great movie and Congratulations on finding a place to call home. Are you far from Lombard street?
Another nice piece
Thank you
There now, you see, we see as Americans the effort made from our perspective. That’s only correct and right. We do a great disservice however not learning and taking in the sacred sacrifice of our allies. Their wives and children suffered greatly even into this generation. Thanks again History Team.
The American people at the time knew very well that their country was one of many allies, especially as there were so many allies and except for the Russians, no ally was fighting exclusively on its own front whether on land, in the air or at sea (this includes even battles like Leyte Gulf and Okinawa, which are now thought of as exclusively American). You can see this recognition continuing in US films and documentaries about the war that were made in the 1950s (eg there's some Aussie right at the end of "South Pacific") but the non-American contribution seems to have been forgotten after that.
I had a good friend Gunnar Gundersen who was part of the Norwegian underground he also served 2 years in a German prison camp. He was the bravest man i ever knew. he was considered a class 5 War hero and received money every month for his service. he was my best friend until he died in 2011.
Thank you for making this video! A really important part of the second world war that nobody knows about.
The English speaking world totally dominate history writing.....and they write it just as it suits them. It's said that the big victors take it all .....including stories for what they didn't do.
For example look at any video on merchant ship convoys across the Atlantic ... all ships are British ....and later came also US....and that's it....
Few people know that Norway was occupied for 5 years during WW2 ....and no one know that northern Norway, over a distance of 1000 km, was devastated like no other place during the war. Absolutely everything of infrastructure and houses was destroyed ....not so much as a telephone pole was left. All the population was forced to leave their home before it was burned down. Anyone who tried to flee were shot. Still around 25000 Norwegian did flee from the nazi-Germans. They had to survive up in the mountains in caves during an Arctic winter in 1944/45. If they tried to go down to the burned down ruins of their home searching for remains they risked to be spotted by German patrols who immediately would shoot them. If one try to look it up in the very "reliable" Encyclopedia Britannica you will find one sentence on the topic. Yes .....ONE SENTENCE....stating that northern Norway was devastated. If something like that had happened to an English speaking country there would be written books so it could fill a library or YT would be full of videos. But Norway is not English speaking so there is nothing to find. There are books on the topic ....but only in Norwegian.
Kirkenes was the easternmost town in that area ...and it was the most bombed place in Europe....only after Malta. For 3 years they were bombed from air on average every 3 days....and the bombs was ...yeah...made in the USA ....as a support to the allied Soviet Union....who then used it to bomb Kirkenes in Norway.....
The local population survived by living in the maze of tunnels in a nearby iron ore mine. The nazi Germans had based over 160000 troops there. They were used for forming the northernmost front in the attack on Soviet Union. They tried to take control on the port of Murmansk ....which was Soviet Union's only supply route for everything that came with the ship convoys across the Atlantic. The nazi German troop never were able to take Murmansk. They were stopped at the river Litsa....hence it was named the Litsa-front .... That was a front that didn't move for 3 years. Hundreds of thousand of soldiers were stationed there shooting at each other .....and it was said that there were rivers of blood. But the Arctic winters took most lives. Try to find these stories on YT ....and you will not find anything. No English speaker were involved ....hence nothing has happened.....
I'm a norwegian , and it's a unforgiving shame how the war-sailers was treatet after the war ended !
...so thank you for telling the truth ...
I just subsribed :)
Hello, recently found your channel. Good stuff. I actually have a suggestion for you that is definitely becoming forgotten and bonus happened in St Louis. That is the tragic death of astronauts Elliott See and Charles Bassett. Thanks for the good work
P.s. I currently work in the building they hit and may have some pictures floating around from the post dispatch from the accident
I find Norway during this period interesting. You always see it on those maps as an ally, but never hear about anything it did. Great to see someone making a video about it.
Another great video , would love to see an online coproduction with some other history channels
I hang out with a marine who serves with Norwegian soldiers in Afghanistan. He said them and Canadians were the toughest foreign soldiers he served with. Besides the British those two were the most bad ass.
Is it my imagination or is UA-cam really laying on the ads these days? Since they deplatformed so many channels a month or so ago are they attempting to recoup revenues on the backs of their remaining channels? If one were to watch all the ads in this posting they would be longer than the actual post.
It is nor your imagination.
Not
I use Firefox browser with Adblocker Plus. I never see ads.
Another suggestion is using Opera browser. Adblocker included, no addon needed. Also has VPN. I never see a single ad, PC or mobile.
My father survived the sinking of the USAT Dorchester in Feb 1943. It was torpedoed only a short distance from its destination in Greenland. I know now he was suffering from PTSD and would rarely even mention his time in the Air Corp. The 4 Chaplains got all the press at the time but many good people did heroic acts during that event. I would love to see that in one of your videos. I personally call them History lessons.
Thanks!
Another Norwegian contribution to the war (and earlier): The tie hacks. In Western Wyoming, the expansion of US railroads was made possible by the procurement of railroad ties hewn manually by (primarily) Scandinavian men. They worked year round in incredibly cold conditions. This is history that should be remembered, and would make a fantastic episode!
So true, history that deserves to be remembered
I had no idea. thank you for putting this on. there is a discussion on the strength of silk to steel. Here in your discussion group. It got me thinking about silk production threw the war years. China was so far away and controlled by the Japaneses. How did we make all those parachutes? Did we have the silk worms available? If so why don't we have an industry of silk today? Love your show.Bill
Outstanding
Would like to see an episode on the Liberty Ships. During WWII. My father served on them during and after the war. One story he told was about volunteering to sail on a ship hauling ammunition. Someone asked him if he wasn't afraid since one hit and they were gone. He replied "If we take one hit I'll never know about it!"
Very interesting Good video
thanks
My father was in the merchant fleet during the war. He told a story, in his later years, on how they were ordered to seal the hatches from the stricken engine room so that the engineers had to secure the hull after an unexploded torpedo went through it. My father was a cook & he said it was a strange atmosphere in the gally during the reminding trip.
The most shameful behavior of any government was what happened to the heroes of the merchant fleet. The most despicable politician was Kåre Willoch, which denied to even speak with the representatives of the sailors during his tenure as trade minister of Norway. A small stature of a man, never seen bodily work or danger in his life. And he & his party has never properly apologized for what they did. To me, living with the aftereffects, they should all be thrown in jail.
I did not know this. Very interesting.
I have a suggestion for a future episode. My dad worked for Fisher Body, in Baltimore, MD starting in 1935. When Fisher Body became Eastern Aircraft, he had to relocate in Memphis, TN for the duration of the war, where they built wings for the B-25 and B-29. My dad told me getting people to work in the new plant was a problem in itself. Many that applied had zero experience with the factory environment. Plus, many were not used to wearing shoes and had to be fitted with tennis shoes. Fisher Body designed and built a couple planes using components from different planes. Fisher Body's transition from cars to planes and back should make for an interesting episode. Your thoughts?
Thank you.