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It was Saturday April 20 that
day when Namsos was bombed so fiercely. I was in a workhouse on the home
farm fixing a pair of winter boots that were in need of repair, when I
noticed an increased activity of planes and war actions in Sørnamsen.
The noise from the bombs and the sound of the airplanes were closer than
we’d formerly experienced. It was while this noise was going on that I
felt a shaking in the ground, almost like a little earthquake, and when
I looked out the window I noticed that the wires between the buildings
on the farm were swinging up and down in quite an extraordinary fashion.
(Later someone told me that the “earthquake” originated from the boilers
“blowing up” when the trawler went down and was filled with water).
About half an hour later, several sharp machine gun salvoes were heard
as well. Not long after that my sister Rakel came and told me that two
Englishmen had arrived at our house, and that one of them had an injured
neck. They had found their way across the crusted snow from Andsnes to
Hovika after their trawler and been sunk by bombs, and had been shot at
on their way.
They were terribly equipped as far as clothes. As a matter of fact one
of them only had a burlap sack on, and as he was barefoot as well, the
skin on his feet was completely destroyed from the crusted snow. I
assume the reason many of the crew were so badly equipped with clothes
was that the attack came so quickly and unexpectedly, and that the boat
had been hit and had to be abandoned before the crew had time to put
their clothes on. It could also be that some of them had been on off
duty watch and had been in their beds.
A doctor was called and Dr. Jon Bang came as quickly as he could and put a bandage on the injured one and treated the other's injuries. I can remember that Harda Hammer came with the doctor. Torbjørn Romstad provided transportation to Sandvika
(point E on the map), and from there they were transported by rowboat by Knut Sandvik and Torbjørn Romstad to Hovika
(point D on the map).
During the air attack the
trawler was run aground near the pole that marks the bottom, south of
Andsneset. It was visible there for a while, but soon slid off into deep
water and disappeared. The crew on board somehow managed to get to shore
after the boat had been sunk, or just before it sank, and into some
summer cabins near the edge of the beach, and a house on the south side
of Andsneset. From there they were transported to Hovika in rowboats.
(Except for the 2 who came overland). Those who rowed out from Hovika
then were my two eldest brothers Kåre and Helge in a “seksæring”, Knut
Sandvik and Torbjørn Romstad in a “færing”, Arne Kristiansen in a little
rowboat, and Erling Jørgensen and I in the salmon boat which belonged to
us. (Erling Jørgensen was serving his military duty in the Marines in
1940 on board the armored ship “Norge”. He was on leave for a few days
from just before April 9, and was on his way home from Narvik when
“Norge” was sunk in the morning of April 9-1940).
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All that remains today of the
Rutlandshire – the oars from her carley floats abandoned at Hovika
and a few of her brass fittings. |
When us rowers reached
the south side of Andsneset where the crew was, we saw no lifeboats nor
life rafts anywhere nearby. They had most probably jumped overboard and
waded to shore directly from the trawler. The weather on this day was
alternating with a north – north-westerly breeze and occasional snow
showers, but with periods of almost a clear sky in between. Those of the
crew whom Erling and I first encountered, had managed to enter the cabin
belonging to Eilif Kristiansen, Namsos. Several of them had almost no
clothes on, and the few they had were wet. Erling Jørgensen gave the
sweater he had on to one of them, and I decided I ought to follow his
example. None of them were very keen to start with to get on board the
boat we came in, but eventually we got as many as 5 on board and I could
start rowing towards Hovika. Erling stayed behind to help gather up the
others who were scattered around in various places.
I can remember that I
rowed alone, and that one of the Englishmen was holding the ause and kept
the boat free of water. That’s when these snow showers proved useful after
the planes returned and the pilots showed such an interest in everything
that moved. We reached land unharmed in Hovikfjæra and from there home to
our place.
It took quite a while before the rest of the boats got there as the
aircraft activity increased again. But they all eventually arrived. I
think there must have been as many as 20 men in this trawler crew who were
then gathered at our house. Among them were two Norwegians. One from the
Haugesund area judging from his dialect, and a pilot with the name Ottesen
(from Namsos?).
We had to give up everything we could of clothing in the house. What could
be gotten was limited of course, but in view of the situation, no-one
could be picky. In the evening that same day Erling J. and I went down to
the boathouses by the sea, and there sat yet another two of the trawler’s
crew who hadn’t dared go any further. One of them also had only a burlap
sack on him and was terribly cold. He had cut holes in the corners of the
sack and had stuck his feet through and pulled the sack further up his
body. That’s all he had on. We eventually got them to come with us to the
warm house.
Late that evening, or closer to the night time hours the trawler crew left
Hovika, to start with to Skomsvoll..
A
little earlier the one who had been injured had been put in a stretcher
and together with the one who had had the skin on his feet damaged, was
transported to Skomsvoll and placed in a room above Paul Stene’s store.
The captain stayed at our house until towards the evening of the next day
and then went on with the pilot Ottesen to Skomsvoll with horse transport
from Sandvika. Who transported the trawler crew in the night, I can’t
remember. Nor was I down on the beach when they left, but will mention
Ludvig Skorstad. |
