Return to Os 60 Years Later - September 2004
by Harvey Firestone
In September 2004 I returned to Norway, to Os, and to Little Canada to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the memorable events of World War II. I was accompanied by my sons Rick and Gary, and by Rick's wife Susan, and my grandsons Matt and Elliot.
After a long flight from the west coast of North America we were met in Bergen Airport on Thursday, September 23rd by Helen Mowinckel-Nilsen, Kjell Harmens and his wife Merete. We were taken to the country house of Helen's son Tore where we were to stay. We paid a visit to the section of a Bergen Cemetery for Allied casualties of World War II then visited a MILORG museum run by Helen.
On Friday following a bit of sight-seeing we met Karl-Ole Midtbø in Os and were taken to the studio of Arne Mæland to meet the sculptor we had commissioned to produce a memorial plaque expressing our gratitude to the helpers. From the studio we all went to the crash site where we looked around while Arne fixed the plaque to the stone he had prepared.
Saturday was the day of official ceremonies in Os to mark the anniversary. The meeting place for the day was Søre Neset School where a large crowd was gathering under grey skies. There were familiar faces as some surviving helpers and some family members of helpers were there along with many others including Acting Mayor of Os Lisbeth Axelsen; the Inspector-General of the Royal Norwegian Air Force, BGen Morten Haga Lunde (whose childhood home was 400 metres from the school); and Canada's Military Attaché in Oslo, Col Rick Hardy. From the school the group walked, following lanes and paths across fields, down to a cove for a ceremony to re-christen the fish boat Snøgg that had been restored and is to be an operating memorial. Light rain began falling during the ceremony during which Arthur Lunde told the story of the Snøgg and of the extensive restoration project. This ceremony concluded with the re-christening of Snøgg by my daughter-in-law, Susan. As we walked up from the cove to the crash site the rain continued to intensify.
We found even more people waiting at the crash-site for the unveiling of our thank-you memorial that now sits just beside the memorial put in place by Os Kommune in 1999. A guard of honour from the Norwegian Home Guard flanked the memorials as the acting mayor welcomed everyone. The ceremony included my son, Rick, telling of how the aircraft came to crash-land; Ingemar Asvik telling of the aircraft crash in his family's potato field and of the events that followed; music selections by the Os orchestra; and a few words of thanks from me to unveil the memorial.
A wonderful lunch followed at a nearby café where there were more stories and visiting. Ottar Askvik had brought the remains of the aircraft compass and the Verey pistol for me as well as George Deeth's wedge cap to bring back to his family. Ingemar brought a propeller spinner from the Wellington and told of how he had helped his father 'acquire' it from the crash site under the noses of the Germans that were chopping up the aircraft and hauling it away.
On Sunday, the anniversary of the crash, was the annual trek to Little Canada to the hut in the mountains where we had been hidden. After the group met in Os we divided into two groups. The younger and fitter would follow the steep 1944 route while I, along with many others followed a much easier route to the cabin. The communities of Os and of Samnanger, that the cabin is in, had mounted a plaque on the wall. The plaque is a bronze casting done by Arne Mæland from an original wood carving by Jakob Hjelle, a leader of the Os MILORG and a renowned wood carver. Jakob's son Mats was waiting in the cabin with a pot of hot coffee on the stove. On the window sill we found a note that George Deeth's son Doug had left when he visited the cabin in 2003. Helen told stories of MILORG's use of Little Canada before the plaque was unveiled to conclude the official part of the week-end. We had dinner with Helen, Tore and his wife Eva Lis, and Kjell and Merete to bring a long but wonderful Sunday to a close.
We went to Norway to express our eternal gratitude to the helpers and people of Os and Norway again. We returned after a wonderful, though very wet, week-end, feeling even more grateful for the kindness and generosity that we had been met with everywhere. The meaningful ceremonies and events organized in Os have provided excellent new memories to cherish, this time by three generations.
Rick Firestone's website with photos of the 2004 visit can be found here.
by Harvey Firestone
In September 2004 I returned to Norway, to Os, and to Little Canada to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the memorable events of World War II. I was accompanied by my sons Rick and Gary, and by Rick's wife Susan, and my grandsons Matt and Elliot.
After a long flight from the west coast of North America we were met in Bergen Airport on Thursday, September 23rd by Helen Mowinckel-Nilsen, Kjell Harmens and his wife Merete. We were taken to the country house of Helen's son Tore where we were to stay. We paid a visit to the section of a Bergen Cemetery for Allied casualties of World War II then visited a MILORG museum run by Helen.
On Friday following a bit of sight-seeing we met Karl-Ole Midtbø in Os and were taken to the studio of Arne Mæland to meet the sculptor we had commissioned to produce a memorial plaque expressing our gratitude to the helpers. From the studio we all went to the crash site where we looked around while Arne fixed the plaque to the stone he had prepared.
Saturday was the day of official ceremonies in Os to mark the anniversary. The meeting place for the day was Søre Neset School where a large crowd was gathering under grey skies. There were familiar faces as some surviving helpers and some family members of helpers were there along with many others including Acting Mayor of Os Lisbeth Axelsen; the Inspector-General of the Royal Norwegian Air Force, BGen Morten Haga Lunde (whose childhood home was 400 metres from the school); and Canada's Military Attaché in Oslo, Col Rick Hardy. From the school the group walked, following lanes and paths across fields, down to a cove for a ceremony to re-christen the fish boat Snøgg that had been restored and is to be an operating memorial. Light rain began falling during the ceremony during which Arthur Lunde told the story of the Snøgg and of the extensive restoration project. This ceremony concluded with the re-christening of Snøgg by my daughter-in-law, Susan. As we walked up from the cove to the crash site the rain continued to intensify.
We found even more people waiting at the crash-site for the unveiling of our thank-you memorial that now sits just beside the memorial put in place by Os Kommune in 1999. A guard of honour from the Norwegian Home Guard flanked the memorials as the acting mayor welcomed everyone. The ceremony included my son, Rick, telling of how the aircraft came to crash-land; Ingemar Asvik telling of the aircraft crash in his family's potato field and of the events that followed; music selections by the Os orchestra; and a few words of thanks from me to unveil the memorial.
A wonderful lunch followed at a nearby café where there were more stories and visiting. Ottar Askvik had brought the remains of the aircraft compass and the Verey pistol for me as well as George Deeth's wedge cap to bring back to his family. Ingemar brought a propeller spinner from the Wellington and told of how he had helped his father 'acquire' it from the crash site under the noses of the Germans that were chopping up the aircraft and hauling it away.
On Sunday, the anniversary of the crash, was the annual trek to Little Canada to the hut in the mountains where we had been hidden. After the group met in Os we divided into two groups. The younger and fitter would follow the steep 1944 route while I, along with many others followed a much easier route to the cabin. The communities of Os and of Samnanger, that the cabin is in, had mounted a plaque on the wall. The plaque is a bronze casting done by Arne Mæland from an original wood carving by Jakob Hjelle, a leader of the Os MILORG and a renowned wood carver. Jakob's son Mats was waiting in the cabin with a pot of hot coffee on the stove. On the window sill we found a note that George Deeth's son Doug had left when he visited the cabin in 2003. Helen told stories of MILORG's use of Little Canada before the plaque was unveiled to conclude the official part of the week-end. We had dinner with Helen, Tore and his wife Eva Lis, and Kjell and Merete to bring a long but wonderful Sunday to a close.
We went to Norway to express our eternal gratitude to the helpers and people of Os and Norway again. We returned after a wonderful, though very wet, week-end, feeling even more grateful for the kindness and generosity that we had been met with everywhere. The meaningful ceremonies and events organized in Os have provided excellent new memories to cherish, this time by three generations.
Rick Firestone's website with photos of the 2004 visit can be found here.