Ospoy
When we reached Ospoy, which seemed to us to be only a large rock towering out of the water, tars pulled into shore and told us to climb out and to take cover wherever possible. He indicated by his gestures that someone would be in touch. We all scrambled up the barren rock in search of a spot where we could hide out of sight from any passing ships. When we reached the top we were startled to find a tall stranger carrying a large bag under his arm. He also didn't speak any English, and this caused us to be a little leery of him. Using his hands he indicated that he was to stay with us and as he didn't seem to be armed we didn't think he would be a threat to our safety.
After a couple of hours another fishing boat approached the island, cut its motor and drifted towards the rocky shore. The stranger apparently recognized the boat and ran towards it beckoning us to follow him. A bit confused and concerned we ran down to the boat and climbed over the railing, being helped by the two man crew. When all aboard the boat was pushed away from the island and we were on our way again, We were told to go below and to keep out of sight. The six of us filled the cabin, which smelled strongly of dead fish and we sat on side benches wondering where to next.
This boat was larger and quite a bit faster than the previous one, however as we couldn't communicate very well with the captain or crew we weren't sure we were with men of the Milorg Resistance movement. This doubt was eliminated from our minds a short time later. The skipper using sign language, asked if any of us would like a smoke. He then produced some cigarette papers and a tin of tobacco. Printed on the outside of the tin were the words "For the exclusive use of His Majesty's Royal Navy". The fact that Sverre [Östervall], the owner and skipper of the boat, had access to a tin of fresh English tobacco indicated to us that he had close contact with Allied Naval forces, and therefore we were actually heading home.
We carried on travelling in a south westerly direction for about another four to five miles passing several small islands, Finally Sverre headed the boat between two larger islands after which we came to a fairly large open body of water with a small bald rocky island in the middle. We headed straight for the island, which had a small hut perched on the very top. Sverre dropped us off and indicated to us to stay under cover in the hut and that they would be back later that night to ferry us to another boat which would take us back to Scotland.
We later learned that Sverre and his boat for the last several months had been instrumental in landing many allied agents in Norway as well as numerous shipments of ammunition and other arms.
The Norwegian we had picked up at Ospoy accompanied us as we climbed the steep rock up to the broken down shack. It was extremely dirty as well as very smelly. It had two separate areas, one with a couple of bunks, a table and a few broken chairs, and the other had some loose straw scattered around and from the state of the floor appeared to have been inhabited by sheep or goats. Due to the foul stench I couldn't stay inside the place so most of the afternoon and evening I lay on the rock outside until the cold wind finally drove me inside.
Apparently our Norwegian friend was travelling with all his clothes on his back, because he removed several layers of sweaters and at least two pairs of trousers. We tried hard to communicate with him and after awhile learned that he was involved in supplying information regarding German shipping to the Allies.
We all became quite restless as night settled in and as well we were very hungry and thirsty, having not eaten in several hours. It was difficult to get any sleep because of the confined quarters. The hours went by very slowly and still no sign of Sverre. We didn't know that he had actually tried to bring us some food but had to turn back due to the German patrol activity on the water. He also was unable to inform us that the rendezvous time had been set back twenty four hours. The message "It rains in the mountains - one day later" had been broadcast by the BBC advising the Milorg that complications had arisen causing the delay.
I finally managed to get a little sleep from about four a.m. until dawn. The sun streaming through the one dirty window awoke me and I immediately went outside to get some fresh air. Passing right in front of the island were several boats of various shapes and sizes and not knowing if friend or foe I ducked down into the shelter of the building. We became more hungry and more thirsty as the day progressed. Neil decided to try and purify some water which was in a small pool beside the hut, using some tablets from his escape kit. Initially he satisfied his thirst but in about half an hour he became very sick. Needless to say the rest of us decided to pass on the water.
All that day and through the evening hours, we remained closeted in the tumbled down shack. Finally out of the darkness at about midnight Sverre arrived and hurriedly beckoned us to climb aboard. It was amazing that Sverre could see at all to maneuver the boat but he opened it to full throttle and threaded his way past several islands until he pulled into a very small inlet. Out of the blackness we saw the outline of a much larger ship and Sverre pulled along side a rope ladder. Norwegian sailors helped us over the railing after we swung our way up the ladder.
(Read this bit from the perspective of the Vigra and its crew]