Operation Claymore– the first overall victory

This article was created by William Hakvaag at Lofoten War Memorial Museum

Various explanations have been given as to why the raid was carried out, but the author of these lines believes that it was the lack of a bright spot that was really the basis for Operation Claymore. In parliament, there had become an opposition to the war and where the desire to get an armistice with Hitler’s Germany was perhaps greater than what we like to think about in retrospect.

We must remember that England stood alone and no one saw an end to the war. The pressure on Prime Minister Churchill, who had so far suffered losses on all fronts, was extreme. According to the Bj. Ellefsen, who himself was involved in the raid, then it was an English lieutenant R. A. Tamber who first suggested a landing on the Norwegian coast. He was the commander of a high-speed motorboat flotilla and a raid was planned as early as January 1941. The small vessels were prepared with a lot of rapid-fire weapons, provisions and fuel, but the whole thing was called off before it could get started.

It has been written that Churchill was initially opposed to such raids as he feared reprisals and that people were only disappointed when there was no proper invasion and liberation. Whether this is true or not, we will probably never know, but it is in any case contrary to Churchill’s nature. It wasn’t for nothing that he was sometimes called “The Bulldog”… He was a warrior – for the good.

However, a new and larger raid was planned.

This time with destroyers and transport ships for the soldiers. Actually responsible for the raid was a newly established office, the DCO – (Directorate of Combined Operations), which with its command departments was to plan such operations and act as a coordinating body.

Martin Linge, who was affiliated with SOE, which stands for Special Operation Executive, was involved in selecting usable Norwegians who could participate in this first raid on Norwegian soil. The counterpart to SOE was SIS – Secret Intelligent Service – which was supposed to be invisible and only conduct intelligence. Common to both groups was that you had to have good nerves… Not least in the more “outgoing” SOE, which was supposed to engage directly in sabotage such as blowing up bridges, oil facilities, etc. Those who belonged to SOE therefore went between the soldiers under the name “The Dynamite Gang”.

Later they would become members of what became known as Kompani Linge. The soldiers who were to participate were first gathered in Scotland and then taken to the large English naval base at Scapa Flow. Here there were shooting exercises and instructions for about a week before the journey continued to an unknown location.

Naval force

Early on an icy morning on 4. March 1941, an English naval force heads in a straight line towards Lofoten. The English submarine Sunfish had been off Lofoten and sent beacons that they have navigated by. The destroyer Somali leads the way, followed by the Bedouin, Tartar, Legion and Eskimo. The last man is an old acquaintance, the destroyer Eskimo that shot away the entire bow with cannon, anchors and everything in Rombakken in 1940.

It then backed up to Skjelfjorden at the same time as English military marches were played at full force to dampen the shock on board. Many from Kabelvåg participated as volunteers together with blacksmith Lorentsen in Skjelfjorden where it tried to be repaired provisionally so that it could crawl on all the way to England.

Now it was good as new and was back to its old ways. Together with them, they have two huge canal ferries that have been converted into troop transport ships. Queen Emma and Princess Beatrix. They have 500 British commandos as well as 52 Norwegians from Company Linge. Further out to sea are the huge battleships King Georg V and Nelson. The huge warships patrol far out and make sure that nothing unforeseen will ruin the operation.

Queen Emma will deliver the soldiers who are going to Svolvær and Brettesnes. Princess Beatrix is responsible for those who will occupy Stamsund and Henningsvær. As landing craft, the canal ferries had been equipped with some flat-bottomed, ugly lifeboats. Almost looked like some huge cake tins.

But there will probably be more soldiers.

.. in a square tub rather than one that is oval, was probably the reason for the strange construction. Queen Emma is under the command of Lieutenant Lister. Princess Beatrix under Dunford Slater. He describes Martin Linge as “tall and thin and with a small dark moustache” and that he was “thrilled to be part of the raid. A capable officer who was full of life”. When Linge was asked about how the factory owners would react when they were to blow up herring oil factories and the like, Linge replied that “If they are loyal Norwegians, they will take it well. If not, it really doesn’t matter”.

The moral is high among the norwegians

At half past six, the course is set straight into the Vestfjord towards the beacons from Skrova lighthouse, which senses peace and no danger. On the other hand, the lighthouses at Tennholmen, Skomvær and Grytøy have been extinguished. The ships rush forward with quiet engines and hold 20 knots. The temperature is minus 4 degrees. 5 minutes to six, at the same time as you can glimpse the contours of land, Captain Martin Linge in a deep voice makes an exhortatory appeal on the banjo deck where he has rigged a lectern.

At the end, he gets so carried away that he encourages the Norwegians to take an oath to him, which did not go quite well. The soldiers believed that they had taken an oath to the King and it was allowed to hold. The destroyers Legion and Eskimo stop together with the huge Princess Betarix between Stamsund and Henningsvær. The rest of the force continues towards Svolvær.

On board the transport ships, there is disagreement between the naval officer and the army’s officers about when the soldiers should be taken on deck. The result was a compromise where breakfast was skipped and where the soldiers were left with helmets and frozen before they were finally allowed to board the landing craft. In addition, they were launched quite far from the coast and spent over an hour to land.

Major W. Bouncher-Meyer says that: “We went in these flat-bottomed gangways and were in them for quite a long time on the way in. We knew nothing about what awaited us and it was cold, pretty freezing. At that moment, I wanted a completely different place.” When they arrived at the pier at Kyllageret in Svolvær, it was a frozen and frosted ladder of iron that met them. The soldiers were of course nervous and clammy in their hands, which led to many getting stuck in the ladder and tearing large pieces of leather off their hands before they got up on the quay. It was now a little before half past eight in the morning.

Stamsund first

Martin Linge chose to go ashore in Stamsund first, but chose the wrong landing site too far out on the quay and ended up in a large grove of sneaky cod heads that they slipped and fell into before they got on safe ground. The commander of Princess Beatrix, Dunford Sletter, is also involved and says that “he went over in the grove of sneaky cod heads.

When I somewhat slyly got up and stared up at the main street in Stamsund, it was empty as air.” However, the postmaster came running and could tell that there were no German soldiers in Stamsund. Only one from Fischeinkauf, the German trading firm plus some from the Gestapo. Martin Linge translated the information they had received as an interpreter for the English.

The workers at the fish farm were absolutely thrilled by the “visit”, but were soon fired up when they thought that the war was over. They could also tell that there were few Germans in Stamsund, but that at the hotel there was a representative of the German “Fischeinkauf Gemeinshaft” stationed. He was responsible for purchasing fish for Germany.

The fish buyer

The German fish buyer was soon tracked down, but refused to open the door. A gunshot through the door from the inside did not exactly indicate that he was compliant. The English then opened fire through the door with a machine gun and the German buyer surrendered and was captured.

An English soldier opened the door to Leif Johansen’s warehouse and motioned for people to just help themselves. This led to people going off the rails to secure a part before it became free. Some carried heavy crates of angles, while others tried to roll out a barrel of syrup. The most sought-after was sugar, but here there were some who took the wrong bag and ended up with salt. At sea, some of the fishermen tried to scoop up solar oil that floated on top of the sea. The quay area was literally teeming with people and soldiers.

When the English were made aware that it was a private company and not the Germans who had stored, they tried to stop people only helping themselves, which was now almost hopeless. Martin Linge then chose to go to Svolvær as there was not much more that could be done in Stamsund

Operation Claymore

In Henningsvær, Operation Claymore (which is the English name for the operation) is also going according to plan. The first Englishmen only wore sneakers on their feet so that they could be silent. The smart guy who had come up with it could hardly know the Norwegian climate and the soldiers froze terribly on their feet.

When the soldiers realize that there are no Germans on site, they relax and raise the English flag so that the Eskimo can see that everything is OK on land. The English commandos celebrate that it had gone so painlessly with a little whisky and get in a “good mood”. And in an unguarded moment, the kids run away with the flag to have it as a souvenir. The flag led to his parents becoming afraid of informants and had it hidden under a stone fence in Festvåg for the rest of the war. Such things were dangerous to have. (The flag hangs today at Lofoten War Memorial Museum) The blast command in Henningsvær consists of 13 soldiers who begin their destructive work.

Allen & Hanbury’s factory goes live. The same fate befalls Br. Aarsæther, Rønneberg & Sønner, the Christen factory, Isdahl AS, Clement Jensen and a large herring oil factory. But the explosive command has used little explosives so that the civilian properties remain relatively undamaged. The explosives experts are also on loan from the huge English battleship Rodney as a few months. later helps to sink the Bismarck.

The special soldiers then go on to Svolvær. The goals in Svolvær and Brettesnes are the same as in Henningsvær. Cod liver oil plants and oil tanks will be put out of action.

The Germans are also beginning to sense that something is going on. In Narvik, the War Navy receives a message from Skrova lighthouse that English destroyers are on their way in. The Luftwaffe, which was here under Luftflotte 5, also reports of English destroyers at Svolvær and that unloading is taking place. The nearest airport is in Bodø where there is an airport made of planks, but there is no air force stationed here right now. Thus, they are temporarily prevented from being able to carry out an air attack on the ships.

In Svolvær, Gunvor Skaar, who has worked as an interpreter for the German port office, is woken up. It is a little past 7 in the morning She both speaks and writes fluent German, which has led to her acting as an interpreter and office assistant for the port office. Outside, a group of young German naval officers stand and look at her seriously. Several of them are crying.

Frightened, she asks what is going on and the crew says that they have now been sent on a suicide mission and that they want to say goodbye to her while thanking her for being kind and helping them with letters and other small matters. The crew then hurry towards the harbor where they have the small armored trawler Krebs. Out from the Vestfjord, thunder can be heard. It is the English destroyer Somali that has taken the factory ship Hamburg under fire.

At the same time, the Hurtigruten Mira leaves the steamship quay in Svolvær, severely delayed, and heads for Lødingen, where it will have its first stop. On board, in addition to the Norwegian passengers, there are 15 German soldiers. The hunter Bedouin, who is protecting Queen Emma, sees the ship leaving Svolvær. They think it is a ship that is trying to run away and goes around Skrova and lies down and waits a little east of Lille Molla.

When Mira walks out of Molldøra, a strait east of Svolvær, it meets the fighter Bedouin, who fires an awkward warning shot that hits the mast of a large freighter that happens to be in the same area. The boat is not slow to change course and goes into Brettesnes, a village with a large herring oil factory located in the sound. On board the Mira, they think the fighter is German and misunderstand.

They think the Germans have an exercise.

It is not until the third warning shot that Mira understands that they have to stop.

The machine is brought to a complete stop, but it is not done in a jiffy and stop such machinery. “Flip over” the steam engine and get it in reverse so that they can stop the ship. The Bedouin misinterprets this as Mira refusing to stop and opening fire with her main gun. The first grenade goes in close to the chimney. The next grenade goes into the side of the ship, in a large cabin in front that Arne Smedvik shares with another. Arne has gone up on deck to take a smoke when the grenade whizzes into the side of the ship. Arne is shocked and storms down to the cabin. The grenade had gone in just above the bed without exploding, but the pressure had killed the travel companion. The grenade has exploded across the hall where two 18-year-old girls had their cabins. One has both legs torn off, while the other is terribly injured in the abdomen by splinters. The coal empner, who has a cabin close by, has both thighs cut off.

On board the Mira, there is a hint of panic, the deck is full of broken glass and Rolf Grimstad from Svolvær, who has not been able to put on his shoes, cuts his legs badly. He was there when the ironclad Norway was sunk the year before with over 100 fatalities and has once again ended up in a war drama at sea. The injuries he now sustains lead to his death 20 years later, but that is in the future. Meanwhile, the sailors on Mira make an incredible effort. They keep calm, get people into the lifeboats. All the time while the Bedouin lies grey and menacing just beyond them.

Torbjørn Henriksen from Svolvær, who is 17 years old, thinks the horrible screams from those who are seriously injured are terrible to listen to. It goes through marrow and bones and will come to haunt him for the rest of his life. One of the injured girls is lost at sea and she wakes up screaming hysterically until she is lifted into the lifeboat.

All evacuated

Eventually, everyone is evacuated and the fighter, while the lifeboats row away, begins to sink Mira with grenades. They are taken ashore at Brettesnes where the commandos have arrived to blow up the herring oil factory. Of the Germans who are captured, one is seriously wounded. When the English see what they have caused among the civilians, they are embarrassed and say that this was not the intention.

Since then, the helmsman, who escaped to England, has denied the myth that it was a German officer with a gun on the bridge who threatened the captain not to stop. It was all a tragic misunderstanding and the price for such is usually the civilians who have to pay for… In this case, 7 pieces. One of the passengers, Rolf Grimstad, injured himself so seriously under his legs when he had to wade into broken glass that it developed into cancer later in life. He died in 1962.

In Svolvær, the large factory ship Hamburg is located inside Osanpollen. Hamburg is the world’s most modern factory ship and has Baader’s first fillet machines on board. The ship can produce an incredible 175 tonnes of round fish a day. Everything is utilized on the fish and the ship has both a large freezing capacity and a cod liver oil steamer. At the back of Hamburg there are mounted 4 railway carriages that are furnished as a freezer. Those who work here are equipped with thick lined leather suits.

This thing about cutting the fillet of the fish and then freezing it is something new that has come along. A few years ago, an older German stated that it was actually they who had taught us how to handle the fish, which of course fell heavily on the chest of some Norwegians… There were two shifts worked on board for 12 hours and many from Svolvær were “conscripted” by the Germans to work on the factory ship. German prisoners of the penitentiary also work in the production. They had been given the choice between still being in prison or working on m/s Hamburg, and then the choice was not so difficult…

The ship is taken under fire by the Somali, which is located further out in the Vestfjord. The accuracy is poor and the first shot ends up in Svolværmarka. The next one hits up around the chimney and a lot of splinters fly around. Sigurd Pettersen, a veteran from 1940, storms up to the bridge to warn that they are being fired upon. Then the helmsman’s head comes rolling towards him. He makes an abrupt turn and storms back down.

A grenade hits the mess hall on the boat with a violent force.

It is said that it hits the nail on the head in a picture of Hitler. In a flash of fire, the dining room turns into an inferno. Fortunately, there is no meal time, otherwise it would have been a massacre. The whole ship trembles and the shock causes the teak doors that the ship is equipped with to cut and cannot be opened. Others are torn off their hinges.

In the room during the fair, “Basse” Dahl Olsen is checking the fish. He is instead Torbjørn Henriksen who is on board Mira. The explosion from the grenade that explodes in the dining room on board is so violent that Basse loses his hearing and goes into shock. But the steel deck holds. It saves his life. When they ask him later in the day if he wants to go to England, he does not hear what they are saying and does not understand what they want. He has shell shock. Further up the ship, the radio officer is working desperately with some sailors to get into the radio room. But for some reason, the door won’t open. Probable sabotage.

Thus, no message can be given to the War Navy in Narvik about what is happening. Amid screams and screams, part of the crew is evacuated in a small motorboat that lies next to Hamburg. The others have to use the lifeboats. One tries to enter the land by using one of the land ropes that also has the water hose for Hamburg attached to it.

The English believe that the lifeboats do not row where they are supposed to go and open fire to force the lifeboats to land so that those on board could be captured. Ingeborg Klausen from Svolvær, who was on the last lifeboat, said that everyone was completely terrified when they did not understand why the English were shooting at them. You get a bullet through a knee. Harald Løken, a tough guy who had rounded the Hornet on sailing ships and was the captain of the local boat Røst, has stopped the shooting when he says that there are also Norwegian civilians on board the boats.

While the Germans are sorted out and taken away on land, one of the German prisoners sings “Wir fahren gegen Engeland” with a full throat and good humor, which causes his fellow prisoners to beat after him. Maybe not quite the right moment for humor… The world’s most modern factory ship is sunk with explosive charges and a double shot down in the waterline. (The 6000 tonne is still at a depth of 18 meters inside the harbor in Svolvær and has been an eldorado for divers for several generations)

Cancer opens fire

Out on the Vestfjord, the small trawler Krebs has opened fire and attacked the English destroyer Somali. It can’t go well. After a sliding shot, the Somali shoots his way in and gets a hit on the bridge on Krebs. The trawler gets completely out of control and is left to drift. The suicide mission has come at a cost.

Six have been killed and just as many seriously wounded. The crew and the wounded leave the ship and are taken on board in Somali. Crayfish do not sink and are left to burn. The English disagree on whether or not to board the sinkable trawler, but as it is still afloat, Krebs is boarded after a few hours. On board you will find ready-decoded material from the German coding machine Enigma.

In addition, you will find some strange wheels that are used on the same thing. This, of course, is of great interest to the English who are working to crack the code of the German War Navy.

In Svolvær, the British commandos who landed at the cold store had discovered that two German sailors had a room on the second floor. The sailors panicked and refused to open the door when they heard that “die English” ordered them out. The commandos then opened fire through the door leaf and one was killed, the other seriously wounded. The sailor who was badly injured was driven by truck up to the infirmary. For many years afterwards, you could see the damage on the door, even though it was repaired.

The soldiers quickly secured the post office and the telegraph that was close to the cold store. On the telegraph you place a German-speaking English soldier who answers the phone when the Germans start calling to find out what is going on. “Alles in ordnung,” the German-speaking Englishman replies cheerfully as a lark when asked what is going on. “Everything is going well”, which was true enough, seen from the English side.

In the end, they manage to make a phone call, because the telegraph is fully operational, all the way to Berlin and makes contact with the Reich Chancellery where Hitler is located. But to talk to Der Führer is rejected. On the other hand, they give a message that reads:

«We are no standing here and what you gone do about it»?

At the post office, “examiners” begin to open all letters. Maybe you can find something of interest. The letters are then neatly glued together with the inscription that they have been checked by “Allied forces” to be forwarded in the mail. (Such letters are today highly sought after by philatelists.)

On board Finmarken, which is docked, a German officer traveling by courier is arrested. The mail he has with him is so secret that he has hardly been out of the cabin. The rest of the city is quickly occupied, guards are deployed and people believe that the war is over. The children stream out to watch the strange soldiers who “have a washbasin” on their heads. The fishermen spontaneously form a 17. May procession and sings Yes we love at full throat. The Norwegian flag is planted in the square together with the English one.

Radio transmitters

The German soldiers were equipped with a huge radio transmitter where they send weather reports for the air force and navy and other things that may be of interest. Captain Linge, who has had his foot injured due to. a gunshot with his own gun, hobbles around and organizes a group that goes by bus to Kabelvåg while someone follows by taxi. They are attacking the building.

It doesn’t take long before all the German liaison soldiers are standing with their hands above the hold outside Arbeideren.

They were completely caught off guard. The English go through all the papers they find up at Arbeideren and it is probably here that they find a complete enigma coding machine and codebook that they take with them. But this must be kept secret. So secret that almost no one should know about it. Then the radio transmitter is blown up with a boom so that the window upstairs blows out.

Then the radio people of the German Luftwaffe were led away in a rush to Svolvær. A little later, the population discovers that someone who had had a Norwegian girlfriend had been warned and had managed to run away. Afterwards, the rooms that the Germans had had were searched by the population to see if they could find anything usable. In retrospect, it was easily criticized when someone got an unfair amount and didn’t want to share…

On the way back, they meet survivors from Hamburg. An officer pulls a briefcase out to sea at Strømbrua in Svolvær when he realizes that it is English soldiers who are coming. Martin Linge multiplies and forces him to swim out to retrieve it, threatening to shoot him if he does not obey, but the German refuses. Fortunately, another German volunteers and wades into the ice water and brings the briefcase ashore. Germans freeze terribly in the biting winter day, when many are wet and poorly dressed.

Inside Svolvær, the Germans tried to get away. The German harbor master Martin Wilken ran straight to the mountains when he realized that the city was occupied by the English. Here he lay under the Svolvær goat where he could see that there were a lot of people in the streets.

He also heard the sound of cheers, singing and music. In the evening, he made his way to Kabelvåg where he spent the night in a cabin. When he went to his office the next day, everything was turned upside down and destroyed. However, the landlord had saved his lice cardigan. Not long afterwards, the German Hafenkapitan Wilken got into a fight with an SS officer when he tried to prevent the burning of houses.

When the population understands that the war is not over and that the English are thinking of leaving Lofoten, many become concerned. But for many young people, being able to escape to England is an adventure.

Some lie about their age and are taken along. Others are grabbed by the collar and brought back out of the landing craft by their parents. There is a rushed atmosphere just before the cake tin boats are due to leave Stamsund and Svolvær. Still, a thousand voices on the quay in Svolvær sing “Yes we love”…

That is the last thing the soldiers and Martin Linge hear when they head out to the harbor in Svolvær on their way out to the troop transport ship Queen Emma. Over 300 of the population in Lofoten have gone with the English to be able to participate in the Norwegian forces. The ships then set their noses back towards England.

In Luftflotte Nord, the German pilots disagree on whether they should attack the English or not. The reason is that the ships have over 200 German prisoners. But after a heated discussion, two He 111 bombers take off from Sola near Stavanger and fly north. They do not have enough fuel to fly back and will land at Bardufoss.

Far out in the Vestfjord, they only make a half-hearted attempt from a great height to bomb the convoy that is rushing towards the Orkney Islands. But the air defense from the ships is so intense that both planes suffered damage from the air defense.

An English “mariner” from Manchester who took part in the raid told many years later a story that had stuck and for which he felt a kind of collective shame. During the return trip, he was part of a guard force that was supposed to keep an eye on the German prisoners who were stationed out on deck.

One of the German prisoners asked for permission to step down on behalf of nature, but was asked to wait. The prisoner continued to ask, almost nagging as the need was probably great. Joe, as the mariner was called, could see that the officer in charge was annoyed.

Suddenly, two British sergeants ran forward and grabbed the prisoner, one in each arm, and dragged him squirming and screaming across the deck, before they immediately threw him over the railing and out into the cold and black Vestfjord. You can do wrong things even if you fight for the right cause.

In Svolvær, the mood dropped as the ships moved away and many felt anxious about what might come next. And for good reason.

On the evening of 4. March, the cinema in Svolvær showed “Bullets, gunpowder, love“, but it was not very tempting. The first two ingredients in the film had been fed up during the day with factories being blown up and oil tanks on fire.

A rather eerie atmosphere descended and many feared what the Germans might do because over 300 had gone to England. In addition, there was the enthusiastic reception of the soldiers who took part in the raid plus the fact that over 200 Germans had been taken prisoner, and a number of ships sunk and facilities blown up. And the fear was justified.

Hitler was annoyed when he heard of the friendly reception the English force had received and had stated that such an attitude should not go completely unnoticed. This led to the head of the general staff, Keitel, believing that the whole of Svolvær should be “vernichten” wiped out …

Terboven, the Reichskommissar für die besetzten norwegischen Gebiete and the highest Nazi authority in Norway, flies up to Trondheim.

Continues with a large seaplane JU 52 and lands out at Gullet in the afternoon of 5. March. He is accompanied by SS General Redies and Jonas Lie. At the same time as Terboven and his entourage are being picked up with a skate, Arntzen (who later became postmaster in Svolvær) and his brother are collecting cash tables that floated up from a small cargo boat that had been sunk at Silda.

Arntzen hears that a skate suddenly stops behind the rowing boat they are in and turns around. There stands Reichkommissar Terboven, staring at him with anguish. Arntzen understands that it is a dangerous situation and feels the horror creeping in. When Terboven asks if “he knows the punishment for wreck plundering”, he doesn’t know if he should just lie down in the rowboat and die right away…

But Jonas Lie intervenes and says that they are just trying to salvage something. Terboven stands and chews on it for a while before he sourly nods and with an annoyed gesture signals for them to move on. Arntzen and his brother saved their lives, but are quick to get ashore.

At the steamship quay, the Hurtigruten Richard With arrives.

Michael Kildal is with him and is standing with a number of other crew and passengers at the line. Everyone is curious to know what has been going on. They talk to some girls on the quay who can tell that the English have been here and “you have no idea what has happened”. There will be some loud smirking and talking.

A German troop of Alpine hunters from Regiment 139 passes in a rapid march behind the girls. They are on their way out towards Vita Nova, which is located at the far end of the quay. “Nicht lachen und sprechen” threatens the German officer before they rush out. Everyone is silent and waits for the German squad to disappear. Then the conversation resumes and there is again loud talk when you hear that the city has been occupied by forces from England. However, the Germans have made a quick comeback and are furious about the good atmosphere. One of the soldiers fires a shot at those standing by the line and hits the ranger Einar Enoksen in the stomach. He is a youth from Sandnes in Hadsel and only 17 years old.

The shot hits fatally and the back is shot across. The Germans hurry on. They have more to accomplish, but the young Norwegian is left in a pool of blood on the deck. He is carried down into a cabin by Elmod Rølvåg who is from Sigerfjord and a sailor on board. The doctor who arrives just shakes his head when he sees how seriously injured the young sailor is.

Einar Enoksen understands that he is dying and asks Rølvåg to say hello to his parents in Sandnes. He dies 4 hours later. This is portrayed from the German side as if they have shot a person who refused to obey orders. At the funeral in Hadsel, only the parents were allowed to participate. The Germans understood that otherwise there would have been a huge turnout.

The atmosphere inside the city was tense and eerie.

Signe Robertsen, who has a hairdressing salon on the 2nd floor of a building by the square in Svolvær, sees in the window how a German sailor attacks a fisherman who does not move fast enough when the sailor is about to arrive. The Norwegian is knocked down while the German naval man stands over him. Signe leaves the window and sits down on a chair. She is afraid that some of the aggressive Nazis will make their way into the hair salon.

Over the next few days, interrogations and arrests begin and houses are set on fire. The Germans are so disturbed that they burn down the pier of “Sement-Olsen” at Hjelskjæret and forget that they themselves had a large stock of different things inside it…

The actual burning of the house took place by pouring two cans of gasoline over the floor. Then some German stick hand grenades were thrown in and with a boom the house was in flames. The fire service was forcibly called in to be involved as a security.

A hut that was Larsen’s residence at Hjelskjæret, gets petrol all over the floor. Hand grenades are thrown in and then it was full fire. Larsen, who was a quick-witted guy, stated that: “That was nothing to brag about. I could do that too.”

A German SS man demands to have what he says translated and is furious. He slams Larsen so that he falls into the snow.

Suddenly, a young crying woman appears with a child on her arm. Poorly dressed and completely distraught. The Germans had burned the house and she had no idea where to go. The SS soldiers don’t care. Showing compassion was a weakness in their thinking. The young woman and child are taken care of by someone standing nearby and discreetly taken away so that she can get to the house. Gudmund Gjertsen, who is an active youth, arrives at the intersection at Hjelskjæret with a kick.

Here is Willy Jansen’s house in flames. His son Jens Ragnar had run away to England. An SS soldier grabs the kick and wants to snatch it from him, but Gudmund, who is a sinewy guy, grabs the kick to himself. The SS soldier then makes a new attempt without success. Gudmund then meets the SS man’s gaze. It shines with such hatred and madness that he gets scared.

Gudmund understands that his life may be in danger and is fired as if he has burned himself. The kick is thrown down towards the shore while Gudmund runs for his life the other way.

Hotel Lofoten

At Hotel Lofoten, Overå, who is the director of the Raw Fish Association, is negotiating with Terboven. Overå warns Terboven against continuing the house burning in Svolvær. If that happens, the fishermen will leave Svolvær and Lofotfiske will cease. “Then you must order them to fish.

You are their boss,” Terboven says pointedly. Overå refuses and says that it is outside his area of authority. “Then I’ll force them to fish,” says the Reichkommissar, emphasizing his argument with a slight slap on the table. “Possibly,” Overå replies. “But you can’t force them to drop their angles where the fish are”…

Terboven sits and chews on the last argument. The Lofoten fishery is in danger… They have a direct line to Berlin and new phones are being made. Anton Dahl Olsen, who also works at the raw fish association as an office worker, says that during the night, the director of the raw fish association came cheering in the hotel corridor. “It has succeeded, it has succeeded” he repeats over and over again. The house burning was to be ended after an agreement with Berlin.

Svolvær therefore got away with “only” 7 houses. Kabelvåg, Henningsvær and Stamsund with one house each. In total, approx. 100 arrested, several severely abused in the packing at Hotel Lofoten. Today there is a Pub there. It is one of the chief gestapists named Krupa who leads the interrogations.

Karl Nygård is so mistreated that he has to be hospitalized when he arrives in Oslo as a prisoner. Krupa is a creepy type with icy eyes and stays in Svolvær for several months. He used to go to Haversand when summer came to sunbathe naked with his Norwegian friend. But he knew that he was living a dangerous life and the gun was always ready on the beach blanket on which he was lying.

Krupa is later shot in June 1944 when he tries to arrest a Milorg man with a roar. He dies on a sidewalk in Oslo. Magnar Pettersen is also one of those who must be questioned. But he is very careful about telling about what he has seen and heard. In the end, the gestapist who interrogates him becomes irritated and snarls: “You have ears, don’t you?” Magnar confirms it. “And you have eyes too – don’t you? But you don’t hear or see anything.” The Gestapist is cursed, but Magnar is lucky and is released.

This article was created by William Hakvaag at Lofoten War Memorial Museum