Sjetlandsbussen

[Sigbjørn Sandsmark]

Er der noen somvet om Viola flyter ennå,eller hvor den ente sine dager. Bilder er også av interesse. Tror den var omkring Arendal.

 

 

M/B Viola (VA 9 F)

 

Built at Svege, near Flekkefjord in 1937.

Left Spinangerfjorden near Flekkefjord on Sept. 13-1941 with 13 people (some of whom were in danger due to resistance activities), arriving Dundee, Scotland on the 15th.

On board were:

Olav Skarpenes and Ingvald Hogstad (owners of the boat), Petter Wilhelm Didrichson, Arne Gjestland and his brother Trygve Gjestland*, Tor Hugo van der Hagen, Gustav Karlsen, Tor Pedersen, Gabriel Salvesen, Sverre Strømsland, Birger Svein Syvertsen, Hans J. R. Winge and Torleif Åsmundsen.

* Dr. Trygve Gjestland should be a well known name to former WW II seamen; he worked in Newcastle until 1942, later in New York until the end of the war. He happened to be travelling with Washington Express when that ship picked up the shiprecked men from Moldanger who had been on a raft for 48 days - there's more details on this in my text for Moldanger.

According to an article in the Norwegian magazine "Krigsseileren" No. 1 for 1985, Olav Skarpenes fished with Viola until the spring of 1942, at which time she was requisitioned for special service, based in Peterhead near Aberdeen, and Skarpenes joined the Navy, taking part in operations on the Norwegian coast. The author of this article, Søren Brandsnæs escaped from Norway with Dronning Maud in Aug.-1941. Included in the article is a picture of the 13 happy escapees on Viola going into to Dundee.

6 of the 13 later lost their lives as follows:

On Jan. 1-1943, the converted whale catcher Bodø, stationed in Liverpool and used in "Local Escort" service, departed Aberdeen for Norway with 40 commando soldiers from Kompani Linge on board, including the well known Odd Starheim (see Galtesund). The group's intention was to capture a German convoy (Operation Carhampton, unsuccessful). They were landed at Tele near Flekkefjord. The owners of Viola, Ingvald Hogstad and Olav Skarpenes had joined the navy and were on board Bodø at the time; both died when she struck a mine on her return voyage.

Hans. J. R. Winge, who was in Kompani Linge, was among those who were landed at Tele by Bodø, and later died (as did Odd Starheim) following the unsuccessful attempt to take Tromøsund to a British port.

Torleif Åsmundsen, who was a dentist and worked for the Norwegian Army in Scotland, died in an accident there.

Arne Gjestland, also in Kompani Linge, died when en route to Norway in an aircraft on Nov. 8-1944.

Gabriel Salvesen sailed in the Merchant Marines for about 6 months, then he too joined Kompani Linge and was among the unfortunate men who were executed following the tragic Brattholm disaster in the spring of 1943.

When the war was over, Viola returned to Flekkefjord and remained in the district until she in 1975 was sold to a fisherman in Søgne, who had her until 1981, at which time she was sold and used for leisure. In the summer of 1983 she was sold to an owner in Arendal.

On Sept. 13-1941, some of the escapees who were from Farsund had stayed hidden behind a rock at Langøy while waiting for Viola to arrive from Flekkefjord to pick them up. 40 years later, 5 of those who took part in the escape (Petter Didrichson and Tor Pedersen had passed away by then) were reunited at Langøy, and on that rock there is now a plaque with the names of those who lost their lives in the war. The plaque was unveiled by the widow of Torleif Åsmundsen in the presence of the 5 surviving men, namely Gustav Karlsen, Trygve Gjestland, Sverre Strømsland, Birger Syvertsen and Tor Hugo van der Hagen. (The latter had also been among the 40 who were landed at Tele by Bodø).

External link related to above text:

[Gunnar Sigdestad]

Hei Sigbjørn!

 

Eg ser i Frank Abelsens "Marinens fartøyer 1939-1945 og deres skjebne", 1986, side 274, at "Viola, 20t./54', registrert i Egersund, ukjent skjebne".

[Sigbjørn Sandsmark]

Takk for svar ! Jeg får lete videre.

[Gunnar Ellingsen]

Jeg vet ikke om du kommer noe lenger med dette, men jeg har hentet ut litt historikk om Viola fra Fiskeridirektøren sitt register over merkepliktige fiskefartøyer (ligger på internett):

 

1938-registeret: VA 26 H (Hidra), eier Ingvald J. Hogstad, Kvanvig pr. Flekkefjord. Båten var 49,4 fot lang, 17,1 fot bred, 6,5 fot dyp, var bygd i 1937 og hadde en 45 HK Rapp-motor, 1937-modell.

1940-registeret: Solgt til Flekkefjord, uten at omregistrering var foretatt. Står ikke oppført verken under Flekkefjord eller Hidra.

Registrene for 1943, 1944 og 1945 har tilsynelatende ingen opplysninger om båten (den var vel bokstavlig talt nokså bortreist!).

1948-registeret: VA 168 H (Hidra), eier Leif H. Larsen, Abelsnes i Lista. Tilleggsopplysning om at båten var innkjøpt fra Flekkefjord merkedistrikt som VA 9 F.

Registrene for 1950, 1952, 1954, 1956 og 1958: Samme merke (VA 168 H) og samme eier.

1960- og 1962-registrene: VA 73 N (Nes), eier L. H. Larsen, Svege, Flekkefjord.

Registrene for 1966, 1968, 1971 og 1973: VA 73 F (Flekkefjord), eier Leif H. Larsen 4400 Flekkefjord.

Registrene for 1976, 1976, 1980 og 1982: VA 73 S (Søgne), eier Øyvind Stoveland, 4500 Mandal. Ny motor f.o.m. 1976-registeret: 90 HK Grenaa, 1964-modell.

1984-registeret: Finnes tilsynelatende ikke lenger i merkeregisteret.

 

Kanskje har Fiskeridirektøren et regionkontor på Sørlandet som kan hjelpe deg videre. Jeg fikk i alle fall, i en annen sammenheng, kopier av merkeprotokollene for samtlige båter i "mitt" merkedistrikt fra regionkontoret for Møre og Romsdal.

 

Med vennlig hilsen,

Gunnar Ellingsen

[Sigbjørn Sandsmark]

Takker for svar med mange nyttige opplysninger. Snakket med en av eierne Øyvind Stoveland, han nevnte at den for en tid siden skulle den ligget ved Tromøy /Tromøy broa A Agder.