To norway's gallant sons

[Ian Adrian Millar]

TO NORWAY'S GALLANT SONS

Here's to the sons of Norway,
Who braved the deadly blast,
Brave Terjesen, Sverre Karlsen too,
They could not sail on past.

Torpedoed men called out for help,
In that cold September sea,
Some struggled hard to stay alive
To father sons like me.

The orders strictly given,
Don't stop no matter when,
But VESTLAND stopped in spite of that,
To save those shipwrecked men.

There was fire on the ocean,
And U-boats in the lanes,
But Norway's gallant sons stood fast,
In the battle's smoke and flames,

The GYPSUM QUEEN went quickly down,
Upon and even keel,
And VESTLAND'S crew shared what they had,
To give those saved a meal.

My thanks to you Norwegians brave,
For your courage in the strife,
We'll not forget the day you stopped,
To save my father's life.

Ian a Millar

An incident in Convoy SC-42.

[Keith at Tregenna]

Another great tribute.

Keith.

[happy daze john in oz]

In Norway last year and visited the Museum/ cultural center at the North Cape.

There is much in there about the Norwegian navy and how Norway was the place where one of the great sea battles of WW2 was a fought.
There is much history there so much that we only had time to glimpse at most of it, would need a couple of days to see it all, along with many pieces of film from a number of actions in the war.

[Ian Adrian Millar]

John: Thank you, there is an interesting facet to the story behind the poem. Many years ago when I was researching family history I thought it would be nice to find one of the VESTLAND's crew and thank them personally for their saving of my father's life during the war. It soon became all too clear than finding anyone still living was not likely to happen. Then out of the blue I received a letter from Sverre Karlsen who was a gunner aboard the VESTLAND and he wanted to come visit us, which he did. So I had the opportunity of friendship for several years and a personal contact who was there. Later I found an Engineer in Germany who was aboard the U-82 when they sank Dad's ship the GYPSUM QUEEN. This man was transferred off after the SC-42 attack and lucky for him as on the next patrol the U-82 was lost with all hands. Sometimes it can be a small world indeed.

[Keith at Tregenna]

Several trips to Norway myself and both the families
stayed with, friends met and many individuals on hearing
my accent always commented with much thanks to the
Heroes that assisted them when needed.

Favourite places Stavangner and Bergen.

Keith.