Magne Hansen
Magne Jomar Hansen was born at Loshavn, Farsund, on the southern coast of Norway, on 30 April 1895, the son of Bernt and Gurine Hansen. He served on the D/S Borgfred (a ship registered in Farsund owned by Gabriel Gabrielsen) for many years, eventually becoming its Chief Engineer. He was on the Borgfred when War was declared in September 1939 and served on board her until April of the following year when, after the occupation of Norway, merchant shipping came under the auspices of Nortraships on behalf of the Government-in-Exile. He then served on the D/S Svint and D/S Heire until March of 1942.
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In the Fishing Heritage Centre's photographic collection there was a colour picture from the 1960s of a young Norwegian couple, the man a priest of the Church of Norway. For a long time it remined unidentified. It is Magne Hansen's daughter Aase and her husband Ingolf Sefland.
Magne came back to Buckie to visit in the early 1970s and visited the McKenzie family. Not long afterwards Magne Hansen died at Farsund on 14 December 1975 at the age of 80 and he is buried there.
Maggie Jean McKenzie's daughter, Charlotte McIntosh, has remained in regular contact with Aase and the article (right) tells of Aase's visit to Buckie in the mid 1990s; the picture below shows Charlotte and Aase during that trip. |
After being discharged from D/S Svint in March 1942, he came to Buckie. His skills, as a merchant fleet chief engineer, meant that he quickly became one of the most valued technicians at the Royal Norwegian Slip and Repair Shops. He remained in Buckie for the rest of the war, overseeing the servicing and repair of both Norwegian fishing vessels and those which had been taken over for military service.
Magne lived with Maggie Jean McKenzie and her family at Findlater Street in Portessie and the two families have remained in contact since the war. At the end of hostilities, Magne returned to Norway and brought his wife Ågot and daughter Aase back to Buckie as he was to continue working at the slip until it closed in 1946. During this time, the Hansen family lived in a house in Cliff Street.
After the war, he returned to Norway and lived with Ågot and Aase in Farsund. |