Olav Huldal
Olav Huldal was born on 2 May 1918 at Fosnavåg in the municipality of Herøy south of Ålesund. He was one of ten siblings, seven sisters and three brothers. He was educated at the local folkeskule and, like many, took the navigation course. Following his confirmation, he went to the fishing like most men from Herøy.
|
I had a boat along with my father and one of my brothers. We worked at line fishing at Tampen and Storegga. But then the war broke out and I went west. |
On 6 May 1940, a boat with thirty British soldiers arrived in Fosnavåg. They had been fighting the German Army and some of them were injured. Two boats from Herøy got ready to go to Shetland. One of them was the Vestern with Hans Feie as the skipper and Olav Huldal and John Igesund as the crew. The other was the Sandvikhorn with Johan Vike as skipper, Olav Knutsen and Sigmund Stenersen as crew. The British soldiers were divided out between these two boats. The following day, 7 May, the boats set course for Baltasound in Shetland. The arrived the following day.
|
Escape to Shetland
The same day we arrived, we got orders to go to Lerwick. After fourteen days there we were sent to Buckie. From Lerwick we went in convoy together with other Norwegian boats. Three weeks after arriving in Scotland, we went back to sea. (Olav 1986) |
Olav signed on with the Norwegian Merchant Navy (Nortraship) and joined the oil tanker Finnanger on the Clyde on 20 August 1940. The trip took him to Venezuela to collect oil and lasted for six months. The Finnanger crossed the Atlantic and delivered the oil to Plymouth before going to on to nearby Falmouth. It was there that the crew witnessed a ferocious bombing attack although, amazingly, no one was injured.
|
once we were unloaded, we went to Falmouth and changed crew. Right after changing crew something very bad happened to the tanker. A short time after leaving Falmouth, the Finnanger went down with all hands. So that was a lucky escape for me that I changed crew when I did but I think of all the friends that were lost. Many other boats went down at the same period. It has never been quite clear but I suppose they were sunk by the Germans. |
Olav was discharged from the Finnanger at Falmouth on 6 May 1941 and went to Glasgow where he registered at the Seaman's Office. In the meantime, he came back to Buckie and it was during this trip that he met Jeannie Smith.
He then became the skipper of the Valder, a 55-foot boat from Valderoya. That boat went to Portland in the English Channel and there the work was to make the boat 'unmagnetic' so that it could go over mines without exploding them. He was on the Valder until 1942 before joining the Marga, a 2,500 tonne ship which was engaged in carrying ammunition to the Eight Army in North Africa. On one of these trips, Olav witnessed an enormous explosion in Algiers:
In Algeria we loaded the boat for Reggio in Italy. We had with us soldiers and ammunition for cargo. We had to work quickly to unload and had to unload before the boat could be secured. One item which was unloaded was an amphibious car which both wheels and a propeller so they it could go on both land and sea. After Reggio, we sailed back to Algeria. There we witnessed the Ålesund boat the Bjørkhaug explode in the air - 2,000 tonnes of scrap iron, floating cartridge shells and landmines. We lay only six-hundred meters from the Bjørkhaug and were incredibly fortunate not to be injured in that incident. The explosion at the harbour killed the captain of the Bjørkhaug, three Norwegians, a Dane, three British and one Russian crew. There were many big fires and explosion in the sea and harbour area that did a lot of damage. Around one thousand people were killed, most of the Algerian dock workers. |
Olav also recalled one of the most dramatic events of his war service was associated with the Marga:
There was a direct hit on the Marga on on 18 September 1943. Just outside a harbour, a mine, which needed two men to lift, landed on to the hatches next to the cargo of petrol and diesel cans which we were taking to Crotone in Italy. The mine went into the hatch on the port side. The hole was so big we could put a fifty foot boat into it. The Marga was repaired in Taranto an surprisingly no one was injured even though it was a big mine. But while unloading there was a tragic event. Two of the crew had gone ashore and a lorry full of ammunition explored. Both men were killed. Also killed were three Englishmen and four Italians who were helping to unload the cargo. |
Normandy
|
Olav was discharged from Marga in Port Talbot on 3 March 1944. His next boat was the Heien, a 1,500 tonne general cargo boat originally from Oslo. They loaded ammunition in Cardiff for the Americans as part of the planning for the Normandy Landings.
We lived through it at a near distance. All the fighting was going on around us. Boats and people were struck by mines; planes were shot down. The whole was one of never-ending tension. We never knew when we might be hit. The only thing we thought was, if it happens, it will be quick and we won't know. |
Olav and Jeannie
Olav returned to Buckie. He stayed in Ianstown with Mr and Mrs G. Cowie, who treated him like a second son. On 16 June 1945, he married his Jeannie at Strathlene Hotel.
We went to the dances at the Fishermen's Hall and it was there I met a handsome Norwegian seaman, Olav Huldal. We were married on 16th June 1945 at Strathlene Hotel. (Jeannie) |
A surprise visit:
Vi fer til Buckie og ser etter Olav
This article tells of a surprise visit to Buckie in August 1945.
The picture of these Herøy fishermen was taken by a photographer in Buckie Scotland in mid-August 1945. Back from left: Mads Kleiven, Ola Løfoll, Sverre Bendal, Arthur Bassar Frantsen, Bertel Røren. Front from left: Charles Huldal, Rasmus Huldal and Jakob Voldsund.
The only survivor, Bertel Røren, remembers the good story about how they ended up in Scotland. It was an impulsive act from the start. In the middle of August, just after the War was over, we were out on our second trip on the boat “Skjold”. At the end of the trip, the skipper, Rasmus Huldal, came up with a question: "Would anyone object if we went to Scotland to see Olav?". Olav had been away for the entire war, but Rasmus had been notified that he had survived and that he had found himself a Scottish girl and was living in Buckie.
Instead of heading home with the catch, the Skjold set course and headed for Scotland. Navigation equipment was very limited at the time, but maps of North Sea did the job and they hit the north coast of Scotland. There was great excitement and high expectations when they came upon land, just outside Buckie. “We discovered a solitary person out on the jetty who jumped off beside us. And when we finally tied up at the quay, he said: “I know the people, but I not the boat. It turned out to be a Herøyman, the war veteran Bernhard Teige, brother of Terje Teige". |
A little bit later they ended up in at the Scandinavian Reading Room and met the Seaman’s Priest [Bjarne Fjælberg]. The Priest was amazed and quickly went out the door to try to get Olav, but it turned out that he had recently gone to sea. But, the priest sent a message to Jeanie, Olav's Scottish girlfriend. This is how she met her father-in-law Rasmus and his brother-in-law Charles Huldal for the first time. Jeanie was obviously very sorry because they could not reach Olav, but in order to mark the wonderful occasion, she took them to a photographer in Buckie.
Bertel said that they sold the catch in Buckie, and thus got the money between them. As a result, they were able to buy all sorts of good things that were difficult to obtain in Norway. Between them, they got syrup, linseed oil, bark yarn, a dinner service, jugs, and provisions such as meat, butter, chocolate etc. The fishermen from Herøy were in Buckie for about a week. Bertel recalled that he heard Churchill announce that Japan had surrendered and the war was over. [It was actually Clement Attlee by VJ day]. This led to a tremendous joy and celebrations which went on for several days. |
Return to Norway
After discharge from the Norwegian Merchant Navy, Olav and Jeannie went to live in Fosnavåg where they were to stay for the next twelve years and where the couple's four children were born. Olav worked as a fisherman, often working in Greenland waters.
Eventually, however, the Huldals decided to come back to Scotland and back to Buckie which was to become Olav and Jeannie's home for the rest of their lives. In October 1965, Olav was naturalised as a British Subject. He continued to fish on his boats the Embrace and the Nordic Prince. |
Olav's Story
|
In 1986, Olav gave an interview to Vestlandnytt about his life and much of this page is based on a translation of the article (with some correction).
|
Venner fra Norge
In 1994, Sverre and Astaug Silden visited Buckie for the first time in nearly fifty years. They had stayed in the town during the war and their two children had been born at Seafield Hospital. They had maintained contact with Olav and Jeannie for many years but had never quite managed to meet up. The story was told in an article in the Banffshire Advertiser (left).
|
I have done well in Scotland..... together with my wife we have four children. I cannot think of living anywhere other than where our children are. |
Olav died in Buckie on 21 August 1995. Jeannie lived on until her ninety-seventh year, passing away surrounded by her family on Saturday, 6 January 2018.